Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat - "wakened," in the opinion of Abarbanel, hints at the awaking of the dead to judgment. The same word х yee`owruw (H5782)] in Job 14:12 is applied to the awaking out of the death sleep. As previously (Joel 3:9) the pagan "mighty men" "woke up" (the same Hebrew) to wage war with God and His people, so now must they awake from the dead to receive their awful sentence from God the Judge (John 5:27-29; Matthew 25:31-32). See Joel 3:2.
For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about - i:e., all the nations from all parts of the earth which have maltreated Israel; not merely, as Henderson supposes, the nations round about Jerusalem (cf. Psalms 110:6, "He shall judge among the pagan, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall would the heads over many countries;" Isaiah 2:4, "He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people;" Micah 4:3; Micah 4:11-13; Zephaniah 3:15-19; Zechariah 12:9; Zechariah 14:3-11; Malachi 4:1-3).