The Jubilance of Joel:
INTRODUCTION
Joel, or
seeing as there is no “J” in Hebrew, “Yoel,” meaning, “Yah is Elohim” or
“YaHWeH is God,” was a Prophet called to prophesy against the Southern Kingdom
of Judah. His one line linage in Joel 1:1 doesn’t give us a lot to go on in
trying to figure out who Joel was. The context of his book leads many to
believe he may have been a Levite due to his familiarity with the Priesthood
and the numerous references to the Temple and Zion. And because there is no
reference to a king or watershed post event in Judah’s history we must play
detective to determine when Joel prophesied. He mentions enemies such as the
Phoenicians, Philistines, Egyptians and Edomites which when knowing when these
people existed and wielded some power, gives us a clue to when Joel ministered
to Judah. And because of Joel’s position in the collection of the Twelve
Prophets, or the “Minor Prophets” of the Tanak (Old Testament) as Christians
choose to refer to them, causes us to believe that the Jews who compiled the
collection together believed it to be the oldest book addressed to the Kingdom
of Judah. Considering the content of the book, full of references to the
Priesthood and the Temple, it would make sense this prophecy was written during
the reign of Johash, who was crowned king as a young boy and was under the
guardianship of the Kohen Ha Gadol (High Priests) Jehoiada (II Kings 11:21). An
invasion of locust and drought are mentioned, which further helps us date the
writing. Also, Joel’s theme and literary style closely resembles the prophetic
writings of 8th century Prophets like Isaiah and Amos, moreso than Prophets who
prophesied after the exile such as Zechariah and Malachi. Thus, taking all
these factors into consideration we can safely assume that Joel was written
approximately 835-830 BCE in the 9th century. In Halachos Gedolos in the Seder
Olam, says that Joel prophesied with Nahum and Habakkuk during King Manasseh’s
reign (697- 642 BCE) In the Talmud, Taanis 5a it says Joel was a contemporary
of Elisha (892-832 BCE) and based on I Samuel 8:2 the Midrash Rabba says Joel
was the son of the Prophet Samuel which would then put Joel in the 10th
century.
Joel, in
Christian renderings has three chapters and the Hebrew Scriptures it is broken
down into four and so due to the public domain status of the King James
Version, I will use it.
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