Joel 3:19
in Joel 3Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
KJV
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
⋯
This verse in Joel 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 19.) Egypt will be in desolation, and Edom will be a desert of destruction, because they have acted unjustly towards the sons of Judah and have shed innocent blood in their land. According to the Septuagint: Egypt will be in ruin, and Edom will be a field of desolation, because of the iniquities of the sons of Judah, because they have shed righteous blood in their land.
This site's exposition
the mountains will drip with sweet wine
on Joel 3:18-21
The book ends in plenty, "the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk". The words "a spring will flow from the house of the LORD" anticipate Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14:8. The last words are "For the LORD dwells in Zion".
This site's exposition
Egypt will become desolate
Albert Barnes reads Egypt and Edom as two classes of enemy that together stand for all the rest. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown recall Shishak's plunder of Jerusalem under Rehoboam. The charge is innocent blood shed in Judah's land.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
No strength nor wealth of a nation is a defence against the judgment of God. But what is the quarrel God has with these potent kingdoms? It is for their violence against the children of Judah, and the injuries they had done them; see Ezek. xxv.
Egypt - By Egypt we may understand all the enemies of the church who carry it toward the church, as Egypt carried it toward Israel. Edom - Edom was an implacable enemy to Judah in his greatest distress. And all who come under Edom's character are here threatened under this name.
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness,....
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)
Egypt shall be a desolation - “Egypt” and “Edom” represent each a different class of enemies of the people of God, and both together exhibit the lot of all. Egypt was the powerful oppressor, who kept Israel long time in hard bondage, and tried, by the murder of their male children, to extirpate them.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Egypt under Shishak spoiled Jerusalem under Rehoboam of the treasures of the temple and the king's house; subsequently to the captivity, it inflicted under the Ptolemies various injuries on Judea. Antiochus spoiled Egypt (Da 11:40-43). Edom was made "desolate" under the Maccabees [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 12.11,12].
Egypt shall be a desolation - While peace, plenty, and prosperity of every kind, shall crown my people, all their enemies shall be as a wilderness; and those who have used violence against the saints of God, and shed the blood of innocents (of the holy Martyrs) in their land, when they had political power; these and all such shall fall under the just judgments of God.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | |
| לִשְׁמָמָ֣ה | lishmamah | <into> a desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| תִֽהְיֶ֔ה | tihyeh | it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וֶאֱד֕וֹם | veedom | and Edom | H123 → | |
| לְמִדְבַּ֥ר | lemidbar | <into> a wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| שְׁמָמָ֖ה | shemamah | desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| תִּֽהְיֶ֑ה | tihyeh | it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מֵֽחֲמַס֙ | mechamas | from [the] violence of | H2555 → | |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁפְכ֥וּ | shafekhu | they shed | H8210 → | 114 times |
| דָם־ | dom- | blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| נָקִ֖יא | naki' | innocent | H5355 → | |
| בְּאַרְצָֽם׃ | beartzam | in land their | H776 → | 2504 times |
מִצְרַ֙יִם֙Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →
לִשְׁמָמָ֣ה<into> a desolation
lishmamahH8077 →57 times
תִֽהְיֶ֔הit will become
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
וֶאֱד֕וֹםand Edom
veedomH123 →
לְמִדְבַּ֥ר<into> a wilderness of
lemidbarH4057 →270 times
שְׁמָמָ֖הdesolation
shemamahH8077 →57 times
תִּֽהְיֶ֑הit will become
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
מֵֽחֲמַס֙from [the] violence of
mechamasH2555 →
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
אֲשֶׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
שָׁפְכ֥וּthey shed
shafekhuH8210 →114 times
דָם־blood
dom-H1818 →360 times
נָקִ֖יאinnocent
naki'H5355 →
בְּאַרְצָֽם׃in land their
beartzamH776 →2504 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
Lamentations 4:21So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
it leads to
- Amos 1:11
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged…
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
- Psalms 137:7
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Amos 1:11
Through
Jeremiah 51:35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:29
Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has…
- Revelation 18:20
Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Zechariah 1:15
but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- Judges 9:20
But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
- Jeremiah 50:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joel

Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
- PlaceTransjordanEdomThe highland nation descended from Esau that refused Israel passage on the King's Highway, and whose pride the prophets answered.
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; 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.
