Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Joel 2:13

in Joel 2

So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

KJV

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

⋯

This verse in Joel 2

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Leo the Great

SERMON 88:1 · Written before 461.

Devout fasting has a very great value for gaining the mercy of God and for strengthening human frailty. We know this from the teaching of holy prophets, dearly beloved. They insist that the arousal of divine justice—which the people of Israel frequently brought upon themselves in punishment for their wickedness—could not be placated except by fasting. Joel the prophet warns us in saying, "The Lord God says these things: 'Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, in weeping and in mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your garments.

This site's exposition

return to Me with all your heart

on Joel 2:12-14

The call "return to Me with all your heart" comes as the LORD's own word, and the book turns on it. "So rend your hearts and not your garments" sets the heart against the custom of tearing clothes. The words "He may turn and relent" leave the outcome open.

This site's exposition

So rend your hearts

Tearing one's garments was the common sign of grief in Israel, as at Genesis 37:34. Albert Barnes reads the command as heart and garments together, with the heart first. The reason given is the LORD's own character, declared at Exodus 34:6.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Fulgentius of Ruspe

LETTER 9 · Written before 533.

proposed

How well does the holy prophet teach that the seeds of good works must be watered by a river of tears! No seeds germinate unless they are watered; nor does fruit come forth from the seed if deprived of the aid of water. Accordingly, we …

A commentator

Cyprian

Treatise III. On the Lapsed 29 · Written before 258.

proposed

Let each one confess his sin, I beseech you, brethren, while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession can be admitted, while the satisfaction and remission effected through the priest is pleasing with the Lord. Let us turn to the Lord with our whole mind, and, expressing repentance for our sin with true grief, let us implore God's mercy. Let the soul prostrate itself before him; let sorrow give satisfaction to him; let our every hope rest upon him. He himself tells how we ought to ask.

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Joel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 12 and following) Now therefore says the Lord: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and tear your hearts, not your clothing, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and relents from punishing. Who knows if he will turn and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, a sacrifice and offering to the Lord your God?

A commentator

Pacian of Barcelona

ON PENITENTS 8:2 · Written before 391.

proposed

Another disease is added to the original cause and a new wound inflicted, and all that is contrary is applied, all that is dangerous is drunk. Under this evil especially does this brotherhood toil, adding new sins on top of old faults. Therefore it has …

A commentator

Theodoret of Cyrus

COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:13 · Written before 458.

proposed

"Rend your hearts, not your garments," that is, have recourse to thoughts of compunction, soften the obduracy of your thinking, accept beneficial advice, abandon the way of vice and travel by that way which leads directly to God. After all, many are the founts of …
5 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

And rend your heart, and not your garments,.... Which latter used to be done in times of distress, either private or public, and as a token of grief and sorrow, Gen 37:34; nor was it criminal or unlawful, the apostles themselves used it, Act 14:14; nor is it absolutely forbidden here, only comparatively, that they should rend their hearts rather than their garments; or not their garments only, but their hearts also; in like sense as the words in Hos 6:6; are to be taken as rending garments was only an external token of sorrow and might be done hypocritically.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

A promise that, upon their repentance, God would remove the judgment, would repair the breaches made upon them by it, and restore unto them plenty of all good things,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Note, That is genuine, ingenuous, and evangelical repentance, which arises from a firm belief of the mercy of God, which we have sinned against, and yet are not in despair. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The goodness of God, if it be rightly understood, instead of emboldening us to go on in sin, will be the most powerful inducement to repentance, Ps. cxxx.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

And rend your hearts and not your garments - that is, “not your garments only” (see the note at Hos 6:6). The rending of the clothes was an expression of extraordinary uncontrollable emotion, chiefly of grief, of terror, or of horror. At least, in Holy Scripture it is not mentioned as a part of ordinary mourning, but only upon some sudden overpowering grief, whether public or private . It was not used on occasion of death, unless there were something very grievous about its circumstances.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Rend your heart - Let it not be merely a rending of your garments, but let your hearts be truly contrite. Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet you with heavier judgments. For he is gracious - Good and benevolent in his own nature. Merciful - Pitying and forgiving, as the effect of goodness and benevolence. Slow to anger - He is not easily provoked to punish, because he is gracious and merciful. Of great kindness - Exuberant goodness to all them that return to him. And repenteth him of the evil - Is ever ready to change his purpose to destroy, when he finds the culprit willing to be saved. See the notes on Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

and not your garments —for I do not pay heed to the rending of your garments. Another explanation: Rend your hearts and you will not need to rend your garments because of mourning.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joel 2:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 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.

  • וְקִרְע֤וּand tear

    vekiruH7167 →

  • לְבַבְכֶם֙heart your

    levavkhemH3824 →

  • וְאַל־and may not [it be]

    veal-H408 →724 times

  • בִּגְדֵיכֶ֔םgarments your

    bigdeikhemH899 →

  • וְשׁ֖וּבוּand return

    veshuvuH7725 →1056 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֑םGod your

    ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • חַנּ֤וּן[is] gracious

    chanunH2587 →

  • וְרַחוּם֙and compassionate

    verachumH7349 →

  • ה֔וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • אֶ֤רֶךְlong of

    ʾerekhH750 →

  • אַפַּ֙יִם֙anger<s>

    ʾapayimH639 →

  • וְרַב־and great of

    verav-H7227 →454 times

  • חֶ֔סֶדcovenant loyalty

    chesedH2617 →

  • וְנִחָ֖םand relenting

    venichamH5162 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָרָעָֽה׃<the> harm

    haraahH7451 →

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

Related verses

18 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.

Exodus 34:6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,133 worksPsalms 103:8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.33 worksPsalms 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.29 worksPsalms 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.26 worksIsaiah 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.22 worksMatthew 5:3–4“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.20 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Micah 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?17 worksPsalms 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.15 worksJames 1:19–20My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,14 worksJeremiah 18:7–8At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.13 worksIsaiah 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.11 worksNehemiah 9:17They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.10 worksJonah 4:2So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.9 worksPsalms 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.8 works2 Samuel 1:11Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.7 worksEphesians 2:4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,7 worksJames 5:11See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.7 worksJonah 3:10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.7 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

    Psalms 34:18

    The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 147:3

      He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 145:18

      The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

    • Isaiah 57:15

      For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…

    • Isaiah 61:1

      The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…

    • Psalms 51:17

      The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

  • Through

    Isaiah 57:15

    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 34:18

      The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

    • Isaiah 66:1–2

      This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?

    • Psalms 138:6

      Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

Where this verse is studied

About Joel

Joel, James Tissot, 1902. Public domain.
Joel, James Tissot, 1902. Public domain.
Joel: the study guide →Read Joel 2 →
This page draws on 12 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); Cyprian, Treatise III. On the Lapsed 29; Fulgentius of Ruspe, LETTER 9; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Leo the Great, SERMON 88:1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pacian of Barcelona, ON PENITENTS 8:2 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:13.

Read on in Joel 2 →