3:3 and they cast lots for my people.
They traded 1 a boy for a prostitute;
they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. 2
1:11 You stood aloof 3 while strangers took his army 4 captive,
and foreigners advanced to his gates. 5
When they cast lots 6 over Jerusalem, 7
you behaved as though you were in league 8 with them.
1 tn Heb “gave.”
2 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).
3 tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”
4 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.
5 tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.
6 sn Casting lots seems to be a way of deciding who would gain control over material possessions and enslaved peoples following a military victory.
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”