Joel 3:3

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink.

Obadiah 1:11

1:11 You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive,

and foreigners advanced to his gates.

When they cast lots over Jerusalem,

you behaved as though you were in league with them.


tn Heb “gave.”

sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”

tn Or perhaps, “wealth” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The Hebrew word is somewhat ambiguous here. This word also appears in v. 13, where it clearly refers to wealth.

tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.

sn Casting lots seems to be a way of deciding who would gain control over material possessions and enslaved peoples following a military victory.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”