Joel 2 · Verse 28

Joel 2:28

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joel 2:28, King James Version

Joel 2:28 in other translations

BSBAnd afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
WEB“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
ASVAnd it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
YLTAnd it hath come to pass afterwards, I do pour out My Spirit on all flesh, And prophesied have your sons and your daughters, Your old men do dream dreams, Your young men do see visions.
DARBYAnd it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
BBEAnd after that, it will come about, says the Lord, that I will send my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, your old men will have dreams, your young men will see visions:
WebsterAnd it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

What does Joel 2:28 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
28. afterward--"in the last days" (Is 2:2) under Messiah after the invasion and deliverance of Israel from the northern army. Having heretofore stated the outward blessings, he now raises their minds to the expectation of extraordinary spiritual blessings, which constitute the true restoration of God's people (Is 44:3). Fulfilled in earnest (Ac 2:17) on Pentecost; among the Jews and the subsequent election of a people among the Gentiles; hereafter more fully at the restoration of Israel (Is 54:13; Jr 31:9, 34; Eze 39:29; Zec 12:10) and the consequent conversion of the whole world (Is 2:2; 11:9; 66:18-23; Mi 5:7; Ro 11:12, 15). As the Jews have been the seedmen of the elect Church gathered out of Jews and Gentiles, the first Gospel preachers being Jews from Jerusalem, so they shall be the harvest men of the coming world-wide Church, to be set up at Messiah's appearing. That the promise is not restricted to the first Pentecost appears from Peter's own words: "The promise is (not only) unto you and to your children, (but also) to all that are afar off (both in space and in time), even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Ac 2:39). So here "upon all flesh." I will pour out--under the new covenant: not merely, let fall drops, as under the Old Testament (Joh 7:39). my spirit--the Spirit "proceeding from the Father and the Son," and at the same time one with the Father and the Son (compare Is 11:2). sons ... daughters ... old ... young--not merely on a privileged few (Nu 11:29) as the prophets of the Old Testament, but men of all ages and ranks. See Ac 21:9; 1Co 11:5, as to "daughters," that is, women, prophesying. dreams ... visions--(Ac 9:10; 16:9). The "dreams" are attributed to the "old men," as more in accordance with their years; "visions" to the "young men," as adapted to their more lively minds. The three modes whereby God revealed His will under the Old Testament (Nu 12:6), "prophecy, dreams, and visions," are here made the symbol of the full manifestation of Himself to all His people, not only in miraculous gifts to some, but by His indwelling Spirit to all in the New Testament (Joh 14:21, 23; 15:15). In Ac 16:9; 18:9, the term used is "vision," though in the night, not a dream. No other dream is mentioned in the New Testament save those given to Joseph in the very beginning of the New Testament, before the full Gospel had come; and to the wife of Pilate, a Gentile (Mt 1:20; 2:13; 27:19). "Prophesying" in the New Testament is applied to all speaking under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and not merely to foretelling events. All true Christians are "priests" and "ministers" of our God (Is 61:6), and have the Spirit (Eze 36:26, 27). Besides this, probably, a special gift of prophecy and miracle-working is to be given at or before Messiah's coming again.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 28 Shall come to pass afterward - אחרי כן acharey ken, "after this;" the same, says Kimchi, as in the latter days, which always refers to the days of the Messiah; and thus this prophecy is to be interpreted: and we have the testimony of St. Peter, Act 2:17, that this prophecy relates to that mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit which took place after the day of pentecost. Nor is there any evidence that such an effusion took place, nor such effects were produced, from the days of this prophet till the day of pentecost. And the Spirit was poured out then upon all flesh, that is, on people of different countries, speaking the languages of almost all the people of the earth; which intimated that these were the first-fruits of the conversion of all the nations of the world. For there was scarcely a tongue in the universe that was not to be found among the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Jews, Cappadocians, people of Pontus, of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia, who were residents at Jerusalem at that time; and on whom this mighty gift was poured out, each hearing and apprehending the truths of the Gospel, in his own language wherein he was born. Thus we have Divine authority for saying, that was the fulfillment of this prophecy by Joel. And the mighty and rapid spread of the Gospel of Christ in the present day, by means of the translation of the Scriptures into almost all the regular languages of the world, and the sending missionaries to all nations, who preach the Gospel in those tongues, are farther proofs that the great promise is in the fullest progress to be speedily fulfilled, even in the utmost sense of the words. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - Shall preach - exhort, pray, and instruct, so as to benefit the Church. Your old men shall dream dreams - Have my will represented to them in this way, as the others by direct inspiration. Your young men shall see visions - Have true representations of Divine things made upon their imaginations by the power of God; that they shall have as full an evidence of them as they could have of any thing that came to the mind through the medium of the senses.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joel 2:28-32
The promise began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it was continued in the converting grace and miraculous gifts conferred on both Jews and Gentiles. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, only go before the judgment of the world in the last day. Calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him, and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this, conscientious obedience to him. Those only shall be delivered in the great day, who are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Joel 2:28 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהָיָ֣הve.ha.Yahand it will beH1961
אַֽחֲרֵי\־'a.cha.rei-afterH310
כֵ֗ןKhenthusH3651
אֶשְׁפּ֤וֹךְ'esh.PokhI will pour outH8210
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
רוּחִי֙ru.Chispirit myH7307
עַל\־'al-onH5921
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
בָּשָׂ֔רba.SarfleshH1320
וְנִבְּא֖וּve.ni.be.'Uand they will prophesyH5012
בְּנֵיכֶ֣םbe.nei.Khemsons yourH1121
וּבְנֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑םu.ve.no.tei.Khemand daughters yourH1323
זִקְנֵיכֶם֙zik.nei.Khemold [men] yourH2205
חֲלֹמ֣וֹתcha.lo.MotdreamsH2472
יַחֲלֹמ֔וּןya.cha.lo.Munthey will dream !H2492
בַּח֣וּרֵיכֶ֔םba.Chu.rei.Khemyoung men yourH970
חֶזְיֹנ֖וֹתchez.yo.NotvisionsH2384
יִרְאֽוּ\׃yir.'Uthey will seeH7200

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joel 2:28

  • Acts 2:16-21

    But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: …

  • Ezekiel 39:29

    Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

  • Isaiah 32:15

    Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

  • Acts 2:39

    For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

  • Acts 2:2-4

    And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

  • Isaiah 44:3

    For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

  • Zechariah 12:10

    And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

  • Acts 11:15-18

    And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

  • Proverbs 1:23

    Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

  • John 7:39

    (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

  • Acts 15:7-8

    And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

  • Acts 10:44-47

    While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
that I.
Pr 1:23; Isa 32:15; 44:3; Eze 39:29; Joh 7:39; Ac 2:16-18
upon.
Isa 40:5; 49:6; Zec 12:10; Lu 3:6; Ac 2:2-4,33,39; 10:44-47
Ac 11:15-18; 15:7,8
your daughters.
Isa 54:13; Ac 21:9; Ga 3:28
dream.
Ge 37:5-10; Nu 12:6; Jer 23:28

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Joel 2:27

    And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

  • Joel 2:28

    And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

  • Joel 2:29

    And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Read all of Joel 2

Joel 2:28 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y será que después de esto, derramaré mi Espíritu sobre toda carne, y profetizarán vuestros hijos y vuestras hijas; vuestros viejos soñarán sueños, y vuestros mancebos verán visiones.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und danach wird es geschehen, daß ich meinen Geist ausgießen werde über alles Fleisch; und eure Söhne und eure Töchter werden weissagen, eure Greise werden Träume haben, eure Jünglinge werden Gesichte sehen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et erit post hæc: effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem, et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiæ vestræ: senes vestri somnia somniabunt, et juvenes vestri visiones videbunt.