Joel 3:19

19 Egypt shall be into desolation, and Idumea into desert of perdition; for that that they did wickedly against the sons of Judah, and shedded out innocent blood in their land. (Egypt shall become a desolation, and Edom a wilderness of perdition; because they did wickedly against the people of Judah, and poured out innocent blood in their land.)

Joel 3:19 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 3:19

Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate
wilderness
These two nations having been the implacable enemies of Israel, are here put for the future adversaries of the church of Christ, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan; who will all be destroyed as such, and be no more: Rome is called, spiritually or mystically, Egypt, ( Revelation 11:8 ) ; and Edom is a name that well agrees with it, it signifying "red", as it is with the blood of the saints: and it is common, with the Jewish writers, by Edom to understand Rome; which though it may not be true of all places they so interpret, yet is of many, and so here. Kimchi, by Egypt understands the Ishmaelites, or the Turks; and, by Edom, Rome; for the violence [of] the children of Judah, because they have shed
innocent blood is their land;
either in the land of Judah; or rather in their own land, Egypt and Edom. This respects the violences and outrages committed by the antichristian states upon the true professors of the Christian religion, the Waldenses and Albigenses, and others, whose innocent blood, in great quantities, has been spilled by them. Antichrist is represented as, drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and in whom will be found the blood of all the prophets and saints; and for this reason ruin and destruction will come upon him and his followers, and blood will be given them to drink, for they are worthy, ( Revelation 17:6 ) ( 18:24 ) ( Revelation 16:6 Revelation 16:7 ) .

Joel 3:19 In-Context

17 And ye shall know, that I am your Lord God, dwelling in Zion, in mine holy hill; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and aliens shall no more pass by it. (And ye shall know, that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, on my holy hill/living upon Mount Zion, my holy hill; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and foreigners shall no more pass through, or invade, it.)
18 And it shall be, in that day, mountains shall drop sweetness, and little hills shall flow with milk, and waters shall go by all the rivers of Judah; and a well shall go out of the house of the Lord, and shall moist the strand of thorns. (And it shall be, on that day, the mountains shall drip with sweetness, and the little hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain, or a spring, shall go out of the House of the Lord, and shall water the Shittim Valley.)
19 Egypt shall be into desolation, and Idumea into desert of perdition; for that that they did wickedly against the sons of Judah, and shedded out innocent blood in their land. (Egypt shall become a desolation, and Edom a wilderness of perdition; because they did wickedly against the people of Judah, and poured out innocent blood in their land.)
20 And Judah shall be inhabited [into] without end, and Jerusalem into generation and into generation. (And Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.)
21 And I shall cleanse the blood of them, which I had not cleansed; and the Lord shall dwell in Zion. (And I shall purge unto the blood, that is, unto the death, those whom I have not yet purged; and then the Lord shall live in Zion/and then the Lord shall live upon Mount Zion.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.