Joel 3:12

Let the heathen be wakened— The prophet seems to deliver the words of this verse by way of answer to his own prayer: "That God would lead down his people, and give them the victory over their enemies." Let the heathen be wakened, should rather be rendered, the heathen shall be wakened: "When they shall find themselves invaded by God's mighty ones, they shall awaken out of their security, or be forced to leave the employments and pleasures of peace, and come up to battle in their own defence." The prophet, as is very usual in the Scripture, here explains the meaning of the word Jehoshaphat: There will I sit to JUDGE, &c. "There will I certainly punish them, and execute the judgment on them which they have deserved;" for the word שׁפט shapat, denotes the whole process of any cause, whether it issue in the acquittal or condemnation of the person impleaded. See the note on Joel 3:2 and Chandler.