The Meaning of Joel 2:14 Explained

Joel 2:14

KJV: Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

YLT: Who knoweth -- He doth turn back, Yea -- He hath repented, And He hath left behind Him a blessing, A present and libation of Jehovah your God?

Darby: Who knoweth? He might return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, an oblation and a drink-offering for Jehovah your God?

ASV: Who knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal-offering and a drink-offering unto Jehovah your God?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who knoweth  [if] he will return  and repent,  and leave  a blessing  behind  him; [even] a meat offering  and a drink offering  unto the LORD  your God? 

What does Joel 2:14 Mean?

Context Summary

Joel 2:12-27 - The Averting Of Judgment
To rend the garment is easy, but a broken and contrite heart can be imparted only by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The love of God should bring us to repentance. He takes no pleasure in our miseries and if men repent and turn from their sin they find an immediate and loving welcome to the Father's heart and home. Joel had called for the trumpet to announce war; he now directs the trumpet blast to summon the people, from the highest to the lowest, to plead for help. Prayer and true repentance and faith bring an immediate answer. As the husband yearns over his erring but repentant wife, and is indignant with those who have maltreated her, so will Jehovah remove from us, when we turn to Him, those who have cruelly oppressed us.
The great things Jehovah did against Egypt and Babylon are an earnest of what He will do again. The earth, Joel 2:21; the lower animals, Joel 2:22; and, above all, the children of Zion, literal and spiritual, Joel 2:23, have good reason to rejoice in what awaits them. God promises not only to forgive sin, but to make us happy and well provided as if the locust and cankerworm had never settled upon our lives. [source]

Chapter Summary: Joel 2

1  He shows unto Zion the terribleness of God's judgment
12  He exhorts to repentance;
15  prescribes a fast;
18  promises a blessing thereon
21  He comforts Zion with present,
28  and future blessings

What do the individual words in Joel 2:14 mean?

Who knows [if] He will turn and relent and leave behind Him a blessing a grain offering and a drink offering for Yahweh your God -
מִ֥י יוֹדֵ֖עַ יָשׁ֣וּב וְנִחָ֑ם וְהִשְׁאִ֤יר אַֽחֲרָיו֙ בְּרָכָ֔ה מִנְחָ֣ה וָנֶ֔סֶךְ לַיהוָ֖ה ؟ אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם פ

יוֹדֵ֖עַ  knows 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
יָשׁ֣וּב  [if]  He  will  turn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
וְנִחָ֑ם  and  relent 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָחַם  
Sense: to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.
וְהִשְׁאִ֤יר  and  leave 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁאַר  
Sense: to remain, be left over, be left behind.
אַֽחֲרָיו֙  behind  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
בְּרָכָ֔ה  a  blessing 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בְּרָכָה  
Sense: blessing.
מִנְחָ֣ה  a  grain  offering 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִנְחָה  
Sense: gift, tribute, offering, present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering.
וָנֶ֔סֶךְ  and  a  drink  offering 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶסֶךְ 
Sense: drink offering, libation, molten image, something poured out.
לַיהוָ֖ה  for  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
؟ אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation