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Joel 3:8

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Joel 3:8 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
Joel 3:8 — American Standard Version

Context — Joel 3

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
5Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things,
6and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border;
7behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head;
8and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
9Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.
← Joel 3:7Joel 3:9 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, etc.] That is, deliver them into their hands, to dispose of them; this is thought to have been literally fulfilled in the Tyrians, when thirty thousand F79 of them were sold for slaves, upon the taking of their city by Alexander, who put some of them into the hands of the Jews, they being in friendship with him: it mystically designs the power that the Jewish church, converted, and in union with Gentile Christians, will have over the antichristian states: and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off; the inhabitants of Sheba, a country by the Jews reckoned the uttermost parts of the earth;…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“sell them to . . . Sabeans--The Persian Artaxerxes Mnemon and Darius Ochus, and chiefly the Greek Alexander, reduced the PhÅ“nician and Philistine powers. Thirty thousand Tyrians after the capture of Tyre by the last conqueror, and multitudes of Philistines on the taking of Gaza, were sold as slaves. The Jews are here said to do that which the God of Judah does in vindication of their wrong, namely, sell the PhÅ“nicians who sold them, to a people "far off," as was Greece, whither the Jews had been sold. The Sabeans at the most remote extremity of Arabia Felix are referred to (compare Jer 6:20; Mat 12:42).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“I will sell your sons - God Himself would reverse the injustice of people. The sons of Zion should be restored, the sons of the Phoenicians and of the Philistines sold into distant captivity. Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and then by Alexander, who sold “more than 13,000” of the inhabitants into slavery ; Sidon was taken and destroyed by Artaxerxes Ochus, and it is said, above 40,000 of its inhabitants perished in the flames . The like befell the Philistines (see the notes at Zephaniah 2:4-7). The Sabaeans are probably instanced, as being the remotest nation in the opposite direction, a nation, probably, the partner of Tyre’s traffic in people, as well as in their other merchandise, and…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“And I will sell - Give them up into the hands of the Jews. Joel 3:9”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“I will: Deu 32:30; Jdg 2:14, Jdg 4:2, Jdg 4:9 your sons: Isa 14:1, Isa 14:2, Isa 60:14 Sabeans: Job 1:15; Eze 23:42 far off: Jer 6:20 Joel 3:9”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification