Joel 3:3

3 They threw dice for my people. They traded boys for prostitutes. They sold girls so that they could buy wine to drink.

Joel 3:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 3:3

And they have cast lots for my people
Not only parted their land, but cast lots for their persons, Or played at dice for them, how many captives each soldier should have, and which should be their share and property: ninety seven thousand Jews, Josephus F4 says, were carried captive by the Romans, who, very probably, cast lots for them, as was usual in such cases; see ( Nahum 3:10 ) ; and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they
might drink;
either they gave a boy to be prostituted to natural lusts, in lieu of a whore; and a girl to be debauched for a bottle of wine: or they gave a boy for the price of a whore, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it; that is, they gave a boy, instead of money, to a whore, to lie with her, as the eunuch was given to Thais; and they gave a girl to the wine merchant for as much wine as they could drink at one sitting. These phrases both express their uncleanness and intemperance, and also the low price and value they set upon their captives; and is applicable enough to the Papists, notorious for the same abominable lusts.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3.

Joel 3:3 In-Context

1 "In those days and at that time, I will bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 I will gather all the nations. I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will judge them there. They scattered the Israelites, the people who belong to me, among the nations. They divided my land.
3 They threw dice for my people. They traded boys for prostitutes. They sold girls so that they could buy wine to drink.
4 "Now what do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will quickly pay you back for what you have done.
5 You took my silver and my gold. You brought my finest treasures to your temples.
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