Joel 2:13 kjv
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Joel 2:13 nkjv
So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
Joel 2:13 niv
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:13 esv
and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Joel 2:13 nlt
Don't tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead."
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
Joel 2 13 Cross References
Verse | Text | Reference |
---|---|---|
Ex 34:6 | The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness... | God's character revealed to Moses. |
Num 14:18 | ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression...’ | God's nature described by Moses. |
Ps 86:15 | But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. | Echoes God's compassionate character. |
Ps 103:8 | The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. | Further confirms God's attribute. |
Neh 9:17 | ...you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love... | Describes God's nature in a prayer of confession. |
Jonah 4:2 | ...I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and one who relents from disaster. | Direct parallel, Jonah's understanding of God. |
2 Chron 7:14 | if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways... | Calls for genuine internal repentance. |
Ps 51:17 | The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. | Prioritizes heart-felt contrition over rituals. |
1 Sam 16:7 | For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. | God's focus on the heart, not externals. |
Jer 4:4 | Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts... | Calls for spiritual "circumcision" of the heart. |
Deut 30:6 | And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart... so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart... | God's enabling of heartfelt devotion. |
Matt 15:8 | ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ | Condemnation of external worship without heart. |
Rom 2:28-29 | For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly... True circumcision is a matter of the heart... | True devotion is inward, not outward. |
Ez 18:21 | “But if a wicked person turns from all his sins... he shall surely live; he shall not die.” | Emphasis on turning from sin for life. |
Isa 55:7 | Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him... | Call to forsake wicked ways and thoughts for compassion. |
Lam 3:32 | For though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. | God's compassion amidst grief. |
Jer 18:8 | if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. | God relenting from judgment based on repentance. |
2 Pet 3:9 | The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. | God's patience leading to repentance. |
Acts 3:19 | Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out... | Call to repent for forgiveness. |
Luke 13:3 | No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. | Urgency of repentance to avoid perishing. |
Joel 2 verses
Joel 2 13 Meaning
Joel 2:13 is a powerful call to genuine repentance. It urges God's people to rend their hearts, not merely their outer garments, as a sign of sorrow for sin. This signifies that true remorse and turning to God must originate from the innermost being, not just external religious rituals. The verse immediately provides the foundational reason for this call: the character of God, who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from intended judgment. It emphasizes His compassion and willingness to forgive, inviting a heartfelt return.
Joel 2 13 Context
Joel 2:13 is situated within the prophet Joel's dire message concerning an impending or already occurring Day of the Lord. The initial verses (2:1-11) describe a terrifying locust plague, likened to a conquering army, serving as a powerful warning of divine judgment. The atmosphere is one of desolation and impending doom. Following this graphic depiction, Joel delivers an urgent summons to repentance (2:12-17), calling for national lamentation, fasting, and weeping. Verse 13 directly addresses the nature of this repentance, differentiating true inner remorse from mere outward display, setting the stage for the promised divine restoration and outpouring of the Spirit contingent on this genuine turning. Historically, the audience would have been familiar with outward acts of mourning like garment rending, and Joel’s message critiques ritualistic piety, emphasizing sincerity to the One who scrutinizes the heart.
Joel 2 13 Word analysis
- "Rend your hearts" (קִרְע֤וּ לְבַבְכֶם֙ qira'u ləḇaḇḵem):
- "Rend" (qira'u, imperative plural from qara'): Literally "to tear" or "to rip." Historically, rending garments was a visible sign of extreme grief, shock, or sorrow (Gen 37:34, 2 Sam 1:11).
- "Your hearts" (ləḇaḇḵem): "Heart" (levav or lev) in Hebrew thought is not merely the seat of emotion but the totality of the inner being – the will, intellect, conscience, desires, and the very core of one's being. It encompasses motivations and true spiritual disposition. The call is for a tearing open of this inner core, expressing deep anguish, brokenness over sin, and a turning of the will.
- Significance: It contrasts superficial display with genuine inner transformation. God desires sincerity over mere ritualistic conformity.
- "And not your garments" (וְלֹ֥א בִגְדֵיכֶֽם wəlo ḇiḡdəḵem):
- "Not" (velo): A strong negation. It doesn't prohibit physical expressions of mourning per se, but states that the inner rending must take precedence and be the actual source, rendering the outward action meaningless without it.
- "Your garments" (biḡdəḵem): Refers to the outer clothing worn.
- Significance: This is a direct polemic against hypocritical piety where external acts of worship or penitence are performed without a corresponding inner change. It critiques hollow religious performance.
- "For" (ki):
- Significance: Introduces the crucial reason or basis for the call to heart-felt repentance: the very character and nature of God. It provides hope and motivation.
- "He is gracious" (ḥannun):
- Meaning: God's compassionate inclination towards undeserving humanity; His undeserved favor. It highlights His inherent kindness and benevolent disposition.
- "And merciful" (wəraḥum):
- Meaning: Root relates to "womb" (rechem), suggesting deep, tender, parental compassion or pity. It signifies empathy and a strong desire to alleviate suffering or extend pardon.
- "Slow to anger" (’ereḵ ’ap·payim):
- Meaning: Literally "long of nostrils" or "long of face." The nose/nostrils often signify anger in Hebrew idiom (snorting implies anger). This phrase denotes extreme patience and forbearance, holding back wrath even when provoked. God does not quickly punish.
- "And abounding in steadfast love" (wəraḇ-ḥe·seḏ):
- "Abounding" (rav): Plentiful, great in quantity.
- "Steadfast love" (chesed): A multifaceted term for God’s loyal love, covenant faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and enduring loyalty. It speaks of God’s committed love, especially within a covenant relationship, going beyond mere pity to active commitment to His people's well-being despite their failings.
- "And relents from disaster" (wəniḥam
al hara
ah):- "Relents" (niḥam): To feel sorrow, pity, regret, or to change one's mind (often translated as "repent" in contexts of human action, but for God, it implies a change in announced judgment due to a change in human action, not a change in His eternal character or purpose). God's pronouncements of judgment are often conditional upon human response.
- "From disaster" (
al hara
ah): Concerning the announced evil, calamity, or misfortune. - Significance: This crucial phrase provides the incentive for repentance. It demonstrates God's willingness to turn away from impending judgment when people truly turn to Him. It's not that God changes His mind about His character or purposes, but He changes His action in response to human repentance.
Joel 2 13 Bonus section
The call in Joel 2:13 is universal, applicable not only to a nation facing judgment but also to individual believers. It stands as a timeless truth that God consistently prioritizes inward truth over outward show, demonstrating His unchanging nature across Old and New Testaments. The "rending of the heart" foreshadows the New Covenant's emphasis on transformation from within by the Spirit, where true circumcision is of the heart (Rom 2:29). This verse also implies the principle of conditional judgment: God's plans of disaster can be averted through national or individual repentance. The profound descriptions of God's character serve not only as an invitation to repentance but also as a comfort, knowing that the God who calls them back is not a vindictive deity but one overflowing with compassion.
Joel 2 13 Commentary
Joel 2:13 distills the essence of biblical repentance. It contrasts superficial religious practice with a deeply personal, inner turning towards God. The common practice of tearing garments symbolized grief, but Joel pierces through this outward show to demand genuine heart-brokenness for sin. This verse reveals God's ultimate desire: sincere fellowship over ritual. The imperative to "rend your hearts" underscores that the primary arena for change is within the individual's core being, affecting one's thoughts, intentions, and affections.
The latter half of the verse offers a profound theological motivation. It describes God's attributes, echoing the foundational revelation to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. He is presented as infinitely "gracious" and "merciful," terms that denote His undeserved favor and deep, empathetic compassion. His being "slow to anger" reveals divine patience and long-suffering, while being "abounding in steadfast love" (hesed) emphasizes His unfailing, loyal covenant faithfulness. The culminating assurance, "and relents from disaster," seals the hope that genuine repentance has tangible consequences: God's willingness to withhold deserved punishment. This verse affirms that God's justice is always tempered by His boundless mercy, offering an open door for reconciliation and restoration for those who truly humble themselves.
Examples for practical usage:
- When a believer confesses sin, the focus should not be on rote words but on genuine sorrow and a desire to turn away from the sin.
- Participation in church rituals or ministries should flow from a heart committed to Christ, rather than merely fulfilling an obligation or seeking external recognition.