Joel 3 · Verse 18

Joel 3:18

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Joel 3:18, King James Version

Joel 3:18 in other translations

BSBAnd in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.
WEBIt will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters; and a fountain will flow out from the LORD’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
ASVAnd it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
YLTAnd it hath come to pass, in that day, Drop down do the mountains juice, And the hills do flow with milk, And all streams of Judah do go with water, And a fountain from the house of Jehovah goeth forth, And hath watered the valley of Shittim.
DARBYAnd it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the water-courses of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
BBEAnd it will come about in that day that the mountains will be dropping sweet wine, and the hills will be flowing with milk, and all the streams of Judah will be flowing with water; and a fountain will come out from the house of the Lord, watering the valley of acacia-trees.
WebsterAnd it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

What does Joel 3:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. mountains ... drop ... wine--figurative for abundance of vines, which were cultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of the hills of Palestine (Am 9:13). hills ... flow with milk--that is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yielding milk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures. waters--the great desideratum for fertility in the parched East (Is 30:25). fountain ... of ... house of ... Lord ... water ... valley of Shittim--The blessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah's house at Jerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moab and Israel, beyond Jordan (Nu 25:1; 33:49; Jos 2:1; Mi 6:5). "Shittim" means "acacias," which grow only in arid regions: implying that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessing from Jerusalem. So Eze 47:1-12 describes the waters issuing from the threshold of the house as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in Zec 14:8 the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on the other side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated (compare Psa 46:4; Re 22:1).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 In that day - After their return from their captivities. The mountains shall drop down new wine - A poetic expression for great fertility. Happy times: peace and plenty. The vines shall grow luxuriantly on the sides of the mountains; and the hills shall produce such rich pastures that the flocks shall yield abundance of milk. And all the rivers of Judah - Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water. And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord - See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel 47, to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the grace of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond Jordan; Num 33:49; Jos 3:1; but as no stream of water could flow from the temple, pass across Jordan, or reach this plain, the valley of Shittim must be considered symbolical, as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as Shittim may signify thorns, it may figuratively represent the most uncultivated and ferocious inhabitants of the earth receiving the Gospel of Christ, and being civilized and saved by it. We know that briers and thorns are emblems of bad men; see Eze 2:6. Thus all the figures in this verse will point out the happy times of the Gospel: the mountains shall drop down new wine; the hills flow with milk; the thorny valleys become fertile, etc. Similar to those almost parallel words of the prince of poets: - Mistaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. Ipsae lacte domum referent destenta capellae Ubera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones. Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista, Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva: Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella. Virg. Ed. 4:20. Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring, And fragrant herbs the promises of spring. The goats with streaming dugs shall homeward speed; And lowing herds, secure from lions, feed. Unlabour'd harvests shall the fields adorn, And cluster'd grapes shall grow on every thorn: The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep. Dryden.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joel 3:18-21
There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Joel 3:18 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.

וְהָיָה֩ve.ha.Yahand it will beH1961
בַיּ֨וֹםvai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַה֜וּאha.Hu'<the> thatH1931
יִטְּפ֧וּyi.te.Futhey will dripH5197
הֶהָרִ֣יםhe.ha.Rimthe mountainsH2022
עָסִ֗יס'a.Sissweet wineH6071
וְהַגְּבָעוֹת֙ve.ha.ge.va.'Otand the hillsH1389
תֵּלַ֣כְנָהte.Lakh.nahthey will goH1980
חָלָ֔בcha.LavmilkH2461
וְכָל\־ve.kholand allH3605
אֲפִיקֵ֥י'a.fi.Kei[the] ravines ofH650
יְהוּדָ֖הye.hu.DahJudahH3063
יֵ֣לְכוּYe.le.khuthey will goH1980
מָ֑יִםMa.yimwaterH4325
וּמַעְיָ֗ןu.ma'.Yanand a springH4599
מִבֵּ֤יתmi.Beitfrom [the] house ofH1004
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
יֵצֵ֔אye.Tze'it will go forthH3318
וְהִשְׁקָ֖הve.hish.Kahand it will waterH8248
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
נַ֥חַלNa.chal[the] wadi ofH5158
הַשִּׁטִּֽים\׃ha.shi.Tim<the> ShittimH7851

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

Cross references for Joel 3:18

  • Isaiah 35:6

    Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

  • Ezekiel 47:1-12

    Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. …

  • Revelation 22:1-2

    And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

  • Zechariah 14:8

    And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

  • Amos 9:13-14

    Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

  • Numbers 25:1

    And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

  • Isaiah 30:25

    And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

  • Psalms 46:4

    There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

  • Isaiah 41:17-18

    When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

  • Exodus 3:8

    And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

  • Job 29:6

    When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

  • Isaiah 55:12-13

    For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the mountains.
Job 29:6; Isa 55:12,13; Am 9:13,14
and all.
Isa 30:25; 35:6; 41:17,18
flow. Heb. go. and a.
Ps 46:4; Eze 47:1-12; Zec 14:8; Re 22:1,2
the valley.
Nu 25:1; Mic 6:5

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

Context

  • Joel 3:17

    So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

  • Joel 3:18

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

  • Joel 3:19

    Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

Read all of Joel 3

Joel 3:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y será en aquel tiempo, que los montes destilarán mosto, y los collados fluirán leche, y por todos los arroyos de Judá correrán aguas: y saldrá una fuente de la casa de Jehová, y regará el valle de Sittim.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und es wird geschehen, an jenem Tage, da werden die Berge von Most triefen, und die Hügel von Milch fließen, und alle Bäche Judas werden von Wasser fließen; und eine Quelle wird aus dem Hause Jehovas hervorbrechen und das Tal Sittim bewässern.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et erit in die illa: stillabunt montes dulcedinem, et colles fluent lacte, et per omnes rivos Juda ibunt aquæ; et fons de domo Domini egredietur, et irrigabit torrentem spinarum.