What Does Joel 2:16 Mean in the King James?
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The gathering reaches every edge of life, from elders to nursing infants, from private chambers to a wedding canopy, so no one stands outside the summons.
THE MEANING
The call reaches you as part of a whole community: elders, children, nursing infants, bride, and groom all enter the same urgent gathering. Here, being set apart takes shape in the assembly itself, with every age and season of life included.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that a sacred gathering is only for people old enough to answer for themselves dissolves here: nursing infants are gathered too, and the bride and groom leave their private celebration.
THE ROOT
אָסְפוּ
ʾāsfū
GROWS FROM
אסף
To gather, collect, bring together.
“gather” in this verse is ʾāsfū. The Hebrew repeats this same verb for the people and then for the children and nursing infants. The repeated root carries the summons from the whole crowd down to its most dependent members; both are gathered into one assembly.
ALSO GROWS
asif: Ingathering; harvest.
אָסִיף
The harvest is what has been gathered in, echoing the verse’s movement of bringing everyone together.
ne'esaf: Gathered, collected.
נֶאֱסַף
This related form makes the shared root visible: the people and infants alike are gathered into the assembly.
קַדְּשׁוּ
qaddəshū
GROWS FROM
קדש
To set apart, consecrate.
“sanctify” in this verse is qaddəshū. The command sets apart the congregation as a whole for this moment. Set-apartness here takes form in a gathering that includes every age and life season named in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; consecrated.
קָדוֹשׁ
This familiar form shows the quality the command gives the assembled congregation.
miqdash: Sanctuary; set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary branch connects set-apartness with a place of gathering, while this verse names the whole congregation as set apart.
THE PATTERN
The summons to gather makes room for the whole community, including people distinguished by age, dependence, or life season.
Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.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:THE THREAD
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:“Sanctify” comes from the same Hebrew root, קדש, in both verses. The earlier call sets apart the fast and assembly; this verse shows the breadth of the congregation gathered into that set-apart moment.
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