Psalms 36:9

36:9 For you are the one who gives

and sustains life. ¹ 

Jeremiah 2:13

2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:

they have rejected me,

the fountain of life-giving water, ² 

and they have dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

Joel 3:18

3:18 On that day ³  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ⁴ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ⁵ 

All the dry stream beds ⁶  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ⁷  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ⁸ 

[36:9]  ¹ tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.

[2:13]  ² tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the Lord, the source of life, health, and vitality, with useless idols that cannot do anything.

[3:18]  ³ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ⁵ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ⁶ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.