Joel 3:21
in Joel 3For I will avenge their blood, which I have not yet avenged.” For the LORD dwells in Zion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.
KJV
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
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This verse in Joel 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Vers. 20 seqq.) And Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation; and I will cleanse their blood, which I have not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Zion. LXX: But Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation, and I will require their blood, which I have not yet avenged, and the Lord will dwell in Zion.
This site's exposition
The mountains shall drop down new wine
on Joel 3:18-21
The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk pictures abundance in agricultural terms once more, the same vocabulary chapter 2 used for the locust years reversed, now describing the age the book's judgment opens onto. A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim gives Ezekiel 47's river from the temple and Zechariah 14:8's living waters an early expression here, Shittim itself the place of Israel's worst apostasy in Numbers 25 now named as ground the temple's own water reaches. Egypt and Edom stand judged for violence against Judah while Judah shall dwell for ever, and the book's last words, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion, close on the same presence Ezekiel's temple vision and Revelation's holy city each return to in their own way, positions on how literally or how far off this reaches held across the tradition without a verdict stamped here.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
And I will cleanse - Purge away both by the spirit of sanctification and by free pardon in the blood of the redeemer. Their blood - Their sinfulness, which before I had not taken away.
Here, though they are washing daily, there is still something that is not cleansed; but in heaven, even that also shall be done away. And the reason is because the Lord dwells in Zion, dwells with his church, and much more gloriously with that in heaven, and holiness becomes his house for ever, for which reason, where he dwells there must be, there shall be, a perfection of holiness.
For I will cleanse their blood which I have not cleansed,....
These promises were not of private interpretation only, but were written for our learning, "that we, through patience and comfort of this scripture, might have hope." Threatenings against Israel's Enemies.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For I will cleanse her blood that I have not cleansed - The word rendered “cleansed” is not used of natural cleansing, nor is the image taken from the cleansing of the body. The word signifies only to pronounce innocent, or to free from guilt. Nor is “blood” used of sinfulness generally, but only of the actual guilt of shedding blood. The whole then cannot be an image taken from the cleansing of physical defilement, like the words in the prophet Ezekiel, “then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee” Eze 16:
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
cleanse . . . blood . . . not cleansed--I will purge away from Judah the extreme guilt (represented by "blood," the shedding of which was the climax of her sin, Isa 1:15) which was for long not purged away, but visited with judgments (Isa 4:4).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
You shall know that Heaven might sooner pass away than your soul be imperiled; that for us the very Throne of God is a security of life. Because He lives, you must also live, and because He reigns, you must reign with Him. I pray that promise over till I have it fulfilled to me, because I know that in that hour all my doubts shall be brought out to execution, shall be hung on Haman's gallows, and shall never trouble me any more. And what next, Beloved, if this promise is fulfilled? Why, then, we shall praise the Lord with gladness. No more harsh thoughts of Him! Our life shall be one Psalm. We shall sing in our hearts, and sing with our lips, and each day shall be a note, when sin is pardoned— I believe that the shouts of angels are not as glorious as will be the songs of the redeemed, because those songs shall warble from blood-washed lips! Oh, cannot you and I sing! We cannot get our praise out as we would. It is too big for expression when once we know beyond hesitation or suspicion that every sin is gone, and can say, "Great God, I am clean. Through Jesus' blood I am clean!" But more than this—to put each point in opposition to those evil things which prove sin to be still on your conscience, let it be removed, and what nearness to God will you have? Holy souls must come together; there is a mutual attraction between a holy God and a holy being. It were impossible for a perfect being to be far removed from Him who is perfection's self, and once let you and I know our perfect justification in Christ, and far from God we could not live! Just as the needle seeks its pole, so should we seek our God; as the dove flies to the dovecot, so would our perfect spirit fly to the bosom of a perfect God.
You shall know that Heaven might sooner pass away than your soul be imperiled; that for us the very Throne of God is a security of life. Because He lives, you must also live, and because He reigns, you must reign with Him. I pray that promise over till I have it fulfilled to me, because I know that in that hour all my doubts shall be brought out to execution, shall be hung on Haman's gallows, and shall never trouble me any more. And what next, Beloved, if this promise is fulfilled?
For I will cleanse their blood - נקיתי nikkeythi, I will avenge the slaughter and martyrdom of my people, which I have not yet avenged. Persecuting nations and persecuting Churches shall all come, sooner or later, under the stroke of vindictive justice. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion - He shall be the life, soul, spirit, and defense of his Church for ever. This prophet, who has many things similar to Ezekiel, ends his prophecy nearly in the same way: Ezekiel says of the glory of the Church, יהוה שמה Yehovah shammah, The Lord Is There. Joel says, יהוה שכן בציון Yehovah shochen betsiyon, The Lord Dwelleth in Zion. Both point out the continued indwelling of Christ among his people.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִקֵּ֖יתִי | venikeiti | and I will leave unpunished | H5352 → | |
| דָּמָ֣ם | damam | blood their | H1818 → | 360 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִקֵּ֑יתִי | nikeiti | I left unpunished | H5352 → | |
| וַֽיהוָ֖ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שֹׁכֵ֥ן | shokhen | [is] dwelling | H7931 → | |
| בְּצִיּֽוֹן׃ | betziyon | in Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
וְנִקֵּ֖יתִיand I will leave unpunished
venikeitiH5352 →
דָּמָ֣םblood their
damamH1818 →360 times
לֹֽא־[which] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נִקֵּ֑יתִיI left unpunished
nikeitiH5352 →
וַֽיהוָ֖הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
שֹׁכֵ֥ן[is] dwelling
shokhenH7931 →
בְּצִיּֽוֹן׃in Zion
betziyonH6726 →154 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
Ezekiel 36:25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- John 3:5
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
- Jeremiah 33:8
And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Hebrews 10:22
Through
Revelation 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:27
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and…
- John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- Leviticus 26:11–12
And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
- Ezekiel 37:27
About Joel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 379: “Perfect Cleansing” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.