and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.
Parallel translations
- KJV The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
- BSB You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.
- NKJV Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.
- NASB and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,
- NLT You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves to the Greeks, sending them far from home. Trafficking God's people deepens the nations' guilt.
Overview
Joel adds the grievous charge of selling God's people into distant slavery among the Greeks, severing them from their homeland. This cruel trafficking compounds the nations' offense against God and His covenant people. The verse displays God's tender regard for His own and His resolve to avenge their exile, anticipating the redemption Christ accomplishes by freeing His people from bondage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ezek 27:13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise.
- Joel 3:3and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
- Deut 28:68Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
- Joel 3:8and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Deut 28:32Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 3:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.