Yes, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will you render me a recompense? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own head;
and what.
Judges 11:12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
2 Chronicles 21:16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
2 Chronicles 28:17,18 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives…
O Tyre.
Amos 1:6-10,12-14 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: …
Zechariah 9:2-8 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise…
will ye.
Ezekiel 25:12-17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; …
swiftly.
Deuteronomy 32:35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Isaiah 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Isaiah 59:18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
Are you rendering against Me a recompense?
The term "recompense" suggests a repayment or retaliation. This implies that Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia might believe they are justified in their actions against Israel, perhaps as a form of vengeance or retribution. In the ancient Near Eastern context, conflicts often involved cycles of revenge. However, the question underscores the futility of attempting to repay God, who is sovereign and just.
If you retaliate against Me,
This phrase highlights the seriousness of their actions as being directly against God. Retaliation against God is portrayed as a grave error, emphasizing the divine protection over Israel. The notion of retaliation suggests a cycle of violence and retribution common in ancient conflicts, but it also points to the spiritual reality that opposing God's will is ultimately self-destructive.
I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
Here, God promises a swift and decisive response to any acts of retaliation. The imagery of recompense "upon your heads" indicates personal and direct consequences for their actions. This reflects the biblical theme of divine justice, where God ensures that those who oppose Him and His people face the consequences of their actions. It also echoes the principle found in Romans 12:19, where God declares that vengeance belongs to Him. The assurance of swift justice serves as a warning to the nations and a comfort to Israel, affirming God's active role in defending His people.
• Tyre and Sidon were wealthy Phoenician port-cities (see Isaiah 23:1-9; Ezekiel 26–28), while Philistia’s coastal towns (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath) had long warred against Israel (1 Samuel 17:4; 2 Kings 18:8). God calls them out by name—literal peoples who had harmed His covenant nation.
• By asking, “What do you have against Me?” the Lord reveals that hostility toward His people is taken personally (Zechariah 2:8; Acts 9:4). Their real quarrel is with God Himself.
• Psalm 83:4-7 shows these same neighbors plotting Israel’s destruction; Amos 1:6-10 indicts both Philistia and Tyre for trafficking Hebrew captives. Joel 3:6 will echo that charge.
• The address sets the courtroom scene: the nations stand accused before the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25; Joel 3:2).
• “Recompense” speaks of payback. The Lord asks whether they think they are evening a score. In reality, He has done them no wrong; their desire for revenge is groundless (Psalm 7:8-9).
• Vengeance belongs to God alone (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19). Any attempt to settle accounts with Him is folly, for no one can accuse the Almighty of injustice (Job 40:2; Isaiah 45:9).
• Their brutality—plundering temple treasures and selling Judah’s children—was not correction but greed and spite (Joel 3:5-6). God exposes the emptiness of their claim to retaliate.
• The question underscores moral responsibility: nations, like individuals, cannot escape God’s scrutiny (Psalm 33:13-15; Revelation 20:12).
• Divine retribution is certain and proportional: “As you have done, it will be done to you” (Obadiah 15; see also Psalm 7:15-16; Galatians 6:7).
• “Swiftly and speedily” stresses both certainty and imminence. Compare Zephaniah 1:14 (“The great day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly”) and Isaiah 5:26-30.
• History confirms the prophecy:
– Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for thirteen years (Ezekiel 26:7-11).
– Alexander the Great destroyed Tyre’s island fortress in 332 BC, stripping her wealth (Zechariah 9:3-4).
– Philistia fell to successive empires; by the Maccabean period its identity had largely vanished (Jeremiah 47:4-7).
• Yet Joel looks beyond ancient events to the ultimate “Valley of Decision” where all nations will face the Lord’s verdict (Joel 3:12-14; Revelation 16:14-16).
• God’s promise of swift justice is both a warning to the ungodly and a comfort to His people that evil will not stand (Nahum 1:2-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).
Joel 3:4 is God’s direct challenge to historical enemies who exploited Israel. He exposes their baseless hostility, rejects their attempt at retaliation, and vows immediate, proportional judgment. The verse affirms that attacking God’s people is attacking God Himself, that vengeance is His alone, and that He will unfailingly repay cruelty—both in recorded history and in the climactic day of the LORD.
(4) What have ye to do with me?--Rather, What are ye to me? God, identifying Himself with His people, threatens retaliation upon their enemies for the wrongs they had inflicted upon them. Tyre and Zidon had oppressed the Jews in the time of the judges, and would do so again: the Philistines also were to the last the inveterate enemies of Israel; but in the end, could they measure strength with God?Verses 4-8. - In these verses the prophet pauses before proceeding to describe the final judgment of the world-powers for their hostility to and oppression of his Church, and points out the bitter enmity of neigh-bouring nations to the covenant people in the prophet's own day, with a prediction of the righteous retribution that awaited them. Verse 4. - The northern sea-board of the Phoenicians, including the famous cities of Tyre and Sidon, also the southern sea-coast and plain of the Philistines, with their five principalities, are joined by vegam with the nations notorious for injuring and oppressing the people of God. The words rendered in the Authorized Version, What have ye to do with me? rather mean, What would ye with me? or still better, What are ye to me? that is. how worthless and despicable in my sight! The disjunctive question which follows becomes clearer by adopting the rendering of Keil and Wunsche, Will ye repay me a deed, or do anything against me? that is, will ye repay me some wrong-doing which ye fancy I have inflicted on you? or will ye, without such supposed provocation, and of your own free will, do or attempt to do anything against me? The double question with veim instead of im repeats, in other words or in a modified form, the preceding question; while the question itself, as often, implies a negative sense to the effect that they had neither right nor reason for averting themselves on the people of God - for God here identifies himself with his people - nor for attempting wantonly and gratuitously to harm them. The consequence would only be a swift and speedy return of the mischief on their own head, so that, as is usual with the wicked, they fall themselves into the pit which they dig for others. The idea of revenge rather than of punishment gets too great prominence in the old versions and commentators. The comment of Kimchi is instructive, though more in harmony with the rendering of the Authorized Version than with that which we prefer; it is as follows: "What have I to do with you, that ye enter my land while ye are neighbours? and it behoved you to do good to my people, but ye have not done so; but when ye saw that the kings of the nations (Gentiles)came upon them, ye allied yourselves with them to plunder and spoil.... Why is it, then, that ye are doing evil to me, if ye think to avenge yourselves of me because I have done you evil? When did I do you evil? Or if you will say that of yourselves ye are doing evil to me now, for he that does evil to Israel from his thought of doing evil to me, they are my children... swiftly and suddenly will I return your doing on your own head."