JOEL, BOOK OF

The second of the minor prophets. The Book of Joel can be divided into two parts. Two sermons in which Joel calls the people to prayer and repentance to avert a severe locust plague constitute the first part (1.2–2.17). For his first sermon the prophet seems to use a liturgical framework. After picturing the ravages of the locusts (1.2–12), he urges the priests to assemble the community for a solemn fast (1.13–14), and finally he recites the prayer for the occasion (1.15–20). The second sermon opens with a cry to sound the alarm in Zion and a description of the oncoming locusts as an army (2.1–11). An urgent, moving call to repentance follows (2.12–14) ; the sermon then ends with a renewal of the command to assemble the community for a solemn fast (2.15–17).

The second part (2.18–4.21) opens quietly. Yahweh responds to Israel's repentance, in an oracle announcing the end of the locusts (2.18–20). The prophet replies with a hymn of thanksgiving (2.21–24) ; Yahweh's response continues with promises of prosperity (2.25–27). Suddenly, Joel's vision of the future unfolds the final, climactic day of the lord (yahweh). The description is striking, resembling apocalyptic rather than prophetic literature. The heralds, or symptomatic signs, of that final, messianic Day of Yahweh will be the pouring out of the Spirit (3.1–2) and astronomical, cosmic disturbances (3.3–5) from which Mt. Zion will be a refuge for those who call upon the name of the Lord. The judgment and destruction of the nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (merely a symbolic name, "Yahweh judges") will then take place (4.1–17). A dramatic scene then pictures the nations assembling from every side to war against Yahweh and His people in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Yahweh's judgment on them is an execution, accompanied by dreadful cosmic disorders. Peace and calm then return in the description of the new earth of the messianic age, a peaceful, marvelous country (4.18–21). Judah and Jerusalem will remain continually with Yahweh, who dwells in Zion. The elements in Joel's vision of the final day of Yahweh, taken together, indicate that the work belongs to a literature in the process of transition from simple prophetic to apocalyptic.

Debate continues over the unity of authorship. For various reasons, many recent critics favor a literary unity, e.g., A. Bentzen (1940), A. Lods (1950), A. Weiser (1940), and A. S. Kapelrud (1948). Others hold for a duality of authorship. According to B. Duhm (1911), a Deutero-Joel would have written ch. 3 and 4. Duhm was followed by G. Hölscher (1914), O. Eissfeldt (1934), W. Baumgartner (1947), J. Trinquet (1953), and T. H. Robinson (1938). Robinson would apparently demand a further special author for 4.4–8. The interpretation of the first two chapters is closely connected with this question of the unity of authorship.

The figurative interpretation sees the locust plague as a military invasion or political catastrophe—one of the signs of the Day of Yahweh. Many favoring this interpretation understand as lying in the future the disaster that is described as present, the future being a historical or an eschatological one. The real or "literal" interpretation sees in these chapters a description of an actual locust plague. However, some of these "realists" regard the plague as eschatological: the historical locusts figured in the plagues in Egypt, but the disaster was placed among the final disorders that would herald the Day of Yahweh. Others prefer to interpret this description of an actual locust plague as present. Even here there is a division of opinion. Some commentators maintain that since these passages are concerned with a historical present, whatever is eschatological must be due to a Deutero-Joel. Others claim that this present actual locust plague is viewed in a prophetic perspective that sees the plague as a symptomatic sign of the Day of Yahweh.

Scholarly opinion regarding the date of Joel is fairly unanimous: c. 400 b.c. This date is based on a combination of factors, e.g., the absence of any reference to Jewish kings or to Babylon, the position of the priests and elders as heads of the community, and a strong similarity to several books regarded as late.

Joel's message envisions a final onslaught against Jerusalem, an eschatological conflict between Yahweh and the nations (see Ez ch. 38–39; Zec ch. 14). Yahweh will intervene with cosmic disorders, slaughtering His enemies. This catastrophic divine intervention will usher in the final age, an entirely new age in which God's people will be forever at peace.

Bibliography: r. pautrel, Dictionnaire de la Bible, suppl. ed. l. pirot, et al. (Paris 1928—) 4:1098–1104. Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible (New York 1963) 1173–75. a. robert and a. feuillet, Introduction à la Bible (Tournai 1959) 1:576–578. l. h. brockington, in Peake's Commentary on the Bible, ed. m. black and h. h. rowley (New York 1962) 438a–540d.

[j. moriarity]