Joel 3:3

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 

Obadiah 1:11

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.

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  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).

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”

[1:11]  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.

[1:11]  ⁵ tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.

[1:11]  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.

[1:11]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”