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Joel 3:13

in Joel 3

Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

KJV

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

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This verse in Joel 3

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe - So Jesus saith, “let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them;” and this He explains, “The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the Angels” Mat 13:30, Mat 13:

This site's exposition

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe

on Joel 3:13-14

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe and the press is full, the fats overflow, gives judgment the same two images the book has already used of blessing in chapter 2, harvest and winepress, now turned to their darker sense, wickedness ripe for reaping rather than grain ripe for gathering. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision renames the valley of Jehoshaphat a second time, decision carrying the sense of a verdict rendered rather than any choice the multitudes themselves are making. The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision repeats the book's refrain from 1:15 and 2:1 for the final time, the phrase that has bound all three chapters together landing here at the judgment it always pointed toward.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Joel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 12 and following) Let the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe. Come and go down, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is multiplied. LXX: Let all the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the grape harvest is ripe.

A commentator

Theophilus of Alexandria

Letter 87 · Written before 412.

proposed

Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved and most loving brother, the presbyter Jerome. The reverend bishop Agatho with the well-beloved deacon Athanasius is accredited to you with tidings relating to the church. When you learn their import, I feel no doubt but that you will approve …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The press - As the grapes in the press are trod, so the enemies of God's people, are to be trodden in the wine-press of God's displeasure. Overflow - The blood of slaughtered men runs as wine prest out, in greater abundance than the vats can hold. Is great - The violence and all manner of sins of these kingdoms is grown exceeding great.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. And they are commanded to thrust in their sickle. their sharp sickle, and gather in both the harvest and the vintage, Rev. xiv. Note, The greatness of men's wickedness makes them ripe for God's judgment.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

15, 16 ), both signifying the multitude of the vanquished enemies; it is the word here used, Hamonim, Hamonim, expressed by the way of admiration--O what vast multitudes of sinners will divine justice be glorified in the ruin of at that day! A multitude of living (says one of the rabbin) and a multitude of dead, for Christ shall come to judge both the quick and the dead.

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3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Direction to the ministers of vengeance to execute God's wrath, as the enemy's wickedness is come to its full maturity. God does not cut off the wicked at once, but waits till their guilt is at its full (so as to the Amorites' iniquity, Ge 15:16), to show forth His own long-suffering, and the justice of their doom who have so long abused it (Mt 13:27-30, 38, 40;

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A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Put ye in the sickle - The destruction of his enemies is represented here under the metaphor of reaping down the harvest; and of gathering the grapes, and treading them in the wine-presses.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Revelation 14:15–20Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest; for the crop of the earth is ripe.”9 worksMark 4:29And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”9 worksHosea 6:11Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.7 worksRevelation 14:18Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.”7 worksMatthew 13:39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.7 worksJeremiah 51:33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”6 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 63:3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.6 worksIsaiah 17:5as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.5 worksJoel 2:24The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.5 worksGenesis 18:20Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,3 worksLamentations 1:15The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.3 worksDeuteronomy 16:9You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.3 worksGenesis 13:13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.2 worksGenesis 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Isaiah 63:3

    “I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 19:13–15

      He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.

    • Revelation 14:19–20

      So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

    • Malachi 4:3

      Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.

    • Micah 7:10

      Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like…

    • Zechariah 10:5

      They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 51:33

    For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 21:10

      O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.

  • Through

    Hosea 6:11

    Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 14:15

      Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest; for…

    • Jeremiah 51:33

      For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her…

About Joel

Joel: the study guide →Read Joel 3 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophilus of Alexandria, Letter 87.

Read on in Joel 3 →