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Joel

About this book
Chapter 3

1 “For look! In those days and at that time I will return the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Then I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment against them there concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, whom they scattered among the nations.⁠ They partitioned my land, 3 and they cast lots for my people.⁠ They traded a boy for a prostitute; they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. 4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? If you are, I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! 5 For you took my silver and my gold and brought my precious valuables to your own palaces. 6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks, removing them far from their own country. 7 Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done! 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” Indeed, the Lord has spoken. 9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for a holy war! Call out the warriors! Let all these fighting men approach and attack! 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’⁠ 11 Lend your aid and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves to that place.” Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! 12 “Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.⁠ 13 Rush forth with the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come, stomp the grapes, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow. Indeed, their evil is great!”⁠ 14 Crowds, great crowds are in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision! 15 The sun and moon are darkened; the stars withhold their brightness. 16 The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out.⁠ The heavens and the earth shake.⁠ But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel.⁠ 17 “You will be convinced that I, the Lord, am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy— conquering armies will no longer pass through it. 18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,⁠ and the hills will flow with milk. All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple of the Lord, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.⁠ 19 Egypt will be desolate,⁠ and Edom will be a desolate wilderness because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. 20 But Judah will reside securely forever, and Jerusalem will be secure from one generation to the next. 21 I will avenge their blood that I had not previously acquitted.” It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.6 VI:12 and Joel 3:12

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Joel 3 shares Baal's battle at his mountain home in the Baal Cycle, turning the nations' gathering for war into God's judgment of them near Jerusalem.

Passages

KTU 1.6 VI:12

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Divine Mot ate his seven divine assistants. Divine Mot cried: “Look! It is my brothers whom Baal has given me for my meal, my mother’s sons for my consumption!” He returned to Baal in the recesses of Sapan. He lifted up his voice and cried: “It is my brothers you have given me, Baal, for my meal, my mother’s sons for my consumption!” They glowered at each other like burning coals. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They gored like wild bulls. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They bit like serpents. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They tugged like hunting-dogs. Mot fell. Baal fell on top of him. Shapshu cried to Mot: “Listen, pray, O divine Mot! How can you fight with Valiant Baal?
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Joel 3:12

Hebrew Bible
9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for a holy war! Call out the warriors! Let all these fighting men approach and attack! 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’ 11 Lend your aid and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves to that place.” Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! 12 “Let the nations be roused and let them go up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations. 13 Rush forth with the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come, stomp the grapes, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow. Indeed, their evil is great!” 14 Crowds, great crowds are in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision!
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joel

References

“... There are many parallels between this Ugaritic passage and a variety of biblical texts. First, the divine battle takes place at the mountain of the deity, a motif found in Psalms 2:1-2; 48:5-8; 110; Joel 4:9-14; Zechariah 12:3-4; 14:2; and elsewhere. In Ugaritic, this motif is not restricted to Anat. Baal also fights his enemies on his mountain (KTU 1.6 VI 12-13; cf. 1.1 V 5, 18). Second, the battle is universal in scope; “peoples” are collectively the enemies of the deity. Many of the biblical passages just cited likewise contain this motif. ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, 2nd ed., The Biblical Resource Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), PDF 115.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.6 VI:12 and Joel 3:12

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