In the first place, the work is undated and gives few clues as to the time of origin. List of books in the hebrew bible believers portal. Watch our overview video on the book of joel, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. The book of joel is the second work in the collection of the minor prophets known as trei asar, or the twelve, and is ascribed in the superscription to joel son of petuel. His name bdb 222 is a combination of two names for god. The first verse of this short book names joel jehovah is god the son of pethuel as author. Several theories are based on the books of amos or isaiah quoting the book of joel, which would suggest the book of joel was written before the book of amos or the book of isaiah.
Joel is the second of the twelve prophets in the book of the twelve in hebrew scripture. Special attention is given to the idea that hebrew deserves a special place in the evolution of writing because it was supposedly the language in which vowels were first incorporated into an alphabet or system of writing. He is mentioned by name only once in the hebrew bibleold testament, in the introduction to his own brief book, as the son of pethuel joel 1. Any hebrew name that began with j plus a vowel was usually an abbreviation for yhwh.
Joel is referred to only once in the new testament acts 2. The book switches from 3rd to 2nd person, from joel speaking about the lord to the lord speaking. He is the head translator for jewish lights multivolume prayerbook and commentary series, my peoples prayerbook. Besides this very short message we do not know anything about the person and circumstances of joels life. Book of joel overview insight for living ministries. An inspired book of the hebrew scriptures written by joel the son of pethuel. Yuil was a prophet of ancient israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and the author of the book. This, then, would mean that joels prophecy was written before that of amos, who began prophesying sometime between 829 and 804 b. Summary of the book of joel the story of the bible. He is mentioned by name only once in the hebrew bible, in the introduction to that book, as the son of pethuel. He is mentioned by name only once in the hebrew bible, in the introduction to that book, as the son of pethuel joel 1. Only through a misunderstanding of the method of hebrew narrative will the demand be urged, in opposition to this construction. Joel is the second of the twelve prophets in the book of the twelve.
A prophet between calamity and hope the library of hebrew bibleold testament studies. There is no further information either in the superscription or from indications in the text regarding the time or place of the prophet. In england, it was first used as a christian name after the protestant reformation. The book of joel introduction to the book of joel in the bible. The author even conjectures that the hebrew name for. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. Unlike the other books, joel tells us a story about a terrible plague of locusts that seems to. Some eschatologies take the form of an apocalypse most postdate the hebrew bible. His book of joel is one of the shortest in the bible but his image of the relentless locust swarm is one of the most haunting and recognizable in biblical scriptures joel 1. The term denotes the short length of the text in relation to the longer prophetic texts. This book provides an interesting history of the evolution of hebrew. The day of pentecost literal 24hour day the day of the lord the 7year tribulation the day of christ the year millennium 8.
Bible book number 29joel watchtower online library. He is mentioned by name only once in the hebrew bible. The jewish canon lumps all together as the twelve and divides. In essence, the book of joel speaks of three all important days. The book of the twelve prophets was originally on one parchment roll because of the brevity of the text, and together formed one book of the 24 books of hebrew scripture. Tanakh jewish bible 24 books21 books in bold are part of the ketuvim protestant old testament 39 books catholic old testament 46 books eastern orthodox old testament 51 books original language torah pentateuch or the five books of moses bereishit genesis genesis genesis hebrew shemot exodus exodus exodus hebrew vayikra leviticus leviticus leviticus hebrew bamidbar numbers numbers.
Joel hoffman lectures and teaches classes on biblical and rabbinic hebrew and translation at hebrew union collegejewish institute of religion. It is hard to pinpoint when the book of joel was recorded. Virtually nothing is known about this prophets lifefrom his references to judah, jerusalem, and jehovahs house there, it may be inferred that he prophesied in judah and perhaps resided in jerusalem. This summary of the book of joel provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of joel. The greek septuagint lxx, and latin vulgate versions follow the hebrew masoretic text, titling this book after joel the prophet, the recipient of the message from god 1. Any hebrew name that ends in iah is also an abbreviation for yhwh isaiah. But even the acceptance of this theory would not remove the difficulties in the way of fixing the time of joels prophecy. Joel is bright and flowing, his imagery and language are fine driver, introduction to the literature of the old testament.
Joel reflects on the day of the lord and how true repentance will bring. The name joel is among the most popular in the bible, but the most famous one is, of course, the eighth century prophet joel. Joel reflects on the day of the lord and how true repentance will bring about the great restoration hoped for in the other prophetic books. The term indicates the short length of the text in relation to longer prophetic texts known as the major prophets. The book relates nothing about joel except his name and that of his father. Some believe it was written as early as 850 bce and others believe it was written after the exile as late as the 5 th century bce. Book of joel, second of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets. These twelve prophets were sometimes named the minor prophets, not because they are of lesser importance. However, this little book is like an atom bombit is not very big, but it sure is potent and powerful. Skip heitzig, a dear friend and senior pastor of a wonderful bibleteaching congregation of some 14,000 people in new mexico, taught at the conference on joel 2.
The book of joel is the second of the tere asar twelve minor prophets. Meaning, origin and history of the name joel behind the name. God compares the past to the future in the book of joel. For instance, in places in this book we will refer to the septuagint, a greek translation of the hebrew scriptures that dates before jesuss time between the third and first centuries bce. In the book of joel the son of pethuel, we can find these contents. The book of joel richard joels retirement as president of yeshiva university brings learned writings on such topics as john quincy adams, civil war seders and the laws of mourning. From the hebrew name yoel meaning yahweh is god, from the elements and, both referring to the hebrew god. The author of the prophecy is identified only as joel the son of pethuel. The book of joel, though it contains some superb hebrew poetry, raises a number of critical issues which are not easiyl solved. The book of joel accounts for justice over evil in a form thats unique to the other old testament prophets. All of this points to a date of approximately 835 bc or soon after, making joel one of the earliest writing prophets, as well as a contemporary of the prophet elisha. Joel is one of the twelve minor prophets of the old testament, the author of the book of joel, which describes a plague of locusts. In the hebrew, the book consists of 4 chapters, with chapter 3 containing the english verses 2.
There are samaritan, syriac, and aramaic editions of the torah and other parts of the hebrew bible as well. A prophet between calamity and hope the library of hebrew bibleold testament studies assis, elie, mein, andrew, camp, claudia v. The book of joel is part of the hebrew bible, one of twelve prophetic books known as the twelve minor prophets. Joel is part of the minor prophets or the twelve hebrew. And the concluding portion, joel 3 joel 4 in hebrew, in which the prophet projects his view into.
The jewish canon lumps all together as the twelve and divides joel into four chapters. The hebrew book of the prophet joel in the bible is apocalyptic in nature. The book of joel also makes ample mention of priests, temple rituals, and nations, such as phoenicia, philistia, egypt, and edom, that were prominent in the late ninth century bc. After a superscription ascribing the prophecy to joel son of pethuel, the book may be broken down into the. Yuil was a prophet of ancient israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and according to the book itself the author of the book of joel. The prophet joel cannot be identified with any of the 12 other figures in the ot who have the same name.
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