The Pulpit Commentary — Joel — Section 55

Ml"m," an)·A Kimrhi, "ehe.11 be e. R1tnct111ny, makes the clause more eymmet.rlcal with Jik,, the annctuary whioh WM forbidden to those between which it 1t1tndR. Thu■ "trunf:""'; e.nd etr,mg,mi eh11,\l not pA.Se Kimchl: "The meaning of• They ehall ftow thrnu,:h it ,my more to do injury to them A.II (go) with milk,' la from the e.hundance or tl><,). have done up to this de.y. It m1ty e.lso the flowing and running; he e.pplles the h,, ,·xplaincd the.t strangers sb1tll not enter name of flowing (going) to the hillR oven i11tn ,J,•rus1tlem, for its holine!!I! ehe.11 be gree.t although that the milk is that whioh ~oos fnr th<' fulure. And e.e the temple we.e for- e.nd ftowe." And in reference to the follow- 1,idrl«'D c,•en for Isre.el to enter there, so e.Jl ing clause he se.ys, "He uses the name of the city ahall be e. BB.nctue.ry into whioh going to the channels," The.t is one side of et ran,:l'rs out of the ne.tions of the world the picture. We a.re now invited to look on sllllll not enter." this- Yers. J 8-2l.-Th08C verses picture Jnde.h Ver. 19.-Egypt llhall be a de■olatlon, and and Jeruse.lcrn e.s scenes of most abunde.nt Edom e. de■olate w:llderue11, tor the violenoe blessings, while Egypt e.nd Edom are doomoo. against the ohildren ot J'udah. The curse of barrenness and utter desole.tion falls on the to irretrievable barrenness and desolation. enemies of Jude.h-the nearer and the more lint, as the language must be understood remote-because of that very enmity and fi:;-umtively, the prosperity of the Lord's the violence whioh was its outcome. The land is ~et in contrast with the countries of Edomite enemies in the south revolted from the world-powers; but the contrast includes, Judah in the days of Jehoram; the Edomites as we think, the allotments of eternity as ~mpo.ssed him ~• ~nd, by thus surrounding bun, placed hun 1n extreme peril; and well '113 ibc destinies of time. though it is said he smote them, yet his ex- Yer. 18.-In that day. These words ex- pedition proved unsuccessful, for it is added press the state of things consequent on the by the chronicler that " the Edomites re- judgment just cxccnted. The mountaiu volted from under the hand of Judah unto BhaJ.1 drop down new wine, and the hilla this day." The Egyptian enemies in the llhall 11.ow with milk, and all the riven of more distant south made a still more formid- J'udah shall 11.ow (margin, go) with waten. able attack on the capital city, Jerusalem, Thus the mountains are represented as under the famous Shishak, in the fifth yee.r covered over "ith vines of richest growth of the reign of Rehoboam, plundering the and terraced to the top; the hills as afford- palace and temple. What acts of violence ing m<l6t lUJ:uria.nt pe.stures and clothed were perpetrated in these or other wars with flocks; the rivers, dried up in summer unrecorded we know not. A more specifio and reduced to dried-up river-bedB, :flowing charge follows: Beoaue they have shed unintennittingly and coursing along with innocent blood in their land. This is under- foll stream. To cxuberance of wine and stood by some to refer to the blood of captivs milk is added. what is no leBB valuable in a or fugitive Jews in the lands of their Edom- thirsty Ee.stern land, abundance of water. ite and Egyptian enemies. H seems pre- The source of this e.bundant supply i.8 a ferable to understand the suffix 11,nswering fountain; the fountain-head is the honse of to "their" of the land of Jude.h, on the the Lord ; thence proceeds a broad deep occasion of some hostile inroad into Jewish ~tr<:am, which me.kes its way to the Jordan territory. ,·alley 1Lnd across the river to the dry trans- Vere. 20, 21.-The contrast which these J orde.nic valley of e.caci.e.s, as it is added : verses present to what precedes is very A fountain Bhall ooma forth ot the houe of striking. While Egypt and Edom are the Lord, and Bhall water the valley of devoted to desolation and destruction, J'udah, Shittim; from which statement we must personified, 1hall dwell (margin, abide), and corieludt, the fi~rure.tive signification of the Jeruaalem, or rather, as we think, Judah whole of this e.nd the following verses. shall be dwelt in, as also its capital, from Pe.rn.llf:ls for some of the e.bove expressions generation to generation. In the concluding are not far to sook. Ovid's description of verse a reason is assigned. l!'or I will ole&1118 the golden agf:, in which Le speaks of rivers their blood that I have not olea.nsed. The of milk and rivers of nectar and honey blood ehed by the Egyptians and Edomites dropping from the green po.Im tree, is cited is proved by Jehovah to be innocent blood, by lv,een.miilJf:r; while the 'Speaker's Com- because he promises to avenge it in the end, lllf:ntary' quotes from the' Bacchllll' of Euri- though for wise and good reasons he had pidf:s the lines a.bout the plain flowing with delayed to do so. This closing thought is milk, flowing with wine, aud flowing with well explained by Keil in the worrle, " The the, 11ecte.r of the bees. Instead of the "hills f:ternal desolation of the world-kingdoms flowing with milk," we should rather expect mentioned here will wipe out all the wrong tL,, milk to be spoken of as flowing; the which they have done to the pooplo ot byp11llage, however, 1111 we me.y consider it, God, and which has hitherto remained un- on, m. 1-21.] THE BOOK OF JOEL. 63