Bible Strands
Joel 2:14
Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Joel addresses Judah between a command to rend their hearts and a call to consecrate a fast, positioning this verse as the conditional hope following a description of God’s compassion.
The words — The Hebrew מִי יוֹדֵעַ (mi yo.de.a) poses the question “who knows?” while יָשׁוּב וְנִחָם (ya.shuv ve.ni.cham) states God may turn and relent, and הִשְׁאִיר אַחֲרָיו בְּרָכָה (hish.'ir 'acharav be.ra.khah) declares He will leave a blessing behind.
The thread — This rhetorical uncertainty mirrors Jonah 3:9, which uses identical phrasing to anticipate averted judgment, and connects to Exodus 32:30, where Moses intercedes with the same expectation of divine intervention.
Why it lands — The passage demands immediate repentance without promising a specific outcome, requiring the reader to act while submitting to God’s sovereign choice to withhold disaster or grant blessing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
Cross-references
- Jonah 3:9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
- Haggai 2:19 Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
- Exodus 32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
- 2 Samuel 12:22 David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’
- 2 Kings 19:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- Joel 1:13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
- Amos 5:15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
- Jonah 1:6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
- Joshua 14:12 Now therefore give me this hill country that the LORD promised me on that day, for you yourself heard then that the Anakim were there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps with the LORD’s help I will drive them out, as the LORD has spoken.”