I am uncertain 2) where this chapter is to be drawn, whether to what follows or to what precedes. I, in my opinion, relate it to the kingdom of Christ, and think that it is an interpretation of the previous text, namely, how the matter in the world goes forward, that the kingdom of Christ spreads further. Summa Summarum, as I said in the beginning, this prophet is one of the oldest who prophesied at the time when the affairs of the Jews were extremely prosperous, and at that time he saw the very bitter hatred and persecutions of the Edomites, the Philistines, the Moabites and the other Gentiles against the Israelites, whom God had chosen as his people, as the sacred stories show. And therefore the prophet speaks in this way: Well, the godless nations may rage and set themselves against the people of God, 3) the time will come, it will happen one day, that all this defiance of the enemies of the people of God will be taken away. I will avenge this dishonor that has been done to my people again in a quite exceptional way, but in such a way that my vengeance will be salutary. For I will send them the word of the gospel, so that they will recognize their error and their sin, and I will make friends of those who
2) Dietrich: One doubts.
3) Instead of nävSrsÄntur should probably be read adversentur; Dietrich has omitted it.
4) that in this way he refers the present raging of the enemies to the day of Christ, of which he prophesies.
V. 6: When I turn the prison of Judah and Jerusalem.
He foresees that the Jews were to be led away into captivity. Therefore this is to be referred to the kingdom of Christ, as if he wanted to say: When I will redeem my people Judah from the right captivity of death, namely sin and hell, when I will have risen from the dead and given the Holy Spirit,
V. 7. I will bring all the Gentiles together.
This never happened bodily. How could it happen that he would gather all the Gentiles into such a narrow place? For the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, is very narrow, so that it can hardly contain a few. And therefore I cannot agree with those who refer this passage to the last judgment, namely that the Lord will sit in judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat and judge all the Gentiles there. When we say to them how narrow the place is, they refer it to the whole region that surrounds
4) Here Dietrich inserts: But they that are stiff-necked, and will not suffer the word, they shall perish;
Jerusalem lies around. As much as they always say the same thing, they are mistaken, because the whole world could hardly contain the innumerable multitude of all the people who have ever lived from the beginning of the world, let alone Judea, since some will be in the earth, others will fly in the clouds, as Paul describes [1 Thess. 4, 16. f.]. Therefore this passage, because inconsistency compels it, must be drawn on the secret interpretation (mysterium), for the literal mind (litera) cannot stand. We want to understand it from the preaching of the Gospel, which gathers all the Gentiles and calls them to judgment, announces to them their error 1) and judges them that they are condemned, and shows them Christ as salvation. And this has happened and is still happening from day to day, from the day the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven, of which he said above in the second chapter [Cap. 3, 1.], so that they, thus called to judgment, might recognize their sin and ask for forgiveness. For Jehoshaphat is by no means a generic name (substantivum=appellativum), but a proper name, and so the prophet uses the proper name in a different meaning and makes of it a generic name, as also Hosea did, since he took the name of the city Gilead for the synagogue. 2) In short, the prophet speaks of the conversion of all Gentiles to the church of God through the gospel.
And will settle with them there.
From the present evil he passes to the future vengeance, as if he wanted to say: It will happen one day, it will happen, when I will judge, then they will not escape; I will also judge them, "I will find them fine", as much as I close my eyes now to their inhuman cruelty, with which they rage and rage against my people. Therefore he takes the whole number of the heathens and all nations, and yet he also understands that part of the adversaries of the people of God.
1) Dietrich: terrorem instead of: errorem.
2) Here Dietrich inserts the words: But Jehoshaphat means the valley of judgment. It is the same thing that Christ says Joh. 16, 8: "The Holy Spirit will punish the world for sin" 2c. Therefore the prophet speaks 2c.
V. 8. and have given the boys for food, and the maidens for wine sold and drunk (Et posuerunt puerum in prostibulo et puellam vendiderunt etc.).
It is to be wondered what may have come into the mind of Jerome, that he has gossiped here after his manner of the Gentiles. XXX means in Hebrew a whore and an innkeeper or guest. And therefore some think not without reason that the harlot Rahab was an innkeeper; and it is very probable that the scouts sent by the Israelites had stayed in a respectable inn. 3) Since now the same word stands here, which means both a whore and an innkeeper, then it can be understood also in twofold way. It seems clear to me that this is the opinion: 4) They have put the boy like a whore or like an innkeeper 5) and the girl to the wine, that is, that she is a servant at the wine, just as the young man, that he is a servant in the inn. I like this opinion better than to refer it to unchastity, since they used the people who were taken away as servants and maids.
V. 9 And you of Zor and Zidon and all the border of the Philistines, what have you to do with me?
It is the same opinion that I have stated above. He again indicates the present evil, that he postpones the vengeance until the time of the revelation of the gospel, as if he wanted to say: You are vehemently hostile to my people, but 6) what you have taken from them, you have taken from me, when there were the gold and silver vessels of the temple and other things; I will repay you again on your head. But this has not the
3) Instead of: "it is very probable" Dietrich puts: "it seems", and adds here: "But the New Testament calls her twice [Hebr. 11, 31. and Jac. 2, 25.] a harlot." The Weimar edition did not note this addition by Dietrich.
4) Instead of what follows in this paragraph, Dietrich puts: They sold their boys for food and their girls for wine, that is, they sold them for a small price and in a shameful way.
5) Instead of crauponam, it should probably read "auponera, which is what the Zwickau manuscript offers here.
6) Dietrich: seä; our template: et.
4468 L. xxv. 113-iis. Interpretation of Joel (1.), Cap. 3, 9. 10. 12. 13. w. vi. 2133-2136. 44ßA
Opinion, that the Jews should hope a bodily revenge, which they take at their enemies, as the miserable people still boast today. Therefore the opinion is: What would you also do to me, you Philistines, and your borders? Do you want to take revenge on me when you take revenge on yourselves? As if he wanted to say: "Just lift", you will have to pay for it. 1)
Hurry.
Namely, when the gospel comes, I will make enemies out of those who are now enemies. I will make friends of them and thus take revenge on you. 2)
V. 10. My beautiful jewels.
The Hebrew reads: Desiderabilia mea bona, that is, the golden and silver vessels of the temple.
Did you take (Rapuistis). 3)
Namely, when the people were led into captivity. The neighboring Gentiles took pleasure in the misfortune of the Jews, because they were led away singing, which the sacred stories testify, and as it is described in the Psalm [Ps. 137, 7.]: "Pure off, pure off, to their ground." Here 4) I refer everything to Christ, not, like Jerome and others, to the Babylonian captivity. Otherwise, we could never understand each other from the context, nor would it rhyme with each other in any other way.
V. 12. Behold, I will raise them up out of the place.
Everything must be related to the revelation of the Gospel, because if the prophet had described some simple fight or revenge, he would not have used so many and strong words, as we also have
1) Dietrich adds: I will judge you by the word, I will punish your sins and send you my gospel for salvation. But if you do not accept it, you will suffer terrible punishments for despising grace and will be afflicted in the same way as you afflicted my people.
2) This section is missing in Dietrich.
3) Here, it seems to us that not everything is in order with the keywords, because rapumtis does not stand here in the text of the Vulgate, will therefore probably only be regarded as a gloss to tuliktis, which the text offers. The old translator has put here the 11th verse as keyword.
4) Instead of them, which does not seem to make sense to us, we have adopted Uio.
See below how great he has made the matter. So this awakening is to be understood by the preaching of the gospel, which has reached not only the Jews but also the whole world.
V.13. And will sell your sons and your daughters again by the children of Judah.
This Hebrew way of speaking [in in manibus filiorum] is rendered by the Latin by the preposition xor, by the Germans by the word "durch", since the Hebrew language does not have the preposition "through". So it is everywhere in the Prophets: Verbum Domini in manu Esaiae etc. [Isa. 20, 2.], that is, per manus, which the Lord had preached through Isaiah 2c. And here in manibus is as much as per manus, that is, through the children of Judah. This was done through the apostles, who, preaching the gospel, went to all nations 5).
They should sell them to those in Imperial Arabia (Sabaeis).
The land of Sheba is farther from Jerusalem than the Greeks are from the Philistines. It is Arabia; for the histories say of a threefold: Arabia, the stony, the desert, and the happy. In the stony Arabia are the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Ishmaelites 2c. The largest area is certainly the stony Arabia (Petraea) in which Petra is the capital. The fortunate one lies towards India, on the upper shore of the Red Sea. And this the Hebrews call XXX. It is written about the Queen of Sheba in the Books of Kings [1 Kings 10:1] and also in the Gospel [Matthew 12:42]. According to the figure of the synecdoche (which is usual with the prophet) he now calls the Arabs instead of all distant Gentiles. And so he understands a spiritual selling, that they were made Christians and became Christians through the whole world.
For the LORD has spoken it.
This he added to confirm his prophecy, as if to say: All this
5) Here Dietrich continues thus: came, and to the faithful were a cause of blessedness, but to those who did not believe, a cause of destruction. For God does not suffer the contempt of His word.
will not fail, because it was not man who foretold it, but the Lord who spoke it, who cannot lie.
V. 14: Proclaim this among the Gentiles.
Namely, what we have said "calls it out". But this happens through the gospel, which is a calling voice. This whole passage and everything that follows is full of figurative speeches, just as all the prophets are full of figurative speeches. This can be seen as an example in this verse of Psalm [Ps. 118. 22.]: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." This passage must be understood by Christ, since Christ and all the apostles [Matth. 21, 42. Apost. 4, 11.] interpret it in such a way that it is he in whom both the Gentiles and the Jews must be united, in whom alone there is salvation, but he was rejected by the builders, that is, by the scribes and Pharisees. So also Isaiah says [Cap. 28, 16.], "Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone, a corner stone. "2c. This passage is also said of Christ, but yet the words do not seem to contain this at all, but what follows interprets the figurative speech [Rom. 9:33.], "He that believeth on him shall not be put to shame." This One Word throws light on the whole figurative speech. It is very important that this be observed by the prophets, who for this reason make use of so many figurative sayings, so that they either cover up the prophecy or exercise their perspicacity. We see the same here in Joel. For the opinion of this passage is this, as if he wanted to say: You who preach the gospel, continue to proclaim it, make it known to all nations, arm yourselves for war, awaken the strong, let all the men of war come and go up, here shall all be present who are fit for war.
V. 15. Make your plowshares into swords.
These are just images. For the prophet is so rich in spirit and makes this spiritual battle so great, which would not have been so necessary in the description of a physical battle.
would be. 1) But the summa is this: Take the word and fight bravely. The plow and the sickle are the tools of peace, the spear and the sword are the tools of war, and so the opinion is: These things, which you used before for peace, use now for war and strife. This is what Christ says [Luc. 22, 36.], "He that hath two garments, let him sell the one, and buy a sword." But Isaiah has just the opposite, who Cap. 2, 4. thus says, "They shall make their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." But both are right. For the latter speaks of the physical and spiritual peace that began under Christ, but Joel speaks of the spiritual battle of the word of the gospel.
The weak speak: I am strong.
This actually refers to the Christians, 2) so that it cannot be understood as a bodily struggle, because as Paul says [Rom. 5, 3.]: "We also boast of tribulations", and although the Christians are weak, powerless and rejected, they are still exceedingly strong. Paul teaches this beautifully everywhere: "As those who have nothing, yet have everything", 2 Cor. 6, 10. Likewise 1 Cor. 4, 13. 11.: "We are always as a curse of the world, and a purgatory of all people. We suffer hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are beaten," 2c., just as Christ also said of himself [Luc. 9, 58.], "The Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Admittedly splendid men of war, who thus lie under all misery! It is also a wonderful war, and quite contrary to all the ways of the whole world, since the
1) From here to the end of this section Dietrich offers the following: But some take this passage in such a way that the opinion is: Seize the word and fight bravely. The plow and the sickle are tools of peace, spears and swords are valuable tools of war, so that it should sem the same thing that Christ says fLuc. 22, 36.]: "He that hath two garments, let him sell the one, and buy a sword." But I do not approve of this opinion, and rather think that it indicates the future persecution of the Gospel, so that these words: Announce a war, awaken the strong, are taken narratively, as words by which the heathen encourage each other to resist the Gospel, as in the second Psalm a similar raging of the heathen against the Gospel is predicted.
2) Dietrich begins this section thus: Those who follow the former view relate this to Christians, for as Paul says 2c.
Men of war are weak, that is, incapable, who suffer many things, who are rejected. But Paul interpreted this war service, since he says [2 Cor. 10, 4.]: "The weapons of our knighthood are not carnal" 2c. 1)
V. 16. Gather yourselves together and come here, all the Gentiles.
2) "Your strong ones," that is, your mighty ones. For all the nations of the whole world will be stirred up by the gospel. And yet the prophet speaks, as it were, to the Philistines alone, since he says, "Thy mighty ones." But by the figure of the synecdoche he comprehends with the Philistines all that there are of the Gentiles, all of whom he has slain by the spirit of his mouth, and subdued them to himself by the gospel.
V. 17. The Gentiles will make up their minds and come up.
It is impossible, as I said above, that the Valley of Jehoshaphat could contain all the Gentiles, even if it were so large, which it is not. But it is to be understood of the church, in which all will be gathered under the word of God. For just as the sun illuminates the whole world with its rays, so all men are gathered together under the word of God; even though not all believe the word, it is nevertheless proclaimed both to the ungodly and to the godly. To these it is a power of God for salvation, to those it is judgment.
To judge all the Gentiles.
I draw all this to the day of the revealed gospel and to the whole time of the new Zion, not to the day of the last judgment.
V. 18. Strike the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
1) Dietrich adds: Let each one follow which opinion he wants; I take it so that the prophet wanted to indicate the enormous raging of the Gentiles against the gospel by this picture.
2) Instead of this passage, Dietrich offers: "He has certainly depicted the raging of Satan and the world, as well as the cross and the persecution of the true church. For the number of the godly is so small that the whole world seems to have conspired against the gospel.
These are all exhortations to preach the word diligently. But all of them are figurative speeches, as if he wanted to say: Begin to preach and continue diligently: Since the harvest is now, the appropriate time has come. So Christ also says John 4:35: "Look into the field, for it is already white for harvest" 2c.
Come down, for the winepress is full, and the winepress overflows.
For this is the correct reading according to the Hebrew. And now follows the interpretation of all these things.
For their wickedness is great.
Here he clearly interpreted what he wanted to indicate with the winepress, the harvest, the threshing floor, namely the whole world, in which the grapes are pressed and the wine is available in abundance. This is also how Isaiah used it [Isa. 63, 3]: "I tread the winepress alone, and there is no one among the nations with me" 2c. Thus by the word he has trodden all nations under his kingdom, whether they will or no. Those who are unwilling are judged and condemned; those who are willing repent after they have been judged, 3) and recognize grace; through the recognized grace they become blessed, since faith is nothing other than the right knowledge of the goodness and mercy of God, or the face of God, as the prophets speak. Thus, these passages are all sermons about the power and might of the Word of God.
V. 19. There will be heaps of people here and there in the valley of judgment (in valle concisionis).
XXXX in Hebrew means a great multitude. And here the prophet has used it in the plural, as if to say, many multitudes of people. Multitudes, multitudes, wherever you turn, multitudes are seen. Therefore, this can by no means be understood by the Jewish people alone, since all this is described so abundantly and with exceedingly clear words, as I also reminded above. "The valley of judgment" (vallem concisionis) he calls the
3) In our Vorläge: juäieatl; in the Jenaer: juäieari.
Valley of Jehoshaphat. This word in Hebrew is the one that Paul translated in the letter to the Romans Cap. 9, 28: "The LORD will do a steur on earth" (verbum breviatum faciet Dominus super terram). But it actually means: certainly to circumscribe, to abbreviate and, as we say: "to put into a nutshell". So here: in a circumscribed, certain and limited valley. Our [Latin] interpreter did not translate this well by the word concisio. For the Latin does not call concisum that which is circumscribed or certain and briefly summarized, but that which is divided and cut into many pieces. This word was also used by Daniel in the description of the Antichrist [Dan. 7, 1) 12.]: "For the time and hour was determined for them, how long each should last." This valley is now the church of Christ, as I said above.
V. 20. Sun and moon are darkened.
We have also explained this above in the second chapter. For this is how the prophets describe the matter, that not only the sun and the moon, but also the stars and all creatures seem to be repugnant to those whom the Lord terrifies and whom he wants to deliver into the hands of the enemies. So also in the book of the judges [Cap. 5, 20.] it is written about Sissera: "From heaven they fought against her, the stars in their heats fought against Sissera" 2c. For so it seems to the wicked, as if all creatures resisted them. That is to say: From the very fierce warfare and the many beatings and runnings together a smoke rises up that one cannot even see the sky. This is also known to those who have once practiced this difficult trade of warfare, that it seems to those who are defeated as if all creatures were standing against them, which is also the fear of the
1) Here, only the Erlanger has correct in the margin: van. VII. In the Jena translation in the margin: van. 12; in the Weimar translation in the margin: Dan. 12, 9; in the old translation: Dan. 9, 26. The correct determination of the passage has its special difficulty here, because the word Dan. 7, 12 is not found, but only Dan. 9, 26, but in a different meaning. However, the citation given in our text according to the Vulgate puts it beyond all doubt that we have correctly identified the passage.
death, which is in front of their eyes. But here the prophet has taken the image of a bodily defeat to indicate the greatness and fierceness of the spiritual war, to which Paul also alludes in the Epistle to the Romans, Cap. 1, 18: "God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men."
V. 21. And the LORD will roar out of Zion.
This is the interpretation of all that he has so gloriously foreshadowed about this battle. Here he describes the weapons of this war, but, he says, no sword, not any weapons will be in this war, but the Lord alone will direct this battle by the word. This passage can certainly not be understood from an external battle, but it must be understood from the spiritual battle. As if he wanted to say: Here will be such an attack that the Lord will roar from heaven by sending the Holy Spirit, that is, he will frighten all nations by his word, which he will let be heard, and will let it go out first from Jerusalem. This is what he said above at the end of the second chapter [Cap. 3, 5.], "For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be salvation." See what we said there.
That heaven and earth will shake.
So also Haggai says in the second chapter, v. 7: "There is yet a little while, that I will move heaven and earth, and the sea and the dry land" 2c. For when Christ was born, the angels were heard, and they appeared with the announcement that Christ was born, and all creatures, the stars and the heavens bore witness to his birth.
But the LORD will be a refuge for his people.
Here the prophet again clearly explains what kind of war this will be, namely a spiritual one, that Christ will reign in his people, that is the believers, who would believe in him. And so he will be the confidence of his people; for it is more properly translated by fiducia [than by spes in the Vulgate]. Therefore, in
In this kingdom all human powers, all swords will cease; everything will be done in faith. 1) And then, says the Lord, "you shall know that I the Lord your God dwell in Zion.
V. 22. Then Jerusalem will be holy 2c.
This promise has never been fulfilled in a bodily way, but through Christ or the kingdom of Christ it has been fulfilled in this way. Jerusalem was not called holy because holy people were there, but because of the holy Word of God that reigned there. After Christ was taken up again into heaven, they desecrated this word and left it standing, therefore that sanctification ceased. 2) Therefore it must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, of the church of Christ, which is sanctified and purified by the word.
V. 23: At that time the mountains will be dripping with sweet wine.
For so it is said in the Hebrew [namely mustum, instead of dulcedinem in the Vulgate^. You stand again that they are all figurative speeches. He speaks of such a kingdom of Christ that when it has begun, everywhere on the mountains will be the sweetest must, that is, in all places the exceedingly sweet promise of the gospel will be preached, which is sweet as must.
And the hills will flow with milk.
This is the same thing. Through these two things, both the strong and the little children will be refreshed. [The Word] will conform to the spiritual gifts of all men. So also the apostle Paul interpreted "milk," 1 Cor. 3:2. So the sweetness of the word is indicated.
And all the brooks in Judah will go full of water.
It indicates the abundant presence of the Word or the course of the Word of GOD.
1) Here Dietrich makes this addition: But this is one of the most distinguished passages, which describes the right worship, which will be in the New Testament.
2) Dietrich adds: and the fleshly Jerusalem was destroyed.
And there shall go forth a fountain from the house of the LORD, and it shall water the river Sittim.
In Hebrew it says: And will water the valley of Sittim. Sittim is a place on the other side of the Jordan, where the children of Israel lived after the death of Moses [Deut. 34, 8.], not 3) far from the dead sea towards the east. Therefore the meaning is: From the house of the Lord towards the east a beautiful spring will rise (because he looks at the location of the temple and the door of the temple), which will also flow outside the borders of Israel, that is, to the Gentiles. By this image he indicates the course of the Gospel through the whole world, because according to the figure of the synecdoche he designates by "Sittim" all peoples of the world outside Judea, as if he wanted to say: So great will be the abundance of the Word of God that it will not only be preached to the Jews, but also to all Gentiles, as all the prophets have it.
V. 24. But Egypt shall become desolate.
This is the conclusion in which he briefly repeats the power of the war, which he described so abundantly and with such glorious words, as if to say: When all this will happen, Egypt will be desolate and Edom will be a desert. But this is a strange desolation by sweet wine and milk and a spring. Should not weapons and a great number of men of war be needed here? But, as I have said, it must all be taken spiritually, for it indicates the power and effectiveness of the Word of God. Thus also Jacob describes the kingdom of Christ, Gen. 49, 12: "His eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk." A wonderful king, and in the eyes of the flesh a soft and womanly king, as also the 45th Psalm praises him because of his beauty, and also describes Christ's kingdom in the most beautiful way. He says [v. 5. according to the Vulgate]: "Apply yourself to
3) This non is missing in the Erlangen as well as in the Weimar edition. According to Deut. 34, 1. the territory of the Moabites is "over against Jericho". Therefore the Jenaer offers rightly: non prooni, and in the Zwickauer manuscript stands at the correspondirenden place: non ionM. A deviating reading of Dietrich is not noted.
1478 L. XXV, 125. interpretations on the prophets. W. VI, 2147 f. 1479
with thy ornaments and with thy beauty, go forth happy, and reign." 1) Thus the prophets describe the kingdom of Christ, and what this beauty of Christ is, the Spirit adds in the Psalm [v. 3.], "Blessed are thy lips," 2c. indicating the sweetness of the evangelical word.
V. 26. And I will not leave their blood unscented. 2)
1) In the Vulgate, this verse reads: Lpseistuaet pulvüi'ituüins tun intunüu, prospurs xrousüs, st rvAuu. In both the Erlangen and Weimar editions, there is only a comma in this sentence, before inteocis. In both editions, instead of proeeüs.
2) In the Vulgate: Ht munüado kauAuineni eoruru, qusru from inuuüuverum, to which the interpretation obviously refers. However, both in the Altenburg manuscript and in Dietrich (which the Erlangen and the
That means: Those who were not cleansed before the preaching of the gospel shall now all be cleansed, "because the law could not make anything perfect", as Paul says [Hebr. 7, 19]. But the gospel, this new preaching, will cleanse all and bring them to perfection if they believe. For it proclaims that Christ is our righteousness, wisdom, redemption, and sanctification 3) [1 Cor. 1:30.] Blessed be He forever. Amen. 4)
Weimar edition) is found from v. 25. the wrong keyword: 3uckniii aeternum ünlütaditur.
3) Instead of katistsotioneria in the editions we have assumed kauotiüoationtzru, which is undoubtedly to be read according to the Vulgate.
4) At the end there is the note: IVittsraderAas in xroketzto I^aursutii (August 9) HXXXIIII.