Joel, the second in order of the twelve minor prophets. He is designated in i. 1 as the son of Pethuel, or (as it is given in most of the ancient versions) Bethnel, but of his personal history nothing is told. It can be inferred, however, from his book, with a high degree of probability amounting almost to certainty, that he lived in or near Jerusalem considerably after the exile. The Book of Joel falls into two distinct parts, the separateness of which is obscured for readers of the Authorised
English Version by the use of futures instead of preterites in ii. 18, 19a; the passage is correctly given in narrative form in the Revised Version. The first part, addressed by the prophet in his own name to his contemporaries, relates to a present plague of locusts and the calamities caused by it; i. 2—ii. 11 describes with vivid hyperbolical imagery the dire invasion which threatens the destruction of the country and the arrival of the final consuming judgment known as 'the day of Jehovah;' in ii. 12-17, speaking in the name of Jehovah, he summons the people to a solemn fast at the sanctuary and the priests to intercessory prayer. The second part contains Jehovah's answer, prefaced by the words already referred to: 'Then was the Lord jealous for his land, and had pity on his people; and the Lord answered and said unto his people.' First, a promise of fruitful seasons to make up for the ravages of the locusts is given (ii. 19-26); this is followed by the promise of the outpouring of the Spirit on all the Jews and even upon their servants, and the final coming of the day of the Lord, which is to issue in a divine judgment upon their heathen enemies in the valley of Jehoshaphat ('Jehovah judgeth') and in the final establishment of Jerusalem as a holy city, the centre of fertility to the surrounding land (ii. 27—iii. 21). The style of Joel is regarded by scholars as elegant and pure rather than original; his prophetic conceptions are largely modelled on those of older prophets from Amos to Ezekiel. Until recently, indeed, the prevailing inclination of critics was to assign an early date to the book, most of them placing it in the minority of Joash, king of Judah, because the priests, and not a king, appear as heads of the commonwealth. But this goes better with the post-exilic date, to which other features in the prophecy clearly point. The dispersion of Israel is alluded to in iii. 1, 2; Judah and the people of Jehovah are regarded as synonymous; and the reference to the slave-trade with the Grecians is inconsistent with an early date. Ancient and medieval interpreters commonly took the locusts in Joel's prophecy figuratively or allegorically, and the same view has been argued for, though by no means convincingly, by some recent scholars. There are separate commentaries on the Book of Joel by Credner (1831), Wünsche (1872), and Merx (1879). See also the commentaries on the minor prophets mentioned under HOSEA.