TheBook of Joel (Hebrew: ספר יוֹאֵלSefer Yo'él) is aJewish prophetic text containing a series of "divine announcements". The first line attributes authorship to "Joel the son of Pethuel".[1] It forms part of the Book of thetwelve minor prophets or theNevi'im ("Prophets") in theHebrew Bible, and is a book in its own right in the ChristianOld Testament where it has three chapters.[2] In the New Testament, his prophecy of the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit upon all people was notably quoted bySaint Peter in hisPentecost sermon.
The Book of Joel’s frequent allusions to earlier Hebrew Bible texts and signs of literary development suggest a late origin and its potential to have been a unifying piece within the prophetic canon.[3]
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book inHebrew are of theMasoretic Text tradition, which includes theCodex Cairensis (895 CE),the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),Aleppo Codex (10th century),Codex Leningradensis (1008).[4] Fragments containing parts of this book in Hebrew were found among theDead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q78 (4QXIIc; 75–50 BCE) with extant verses 1:10–20, 2:1, 2:8–23, and 3:6–21;[5][6][7][8] and 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1:12–14, 2:2–13, 3:4–9, 3:11–14, 3:17, 3:19–2;[5][6][9][10] Schøyen MS 4612/1 (DSS F.117; DSS F.Joel1; 50–68 CE) with extant verses 3:1–4);[6][11] andWadi Murabba'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75–100 CE) with extant verses 2:20, 2:26–27, 2:28–32, and 3:1–16.[6][12]
After the initial attribution, the book may be broken down into the following sections:
Lament over a greatlocust plague and a severe drought (1:1–2:17).
The effects of these events on agriculture, farmers, and on the supply of agricultural offerings for theTemple in Jerusalem, interspersed with a call to national lament (1:1–20).
A moreapocalyptic passage comparing the locusts to an army, and revealing that they are God's army (2:1–11).
A call to national repentance in the face of God's judgment (2:12–17).[14]
Promise of future blessings (2:18–32 or 2:18–3:5).
Banishment of the locusts and restoration of agricultural productivity as a divine response to national penitence (2:18–27).
Future prophetic gifts to all of God's people, and the safety of God's people in the face of cosmic cataclysm (2:28–32 or 3:1–5).
In the 1611King James Bible, the Book of Joel is formed by three chapters: the second one has 32 verses, and it is equivalent to the union of the chapter 2 (with 27 verses) and chapter 3 (with 5 verses) of other editions of the Bible.[18]
The differences of the divisions are as follows:[19]
As there are no explicit references in the book to datable persons or events, scholars have assigned a wide range of dates to the book. The main positions are:
Ninth century BC, particularly in the reign ofJoash – a position especially popular among nineteenth-century scholars (making Joel one of the earliestwriting prophets). The enemies mentioned – Philistines, Phoenicians, Egypt and Edom – are consistent with this date.[20] The lack of mention of the Assyrians or Babylonians, who were the main enemies of Judah during the eighth, seventh and sixth centuries, leads many conservative scholars to suggest the choice is between this date, and a fourth century date.[20]
c. 630–587 BC, in the last decades of the kingdom of Judah (contemporary withJeremiah,Ezekiel,Habakkuk)
c. 520–500 BC, contemporary with the return of the exiles and the careers ofZechariah andHaggai.
The decades around 400 BC, during thePersian period (making him one of the latest writing prophets), or around 350 BC. This is supported by the apparent mention of the587 BC destruction of Jerusalem as a past event in 3:1 and 3:17, and the mention ofGreeks in 3:6.[20]
Some scholars argue that further additions to Joel took place during thePtolemaic period (c. 301-201 BCE) due to its use of earlier texts and what they perceive to be a "late" perspective on Yahweh and the nations.[22]
Evidence produced for these positions includes allusions in the book to the wider world, similarities with other prophets, and linguistic details. Some commentators, such asJohn Calvin, attach no great importance to the precise dating.
TheMasoretic text places Joel betweenHosea andAmos (the order inherited by the Tanakh and Old Testament), while theSeptuagint order is Hosea–Amos–Micah–Joel–Obadiah–Jonah. The Hebrew text of Joel seems to have suffered little fromscribal transmission, but is at a few points supplemented by the Septuagint,Syriac, andVulgate versions, or byconjectural emendation.[23] While the book purports to describe a plague of locusts, some ancient Jewish opinion saw the locusts asallegorical interpretations of Israel's enemies.[24] This allegorical interpretation was applied to the church by manychurch fathers. Calvin took a literal interpretation of chapter 1, but allegorical view of chapter 2, a position echoed by some modern interpreters. Most modern interpreters, however, see Joel speaking of a literal locust plague given a prophetic orapocalyptic interpretation.[25]
The traditional ascription of the whole book to the prophet Joel was challenged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by a theory of a three-stage process of composition: 1:1–2:27 were from the hand of Joel, and dealt with a contemporary issue; 2:28–3:21/3:1–4:21 were ascribed to a continuator with an apocalyptic outlook. Mentions in the first half of the book to theday of the Lord were also ascribed to this continuator. 3:4–8/4:4–8 could be seen as even later. Details of exact ascriptions differed between scholars.
This splitting of the book's composition began to be challenged in the mid-twentieth century, with scholars defending the unity of the book, the plausibility of the prophet combining a contemporary and apocalyptic outlook, and later additions by the prophet. The authenticity of 3:4–8 has presented more challenges, although a number of scholars still defend it.[26]
There are many parallels of language between Joel and other Old Testament prophets. They may represent Joel's literary use of other prophets, or vice versa.
Joel 3:10 / 4:10 is a variation of Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3's prophecy, "They will beat theirswords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks",[28] instead commanding, "Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears."[29]
The table below represents some of the more explicit quotes and allusions between specific passages in Joel and passages from the Old and New Testaments.
^Hagedorn, Anselm C. (2021). Julia M. O'Brien (ed.).The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets. Oxford University Press. pp. 411–423.doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190673208.013.39.This lack of historical detail may allow for the view that Joel was added at a later stage. Already a cursory reading of Joel demonstrates that many of the issues recurring in the Book of the Twelve are mentioned so that 'Joel forms a necessary (but not the only) interpretive key for unifying major literary threads in the Twelve' (Nogalski 2017, 138). Even if one remains skeptical of such a reading of the book within a larger literary context, it is difficult to overlook the fact that Joel shows a high degree of awareness of and engagement with earlier literary traditions from the Hebrew Bible (Bergler 1988; Coggins 2000, 21–24). The book has rightly been described as scholarly prophecy (Jeremias 2002). A striking feature of that short book is the frequency of allusions to other parts of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes in what appear to be direct quotations, more often by way of indirect associations. (Coggins 1996, 75) This engagement with earlier texts, especially those relating to the 'Day of Yahweh,' attests to a late origin of the book as part of the prophetic canon (Barton 2001, 16–18; Jeremias 2007, 3–5). Though there are influential voices defending the unity of Joel (e.g., Rudolph 1971; Wolff 1977, 7; Assis 2013), even a cursory reading of the final form of the book shows that the book is the result of a longer literary development. Next to the superscription, two parallel structured inclusions (1:27 and 2:17) point to the addition of material. 'Then afterward I will' at the beginning of 2:28 [Heb. 3:1]) seems to refer back to 'as before' in 2:23, also indicating that the chapter was added later and may serve as a transition from chapters 1 and 2 to chapter 3 [Heb. chap. 4]). Since the book only generally speaks of 'foreign people,' the concretization of the nations in 3:4–8 [Heb. 4:4–8]) can quickly be identified as a later expansion (Jeremias 2007, 49; Hagedorn 2011, 274–278). Lastly, the catchwords between 3:14–21 [Heb. 4:14–21] ) and Amos 1:1–2 point to a deliberate link of both prophetic books at a later stage (Nogalski 1993a, 24–27; Wöhrle 2006).
^Kee, Howard Clark; Meyers, Eric M.; Rogerson, John; Levine, Amy-Jill; Saldarini, Anthony J. (2008). Chilton, Bruce (ed.).The Cambridge Companion to the Bible (2, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 217.ISBN978-0521691406.
^Patterson, Richard D.The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 7. Zondervan.
^“Joel.” Hagedorn, Anselm C. The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets. Edited by Julia M. O'Brien. pp. 411–423. “The book's engagement with earlier texts ( especially those relating to the ‘Day of Yahweh’) attests to its late origin, and its ending reflects late theological thinking about the relationship between Israel and the nations, portraying Yahweh as the ruler of the whole world…These theological debates point to a very late origin of Joel 2:28-3:21 [Heb. chaps. 3-4]. The universal judgment of the nations probably belongs to discourse of the late Persian period (Steck 1996), while the vision of Joel 2:28-32 [Heb. chap. 3] may best be understood during the relative peace of Ptolemaic times.”
Coggins, Richard.Joel and Amos. New Century Bible Commentary. (Sheffield Academic Press, 2000)
Crenshaw, James L.Joel: a New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible. (Yale University Press, 1995)
Finley, Thomas J.Joel, Amos, Obadiah: an Exegetical Commentary. (Biblical Studies Press, 2003)
Gæbelein, Frank E. (ed)Daniel and the Minor Prophets. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 7. (Zondervan, 1985)
Garrett, Duane A.Hosea, Joel. The New American Commentary. (B&H Publishing, 1997)
Hubbard, David Allen.Joel and Amos: an Introduction and Commentary.Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. (Inter-Varsity Press, 1990)
Limburg, James.Hosea–Micah. Interpretation – a Bible Commentary for Teaching & Preaching. (Westminster John Knox, 1988)
Mason, Rex.Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Joel. Old Testament Guides. (JSOT Press, 1994)
McQueen, Larry R.M.Joel and the Spirit: the Cry of a Prophetic Hermeneutic. (CTP, 2009)
Ogden, Graham S. & Deutsch, Richard R.A Promise of Hope – a Call to Obedience: a Commentary on the Books of Joel & Malachi. International Theological Commentary (Eerdmans/ Hansel, 1987)
Price, Walter K.The Prophet Joel and the Day of the Lord. (Moody, 1976)
Prior, David.The Message of Joel, Micah, and Habakkuk: Listening to the Voice of God. The Bible Speaks Today. (Inter-Varsity Press, 1999)
Pohlig, James N.An Exegetical Summary of Joel. (SIL International, 2003)
Roberts, Matis (ed).Trei asar : The Twelve Prophets: a New Translation with a Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and Rabbinic Sources. Vol. 1: Hosea. Joel. Amos. Obadiah. (Mesorah, 1995)
Robertson, O. Palmer.Prophet of the Coming Day of the Lord: the Message of Joel. Welwyn Commentary. (Evangelical Press, 1995)
Simkins, Ronald.Yahweh's Activity in History and Nature in the Book of Joel. Ancient Near Eastern Texts & Studies 10 (Lewiston, New York:Edwin Mellen Press, 1991)
Simundson, Daniel J.Hosea–Micah. Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries. (Abingdon, 2005)
Sweeney, Marvin A.The Twelve Prophets, Vol. 1: Hosea–Jonah. Berit Olam – Studies in Hebrew Narrative & Poetry. (Liturgical Press, 2000)
Wolff, Hans Walter.A Commentary on the Books of the Prophets Joel & Amos. Hermeneia – a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. (Augsburg Fortress, 1977)
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