Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOEL

The second of the Minor Prophets. The book opens with a call for the elders and the people of the land to lament the unprecedented devastation caused by a locust plague. Joel links this plague to the coming day of Yahweh, compares it to an enemy assault on Jerusalem, and summons the people to return to Yahweh. In response to the people’s ritual acts of mourning, Joel holds out the hope that Yahweh, at whose command the locust army advanced, will bring redemption. Indeed, Yahweh will restore the land and the agriculture ravaged by the locusts. Yahweh will also deliver the people from their oppressive neighbors. Yahweh will gather all foreign peoples to the valley of Jehoshaphat (a symbolic place meaning “Yahweh judges”) to defeat them in battle and thereby restore Jerusalem as a holy city.

Previous interpretations of Joel have focused on several literary and historical problems. These include the composition and structure of the book, its date and historical setting, and its appropriation and interpretation of earlier traditions.

To even the most casual reader the book appears to consist of two distinct parts: 1:1–2:27 and 2:28–3:21(MT 3:1–4:21). The first part focuses on a natural catastrophe that is presently devastating Judah, whereas the second deals with Yahweh’s future judgment on the foreign peoples who have oppressed the people of Judah. The first part is descriptive and prophetic, but the second is often characterized as apocalyptic or eschatological. However, both parts of the book display several similarities. The day of Yahweh plays a prominent role in each part, and similar phrases and literary style can be detected across both parts.

Most earlier scholars and some contemporary scholars have argued that the two parts were written by two distinct authors: the prophet Joel, who experienced the effects of an actual locust plague, and a later eschatological author who edited (by inserting references to the day of Yahweh) and supplemented the prophet’s original message, giving it a more transcendent meaning. Most contemporary scholars, however, argue that Joel is the author of both parts of the book, though they often differ on the relationship of the two parts. Some scholars assert that the second part is simply a later eschatological expansion of the first, whereas others argue that both parts form an organic unity. These latter scholars have been especially effective in demonstrating that the division of the book into two distinct parts — 1:1–2:27 and 2:28–3:21(4:21) — ignores both the content and the structure of the book. The day of Yahweh is an integral theme to both parts of the book, and brings unity to the whole. Moreover, the structural midpoint of the book comes at the juncture between 2:17 and 2:18, not at the division between 2:27 and 2:28(3:1).

The structure of the book is illustrated by an outline of its contents:

I. A natural catastrophe heralds the day of Yahweh (1:1–2:17)

A. Lament over a natural catastrophe (1:1-20)

1. An unprecedented locust plague (1:1-4)

2. A call to lament the agricultural devastation (1:5-14)

3. Lamentation in the wake of the plague (1:15-20)

B. A new locust plague as Yahweh’s
invading army (2:1-11)

C. A prophetic summons for the people to return to Yahweh (2:12-17)

II. Judgment and redemption on the day of Yahweh (2:18–3:21[4:21])

A. Judgment on the locust plague
(2:18-32[3:5])

1. Destruction of the locusts and
restoration of the land (2:18-27)

2. Redemption of the people on the day of Yahweh (2:28-32[3:1-5])

B. Judgment on foreign peoples
(3:1-21[4:1-21])

1. Crimes against the people of Judah (3:1-8[4:1-8])

2. Yahweh summons the foreign
peoples and redeems the people of Judah (3:15-21[4:15-21])

The book of Joel offers few clues to its historical setting. Consequently, scholars have dated the book from as early as the 9th century b.c.e. during the reign of King Joash of Judah to as late as the 3rd century. The growing consensus among scholars is that the book probably dates from the Persian period after the rebuilding of the temple (515), and possibly after Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls (445; cf. 2:9), yet before the destruction of Sidon during the Tennes rebellion (345; cf. 3:4-8[4:4-8]).

The text is more explicit on the occasion for which the book was written. A locust plague had consumed Judah’s agriculture (1:4), bringing even the people’s participation in the temple cult to an end (v. 13). The effects of the annual summer drought further intensified the devastation (1:19-20). Moreover, a new locust infestation — described metaphorically as an invading army — was assaulting the land (2:3-9), suggesting that the locust plague extended over two agricultural seasons. The book also complains that the peoples of Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia had plundered the land of Judah and sold its people to the Greeks (3:4-8[4:4-8]). However, this complaint appears to be more indicative of Judah’s weak status under the Persian Empire, intensifying the people’s shame (2:17, 27), rather than the specific occasion of the book.

The book of Joel is characterized by numerous verbal parallels with earlier prophetic books. Although many of these parallels are verbatim, Joel’s literary dependency on these books cannot be assumed. The highly formulaic nature of these parallels suggests that Joel was simply drawing upon common sayings and themes in the prophetic tradition. Two motifs that play a prominent role in the book of Joel are the day of Yahweh and the enemy from the north.

Employing stereotypical language, Joel identifies the locust plague with the coming day of Yahweh. Whereas the prophetic tradition identified this day with Yahweh’s judgment on his enemies — his own people or foreigners — Joel transforms the day of Yahweh into a complex event that includes an assault against the land of Judah from which Yahweh will deliver his people and Yahweh’s judgment on foreign peoples. Joel makes this transformation by linking the day of Yahweh with the enemy from the north tradition. Joel specifically identifies the locust army with the “northerner” (2:20; locust plagues typically enter Israel from the south). In the tradition of Ezek. 38–39, Joel compares the locusts with the enemy army that Yahweh will bring against the land of Judah for the sole purpose of destroying it and displaying Yahweh’s greatness (3:1-21[4:1-21]).

The book of Joel is a response to a severe locust plague which was devastating the agriculture of Judah. In contrast to the people who found the devastation to be a source of shame, Joel recognized in the locust plague the realization of the day of Yahweh and the fulfillment of earlier prophetic expectations. Joel thus drew upon prophetic traditions to proclaim to the people Yahweh’s purposes. Yahweh will restore the land and redeem the people. Just as Yahweh brought the locust army against the land of Judah only to destroy it, so also Yahweh will gather all the foreign peoples to Jerusalem to destroy them and thereby redeem his own people in Zion.

Bibliography. G. W. Ahlström, Joel and the Temple Cult of Jerusalem. VTSup 21 (Leiden, 1971); J. L. Crenshaw, Joel. AB 24C (New York, 1995); A. S. Kapelrud, Joel Studies. UUÅ 48/4 (Uppsala, 1948); R. A. Simkins, Yahweh’s Activity in History and Nature in the Book of Joel (Lewiston, 1991); H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos. Herm (Philadelphia, 1977).

Ronald A. Simkins

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOEL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)