Book of Joel Chapter 3 Vs. 8

 The Lord Judges the Nations

And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it. Joel 3:8

And I will... That is, deliver them into their hands, to dispose of them. This is thought to have been literally fulfilled in the Tyrians, when thirty thousand of them were sold for slaves, upon the taking of their city by Alexander, who put some of them into the hands of the Jews, they are being in friendship with him.

And I will sell...

מָכַר

mâkar

maw-kar'

A primitive root; to sell, literally (as merchandise, a daughter in marriage, into slavery), or figuratively (to surrender): - X at all, sell (away, -er, self).

It mystically designs the power that the Jewish church, converted, and in union with Gentile Christians, will have over the antichristian states.

and they shall... The inhabitants of Sheba, a country by the Jews reckoned the uttermost parts of the earth (see Mat. 12:42). These are not the same with the Sabeans, the inhabitants of Arabia Deserts, that took away Job's oxen and asses. But rather those who were the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, which lay at a greater distance.

your sons...

בֵּן

bên

bane

From H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like H1, H251, etc.): - + afflicted, age, [Ahoh-] [Ammon-] [Hachmon-] [Lev-]ite, [anoint-]ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, [Assyr-] [Babylon-] [Egypt-] [Grec-]ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant[-est], whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

and your daughters...

בַּת

bath

bath

From H1129 (as feminine of H1121); a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively): - apple [of the eye], branch, company, daughter, X first, X old, + owl, town, village.

into the hand...

יָד

yâd

yawd

A primitive word; a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.), in distinction from H3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote: - (+ be) able, X about, + armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, X bounty, + broad, [broken-] handed, X by, charge, coast, + consecrate, + creditor, custody, debt, dominion, X enough, + fellowship, force, X from, hand [-staves, -y work], X he, himself, X in, labour, + large, ledge, [left-] handed, means, X mine, ministry, near, X of, X order, ordinance, X our, parts, pain, power, X presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, + swear, terror, X thee, X by them, X them-selves, X thine own, X thou, through, X throwing, + thumb, times, X to, X under, X us, X wait on, [way-] side, where, + wide, X with (him, me, you), work, + yield, X your-selves.

of the children...

בֵּן

bên

bane

From H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like H1, H251, etc.): - + afflicted, age, [Ahoh-] [Ammon-] [Hachmon-] [Lev-]ite, [anoint-]ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, [Assyr-] [Babylon-] [Egypt-] [Grec-]ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant[-est], whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

of Judah...

יְהוּדָה

y^ehûdâh

yeh-hoo-daw'

From H3034, celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory: - Judah.

and they shall sell...

מָכַר

mâkar

maw-kar'

A primitive root; to sell, literally (as merchandise, a daughter in marriage, into slavery), or figuratively (to surrender): - X at all, sell (away, -er, self).

to the Sabeans... Trading merchants who lived in Arabia (1Kgs. 10; Jer. 6:20).

for the Lord... Whose counsels and decrees can never be frustrated. This, in an ancient book of the Jews called Mechilta, is referred to the prophecy of Noah concerning Canaan, whose sons inhabited Tyre, a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren (Gen. 9:25).

שְׁבָאִי

sh^ebâ'ı̂y

sheb-aw-ee'

Patronymic from H7614; a Shebaite or descendant of Sheba: - Sabean.

Whatever they did to Judah happened to them in return. God is just in His judgment. These Sabeans were Arab traders.

to...

אֶל אֵל

'êl 'el

ale, el

(Used only in the shortened constructive form (the second form)); a primitive particle, properly denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, that is, near, with or among; often in general, to: - about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both . . . and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).

a people...

גֹּי גּוֹי

gôy gôy

go'ee, go'-ee

Apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts: - Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

far off: ...

רָחֹק רָחוֹק

râchôq râchôq

raw-khoke', raw-khoke'

From H7368; remote, literally of figuratively, of place or time; specifically precious; often used adverbially (with preposition): - (a-) far (abroad, off), long ago, of old, space, great while to come.

for...

כִּי

kı̂y

kee

A primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjugation or adverb; often largely modified by other particles annexed: - and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured [-ly], + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, who, yea, yet.

The divine judgment on these nations would be perfectly appropriate. The Lord would rouse His dispersed people and put them in the position of slave traders. They would sell the sons and daughters of the Phoenicians and Philistines as slaves to the Sabeans (cf. Job 1:13-15), an Arabian people noted for their commercial activities (cf. “Sheba” in Eze. 27:22-23).

the Lord...

יְהֹוָה

y^ehôvâh

yeh-ho-vaw'

From H1961; (the) self-Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: - Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.

hath spoken...

דָּבַר

dâbar

daw-bar'

A primitive root; perhaps properly to arrange; but used figuratively (of words) to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue: - answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use [entreaties], utter, X well, X work.

Lo! I will stir them up from the place to which ye have sold them, And I will return your deed upon your head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Shebans, to a nation far off; for Jehovah hath spoken.

The divine judgment on these nations would be perfectly appropriate. The Lord would rouse His dispersed people and put them in the position of slave traders. They would sell the sons and daughters of the Phoenicians and Philistines as slaves to the Sabeans (cf. Job 1:13-15), an Arabian people noted for their commercial activities (cf. Sheba in Eze. 27:22-23).

The judgment threatened here probably was fulfilled, at least in part, in the fourth century b.c. Allen explains, The people of Sidon were sold into slavery by Antiochus III in 345 b.c., while the citizens of Tyre and Gaza were enslaved by Alexander in 332 b.c. (The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, p. 114). Perhaps Jews were involved in some of the transactions.