Joel 3:7
in Joel 3Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head;
KJV
Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
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This verse in Joel 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBehold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them,.... That is, bring them back to their own land, from their places whither they have been carried captive, and where they have dwelt in obscurity, and as if theft had been buried in graves, but now should be raised up and restored; and this their restoration will be as life from the dead.
This site's exposition
what do you have against Me, O Tyre
on Joel 3:4-8
Tyre, Sidon and "all the regions of Philistia" are charged with temple robbery and slave trading, and Judah's people sold "to the Greeks". "I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads" states measure for measure, the law Obadiah names for Edom.
This site's exposition
Behold, I will rouse them
The LORD will rouse the captives from the places where they were sold, and return the sellers' deeds on their own heads. John Wesley sees this fulfilled when Alexander and his successors freed Jewish slaves in Greece. Albert Barnes notes such a return may leave no record.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7, 8) Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will turn your retribution upon your own heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. For the Lord has spoken. LXX: Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will return your retribution upon your heads.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I will raise them - This was fulfilled when Alexander, and his successors dismissed all the Jews that were slaves in Greece, and gave them leave to return to their own country.
Of God's judging all nations when the measure of their iniquity is full, and appearing publicly, to the everlasting confusion of all impenitent sinners and the everlasting comfort of all his faithful servants,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold I will raise them - If this promise relates to the same individuals who had been sold, it must have been fulfilled silently; as indeed the return of captives to their own land, unless brought about by some historical event, belongs not to history, but to private life. The prophet, however, is probably predicting God’s dealings with the nations, not with those individuals. The enslaving of these Hebrews in the time of Joram was but one instance out of a whole system of covetous misdeeds.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
raise them--that is, I will rouse them. Neither sea nor distance will prevent My bringing them back. Alexander, and his successors, restored to liberty many Jews in bondage in Greece [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 13.5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-brackets
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will raise them - I shall find means to bring them back from the place whither ye have sold them, and they shall retaliate upon you the injuries they have sustained. It is said that Alexander and his successors set at liberty many Jews that had been sold into Greece. And it is likely that many returned from different lands, on the publication of the edict of Cyrus. - Newcome.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנְנִ֣י | hini | here I | H2005 → | |
| מְעִירָ֔ם | meiram | [am] about to rouse them | H5782 → | 80 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַ֨מָּק֔וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מְכַרְתֶּ֥ם | mekhartem | you sold | H4376 → | 80 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שָׁ֑מָּה | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
| וַהֲשִׁבֹתִ֥י | vahashivoti | and I will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| גְמֻלְכֶ֖ם | gemulkhem | recompense your | H1576 → | 19 times |
| בְּרֹאשְׁכֶֽם׃ | beroshekhem | on head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
הִנְנִ֣יhere I
hiniH2005 →
מְעִירָ֔ם[am] about to rouse them
meiramH5782 →80 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַ֨מָּק֔וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
מְכַרְתֶּ֥םyou sold
mekhartemH4376 →80 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
שָׁ֑מָּהthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
וַהֲשִׁבֹתִ֥יand I will return
vahashivotiH7725 →1056 times
גְמֻלְכֶ֖םrecompense your
gemulkhemH1576 →19 times
בְּרֹאשְׁכֶֽם׃on head your
beroshekhemH7218 →599 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
Jeremiah 30:16Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered, and all who raided you will be raided.
it leads to
- Zechariah 2:8
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 10:25
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished…
- Isaiah 33:1
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
- Exodus 23:22
But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- Zechariah 2:8
Through
2 Thessalonians 1:6After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
it leads to
- Colossians 3:25
Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
- Psalms 94:20–23
Can a corrupt throne be Your ally— one devising mischief by decree?
- Colossians 3:25
Through
Jeremiah 23:8Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands…
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:5–6
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
- Isaiah 43:5–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joel
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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.