Bible Strands
Joel 3:8
I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses the nations that previously trafficked Judah’s people, pronouncing judgment immediately before commanding a call to war.
The words — The verb מָכַרְתִּי (ma.khar.Ti) literally means “I will sell,” and יְהוּדָ֔ה (ye.hu.Dah) identifies the people of Judah as the immediate recipients of this transaction.
The thread — The motif of divine recompense through human trafficking appears in Judges 2:14, while the Sabeans reappear as agents of plunder in Job 1:15, and future submission of oppressors is promised in Isaiah 60:14.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the LORD actively reverses human exploitation by orchestrating the very transaction that once victimized His people. It requires the reader to acknowledge divine sovereignty over geopolitical commerce and retributive justice.
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
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 60:14 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
- Job 1:15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Judges 2:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Isaiah 14:1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Judges 4:2 So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
- Judges 4:9 “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,
- Jeremiah 6:20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
- Ezekiel 23:42 accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head.