Bible Strands
Joel 3:4
Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia immediately after describing their exploitation of Israel through lot-casting and slave trading. The oracle functions as a direct judicial confrontation within a broader judgment sequence.
The words — The Hebrew מָה (mah) opens a rhetorical "what?" that challenges the nations' stated grievance, while גְּלִיל֣וֹת (ge.li.Lot) concretely names the "territories" or coastal regions bound to Philistia.
The thread — The motif of measured divine retaliation against these specific coastal powers recurs in Amos 1:6, Jeremiah 47:4, and Isaiah 34:8. Each passage ties foreign aggression to a forthcoming day of recompense.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that God tracks national exploitation of His people and will execute swift, proportional justice. It demands acceptance of divine intervention as the only reliable remedy for systemic oppression.
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
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
Cross-references
- Amos 1:6 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
- Jeremiah 47:4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
- Isaiah 34:8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- Isaiah 59:18 So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.
- Isaiah 23:1 This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
- Ezekiel 25:12 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt,
- Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Judges 11:12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”
- 2 Chronicles 21:16 Then the LORD stirred against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and Arabs who lived near the Cushites.
- 2 Chronicles 28:17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives.