What Does Joel 3:21 Mean in the King James?
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
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
Here, “cleanse” reaches beyond washing: the blood left unavenged is brought to account because the LORD dwells in Zion.
THE MEANING
Blood that still awaits reckoning is not forgotten or made clean by pretending the harm never happened; the promise is that it will be set right. The LORD dwells in Zion, where unresolved violence is answered by his presence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that unavenged blood has been overlooked falls away: the verse says it remains within the reach of God’s justice.
THE ROOT
וְנִקֵּיתִי
wəniqqēṯî
GROWS FROM
נקה
n-q-h
To be clean or clear; in causative forms, to cleanse, clear, or acquit.
“cleanse” in this verse is wəniqqēṯî. This root can describe washing clean or clearing someone of liability. With blood as its object, the word holds cleansing and vindication together: the bloodshed is addressed by bringing its unresolved guilt to account.
ALSO GROWS
naqiy: Clean, innocent, or free of guilt.
נָקִי
This branch shows that the root reaches beyond surface washing to the question of whether guilt has been cleared.
yenaqqeh: He clears or acquits; used in Exodus 34:7 in the phrase “will not clear the guilty.”
יְנַקֶּה
The same root carries a judicial sense, illuminating how Joel’s cleansing of blood includes setting its unresolved claim right.
שֹׁכֵן
shochen
GROWS FROM
שכן
sh-k-n
To settle down, dwell, or abide.
“dwelleth” in this verse is shochen. This root names settled presence, not a passing appearance. Its branches name both the dwelling place and the neighbor, joining sacred dwelling with nearness; the verse grounds its promise of justice in the LORD’s abiding presence.
ALSO GROWS
mishkan: Dwelling place or tabernacle.
מִשְׁכָּן
The same root names a place of dwelling, emphasizing that the LORD’s presence in Zion is settled.
shakhen: Neighbor, one who dwells nearby.
שָׁכֵן
This branch carries the nearness contained in dwelling: the unresolved blood is not beyond the reach of the one who abides there.
THE PATTERN
Bloodshed is heard, brought under judgment, and not left beyond God’s reach.
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?THE THREAD
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.Joel uses נקה for blood left uncleared; Psalm 19:12 uses the same root in “cleanse thou me.” Their shared seed joins cleansing with clearing what remains under guilt, whether it is public bloodshed or a hidden fault.
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