e punishment of the enemies. At the very beginning of chap. iv.
(iii.) the sufferings of Israel, described in chap. i. and ii., and the
judgment upon the heathen, are brought into the closest connection.
According to chap. iv. 1, 2, the gathering of the Gentiles is to take
place at a time when the Lord will return to the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem, _i.e._, according to the constant _usus loquendi_ (compare
my Commentary on Ps. xiv. 7), when He will grant them, mercy, and
deliver them from their misery.[1] But that this misery can be none
other than that described in chap. i. and ii. appears simply from the
fact, that this has been declared to be the close of all the judgments
of God.--We must, _further_, not overlook the article [Pg 321] in
[Hebrew: at-kl-hgviM] in chap. iv. 2, and, accordingly, must not
translate, "I will gather all nations," but "all _the_ nations." And
how could this be explained in any other way than--all the nations
which are spoken of in the preceding chapters under the image of
locusts? But of special importance is the second part of the verse:
"And I plead there with them concerning My people, and My heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and distributed My
land."[2] It is quite impossible that there should here be the mention
of anything which happened before the time of Joel. Whatever period we
may assign to him, he belongs, at all events, to a time in which a
scattering of Israel among the Gentiles, and a distribution of their
land, had not as yet taken place. _Credner_, indeed, believes that
the calamities under Jehoram are sufficient to account for these
expressions. "At that time," he says, "the Edomites revolted from
Judah; Libnah, which belonged to Judah In the stricter sense, rebelled;
the Arabs and Philistines invaded the kingdom and plundered its
capital; those inroads did then not terminate without a diminution of
the territory of Judah." But all this is irrelevant; the discourse
concerns the distribution of the land of the _Lord_. The rebellion of a
heathen tributary people does not, therefore, here come under
consideration. Just as little can we see what Libnah has to do here. It
belonged, it is true, to the kingdom of Judah; but the heathen nations
had nothing to do with its rebellion;--for this, according to 2 Kings
viii. 22, and 2 Chron. xxi. 10, proceeded from the inhabitants, who
were dissatisfied with the bad government of the king, and was speedily