Joel 3:17
in Joel 3Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
KJV
So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
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This verse in Joel 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The sun and moon will grow dark
on Joel 3:15-17
The line "The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine" repeats the language of 2:10 and 2:31. "The LORD will roar from Zion", as Amos 1:2 opens, shakes heaven and earth, yet the same voice is "a refuge for His people".
This site's exposition
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God
The judgment ends in knowledge of God. Jerusalem is called holy, set apart to the LORD who lives there. Foreign armies will pass through it no more.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Ver. 16, 17.) And the Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord is the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will not pass through it anymore. LXX: But the Lord will cry out from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
In this world, when the judgments of God are abroad, and sinners are falling under them, God is and will be the hope and strength of his people, the strength of their heart, and their portion, when other men's hearts fail them for fear. (3.) Their holiness shall be completed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Dwelling - Very graciously present with you, and ever watching over you, and delighting to save you. Then - After her enemies are destroyed and the remnant is saved, and the Messiah is come; for to him and his days these things ultimately refer. Jerusalem - The church of Christ.
So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain,....
By the sanctifying and glorifying of the church God will be known in his holiness and glory, as the God that dwells in his holy mountain and makes it holy by dwelling in it; and those that are sanctified and glorified are so through the knowledge of him that called them. The knowledge which true believers have of God is, [1.] An appropriating knowledge.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
shall ye know--experimentally by the proofs of favors which I shall vouchsafe to you. Ho 2:20). dwelling in Zion--as peculiarly your God. holy . . . no strangers pass through--to attack, or to defile, the holy city (Isa 35:8; Strangers, or Gentiles, shall come to Jerusalem, but it shall be in order to worship Jehovah there (Zec 14:16).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
So shall ye know - By the judgments I execute on your enemies, and the support I give to yourselves, that I am the all-conquering Jehovah; and that I have again taken up my residence in Jerusalem. All this may refer, ultimately, to the restoration of the Jews to their own land; when holiness to the Lord shall be their motto; and no strange god, or impure people, shall be permitted to enter the city, or even pass through it; they shall have neither civil nor religious connections with any who do not worship the true God in spirit and in truth. This, I think, must refer to Gospel times. It is a promise not ye fulfilled.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
God Himself wondrously joins on His own words to those of the prophet, and speaks to His own people; “so (literally, and) ye shall know,” by experience, by sight, face to face, what ye now believe, “that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.” So He saith in the second Psalm, “Then shall he speak unto them” Psa 2:5-6 (the enemies of His Christ) “in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure; And I have set My king on My holy hill of Zion;” and, “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God” Rev 21:3, dwelling with them and in them, by an unvarying, blissful, hallowing presence, never withdrawn, never hidden, never shadowed, but ever shining upon them. “Your God,” your own, as much as if possessed by none besides, filling all with gladness, yet fully possessed by each, as though there were none besides, so that each may say, “Thou art my Portion, O Lord” Psa 119:57; Lam 3:24; my “Lord, and my God” Joh 20:28, as He saith, “I am thy exceeding great Reward” Gen 15:1. And Jerusalem shall be holy - Literally, “holiness” as John saith, “He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God” Rev 21:10-11. And there shall no stranger pass through her anymore - “Without,” says John, “are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” Rev 22:15. None alien from her shall pass through her, so as to have dominion over her, defile or oppress her. This special promise is often repeated. “It shall be called the way of holiness, the unclean shall not pass over it” Isa 35:8. “Henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean” Isa 52:1. […]
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וִֽידַעְתֶּ֗ם | vida'tem | and you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֤י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| שֹׁכֵ֖ן | shokhen | [who] dwells | H7931 → | |
| בְּצִיּ֣וֹן | betziyon | in Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| הַר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| קָדְשִׁ֑י | kodshi | holiness my | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֤ה | vehayetah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| קֹ֔דֶשׁ | kodesh | a holy place | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וְזָרִ֥ים | vezarim | and strangers | H2114 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַֽעַבְרוּ־ | yaavru- | they will pass | H5674 → | |
| בָ֖הּ | vah | in it | ||
| עֽוֹד׃ ס | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
וִֽידַעְתֶּ֗םand you will know
vida'temH3045 →945 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֤יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָה֙[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
שֹׁכֵ֖ן[who] dwells
shokhenH7931 →
בְּצִיּ֣וֹןin Zion
betziyonH6726 →154 times
הַר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
קָדְשִׁ֑יholiness my
kodshiH6944 →469 times
וְהָיְתָ֤הand it will be
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
קֹ֔דֶשׁa holy place
kodeshH6944 →469 times
וְזָרִ֥יםand strangers
vezarimH2114 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַֽעַבְרוּ־they will pass
yaavru-H5674 →
בָ֖הּin it
vah
עֽוֹד׃ סagain
odH5750 →490 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Revelation 21:27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 22:14–15
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- Revelation 20:15
And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
- Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…
- Isaiah 52:1
Through
Nahum 1:15Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be…
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
- Romans 10:15
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
- Isaiah 52:7
Through
Joel 2:27Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
- Leviticus 26:11–12
And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joel

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJerusalemZionThe eastern ridge David took from the Jebusites and made his stronghold, the name the Psalms and the prophets give the city the LO…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
