Joel 3:21

For I will cleanse their blood [which] I have not cleansed,.... Which some understand, as the Targum, of the Lord's, inflicting further punishments on the, enemies of his people, for shedding their

For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed - I will purge away from Judah the extreme guilt (represented by "blood,"

For, Heb. And. Cleanse; purge away, both by the Spirit of sanctification, and by free pardon in the blood of the Redeemer; by their sufferings also, by the waters of affliction, as well as by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Their blood; their moral pollutions and sinfulness, compared here unto blood, as also ,9; and so men in sinful state are called flesh and blood, . God will pardon and purify believers, and when they are pardoned and purified, nothing attempted against them shall succeed. That I have not cleansed; which before I had not taken away; what was wanting in their sanctification, or justification and reconciliation, I will make up in them and to them. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion; and I am Jehovah dwelling in Zion, whence the law of grace was published, where the wonders of pardoning and sanctifying grace are wrought, that Israel might be a people with whom the holy God might dwell. Now whereas this can be done but in part here on earth, there is a Zion above, whither Jehovah who dwells there will take every saint after the day of judgment, having first vindicated, acquitted, and pronounced them holy and meet for enjoyment of the Holy One.

Joe 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.Ver. 21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed] i.e. I will clear their consciences from dead works, from the stain and sting of all sin, that they may not question their right to these precious promises, but boldly take the comfort of them. I will say unto them, Such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are justified, but ye are sanctified. Be of good cheer, therefore, since your sins, your bloody sins, are forgiven you. Or thus, "I will cleanse their blood," that is, I will declare that the blood of the godly, which the world thought to have been justly spilt, was indeed innocent blood, and that they were slain without cause. This I will do, partly by rooting out and damning their enemies, and partly by clearing their innocence, and crowning their constancy. Thus Mercer, Levely, &c. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion] This is the last promise, but not the least. It referreth, saith Danaeus, to Christ taking our flesh, by the which he dwelt among us, being God manifest in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16 John 1:14, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw the glory thereof," &c. This is reserved to the last place, as the causa et cumulus felicitatis, especially since he dwelleth with his Church for ever, as it is in the precedent verse, and maketh her a true Jehovah Shammah, as she is called Ezekiel 48:35.

(21) I will cleanse . . .—The LXX. translate this sentence, “I will avenge their blood, and not leave it unavenged”—i.e., the “innocent blood” mentioned in Joe 3:19; but the promise seems rather to indicate, as in the English Version, the extension of God’s pardon to those hitherto unpardoned. The Lord dwelleth in Zion—i.e., over a raging and swelling world, probably unconscious of Him, the Lord nevertheless reigns in the heavenly Jerusalem, and all His redeemed shall dwell securely under His eternal rule. “And the name of the city from that day shall be Jehovah Shammah, the LORD IS THERE (Ezekiel 48:35).

Verse 21. For I will cleanse their blood] נקיתי nikkeythi, I will avenge the slaughter and martyrdom of my people, which I have not yet avenged. Persecuting nations and persecuting Churches shall all come, sooner or later, under the stroke of vindictive justice. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.] He shall be the life, soul, spirit, and defense of his Church for ever. THIS prophet, who has many things similar to Ezekiel, ends his prophecy nearly in the same way: Ezekiel says of the glory of the Church, יהוה שמה Yehovah shammah, THE LORD IS THERE. Joel says, יהוה שכן בציון Yehovah shochen betsiyon, THE LORD DWELLETH IN ZION. Both point out the continued indwelling of Christ among his people.

21. And I will hold as innocent (R.V. marg.) their blood which I have not held as innocent] By the desolation of Egypt and Edom, Jehovah will shew openly that the murdered Judahites (Joe 3:19 b) had suffered innocently. So long, namely, as He permitted their blood to remain unavenged, it might be supposed that they had not been slain unjustly: but by the punishment of the murderers (i.e. here, by the desolation of their country) Jehovah declares (implicitly), what He had not declared before, that their blood was innocent (Joe 3:19 b), and had been unjustly shed. Niḳ ?ḳ ?âh, to hold or declare innocent (Exodus 20:7; Job 9:28 al.), is chosen on account of nâḳ ?î’, innocent, in Joe 3:19. and Jehovah dwelleth in Zion] and is here almost equivalent to as truly as: in corroboration of the promise made in the preceding clause, the prophet appeals to the indisputable truth that Jehovah’s dwelling-place is in Zion. So Hosea 12:5 “and (= as truly as) Jehovah is the God of Hosts, Jehovah is his memorial (= name).”

For I will cleanse her blood that I have not cleansed - The word rendered “cleansed” is not used of natural cleansing, nor is the image taken from the cleansing of the body.

21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed — The meaning is expressed more clearly in margin of R.V., “And I will hold (or, declare) as innocent their blood, that I have not declared