Joel 3:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, the Lord of all announces: “What is it to me and to you, Tyre and Sidon and all Galilee of the Gentiles?” On what basis do you choose cruelty against Israel, who is suffering and has been grievously tormented by the Babylonians, attacking maliciously and mocking Me, the one who saves and defends them, daring to both speak and act in hostility toward Me? Thus, very soon your punishment will come; it will fall upon you. You will experience My retribution when I judge you in the valley of Jehoshaphat. You have plundered the wealth of the temple, seized the golden vessels, and dedicated them to honor your deities; this is indeed a grievous sin that deeply offends God. For He has declared: “I will not give my glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8). Indeed, to use objects dedicated to God to beautify the temples of idols suggests that the God of all is of lesser importance, as if those images hold superiority and can save their devotees. Furthermore, it is not sufficient that your wickedness has robbed My temple of its dedicated treasures; you have also delivered the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks. This likely transpired as some Israelites were taken by the heathen, perhaps by the Tyrians or other trading nations, whose purpose is commerce and profit. It appears this also pertains to the advocates of false doctrines who, as if robbing the children of the church, sell them to the wisdom of the Greeks, so that they, filled with confusion, seek after truth unhappily, or even worse, become disobedient and criminal distorters of the truth, while they ought to lead lives aligned with simple doctrine and uphold the true word of God. In doing so, they lead those who are misled beyond the boundaries of what is right. The territory and home of the church reside in the knowledge of truth and the commitment to all that is rigorously examined to certainty. Truly, the golden and silver vessels and the chosen treasures of God can be likened to those who genuinely shine in faith, glorified by the good works and radiating with the beauty of piety. Yet, if any of those who shine in virtue should become ensnared in deceit, the creators of such illusions will undoubtedly hear: “My silver and my gold shall be taken away, and my chosen and my good shall be brought into your storehouses.” This offense is grave and will not go unpunished; for those who sin against our brethren, for whom Christ died, sin against Christ Himself, to whom they will surely give account for their transgressions.

For you have seized My silver and My gold, brought My most precious jewels into your temples, and sold the children of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them from their own land. The Jewish people interpret these words as directed against Tyre, Sidon, and the regions of the Philistines, which during the Jewish exile, particularly after the Romans triumphed over them, pursued the people of God, indeed God Himself in them. For as it is written, He who receives Me receives Him who sent Me (Matthew 10:40). Thus, conversely, those who persecute the people of God are persecuting the very God to whom they belong. I will repay you for what you have done to My people, for you have taken and offered My silver and My gold to your idols, encompassing the treasures of the temple and the most valued items within it, like the golden lampstand, the golden meal offering, the two golden cherubim, the purifying vessels, the bowls, and the golden censers. History shows that it was primarily the Chaldeans who appropriated the Lord's temple vessels and placed them in the temple of Bel, leading to the event where Belshazzar drank from the holy cup, resulting in the sudden fall of his kingdom to the Medes and Persians. However, as it is prophesied that these events will unfold after the great and terrible day of the Lord, with the apostles interpreting it in context with the Lord's resurrection, while the Jews consider it as pertaining to a future judgment, it is reasonable to relate this to the Romans. Vespasian and Titus, after constructing the temple of Peace in Rome, offered the temple vessels and all offerings there, as supported by Greek and Roman historical accounts. At that point, the children of Judah and Jerusalem—not Israel and the ten tribes, who remained in the Midian cities and mountains—were sold to the Greeks, leading to a widespread captivity of the Jewish people. This is associated with Tyre and Sidon to illustrate the vengeance tied to the blood of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, both determined by divine justice. We continue our interpretation allegorically, understanding that Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistines symbolize those who oppress and persecute the people of God—an idea conveyed by Tyre in our interpretation—tempting them toward death, as indicated by the meaning of Sidon, while symbolizing the Philistines as those who wallow in the mud and drink blood. The Lord will soon and easily render them their due, for they have harassed Him. His silver and gold—representing the teachings of Scripture and the profound insights of the faith—have been offered to their false idols. The heretic sells the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem, meaning all those he has led astray to worship his idols, converting them from Christians to Gentiles, seeking to sever them from the faith where they were born of Christ and away from the truth, pushing them into the delusions of paganism. All of this can also be understood in the context of the final judgment, since the principle of retribution applies universally, even when its timing may suggest otherwise. In the Hebrew text, Galilee is rendered as Galiloth, which Aquila translated as "sandy place," while Simmachus defined it similarly, which may refer to the coastal regions of Palestine and not to the fictitious Galilee of the Philistines.