JOCHEBED (n:rV M" is glory,' cf. the Phu.n. mp^Di^D 'Melkart is glory' (?) CIS I. i. 3U4).— Known to us by name only from P, who stata) that J. was a sister of Kohath, who was married to Amram her nephew, and who bare to him Aaron and Moses (I'"x C'-") and Miriam (Xu •2(5''). An earlier writer, K, in narrating the birth of Moses, speaks of his mother lus a daughter of Levi, butseems to have been unacquainted with her name (Ex 2'). W. C. Allen.
JOD («).— The tenth letter of the Hebrew alpha- bet, and as such u.sed in the 110th Psalm to de.-^ig- nate the 10th part, each verse of xrliii li begins with this letter. It is transliterated in this Dictionary by y. See JoT.
JODA (A '\uSa, n TorM' ■]). 1 Ks S" (" I^XX. - 1. The .same OS JUKAII the Levite in Ezr 3"; else- where called lIoDAVIAll, Ezr '2*'; Uddkvah, Neh 7**; Sudias, 1 Es 5'-*. 2. An ancestor of Jesu* I,k 3» CIwW WIl, 'locSd TK, AV Juda).
672
JOED
JOED {tlf, etymology uncertain, Syr. VJjQ_i). — A Benjamite, the father of Meshullam anil son of Peiiaiah, Neb 11^ In the corresponding list 1 Ch 9' the name does not occur.
JOEL (S(<V).*— 1. The prophet (see next article). 2. A son of Samuel, 1 S 8», 1 Ch C'" (UV, see Driver's note on 1 S 8^) 6**. 3. An ancestor of Samuel, 1 Ch 6« (called in v." Shaul). 4. A Simeonite prince, 1 Ch 4". 5. A Keubenite, 1 Ch 6* ". 6. A Gftdite chief, 1 Ch 5". 7. A chief man of Issachar, 1 Ch 7'. 8. One of David's heroes,
1 Ch 11=". 9. 10. 11. Levites, 1 Ch 15'' "• " 23» 20'=',
2 Ch 29'-. 12. A Manassite chief, 1 Ch 21'". 13. One of those who married a foreign wife, Ezr 10". H. A Benjamite overseer after the Exile, Neh 11'.
JOEL (SkV, "luTiX), the son of Pothuel (LXX liaOoin'iX, Vulg. P/iatuel), is the author of the second (LXX fourth) book of the Minor Prophets. No information has reached us regarding the prophet or his father. The name Joel jiroWbly signiGes ' J" is God,' and, on the assumption of the date proposed by Credner, may contain a reference to the re-establishment of the wor- ship of J" after the overthrow of Athaliah (cf. 2 K 11^*-). This, though possible, is scarcely probable. The name is not an uncommon one (cf. 1 S 8", Ezr 10", Neh IP, etc.j.t The book supplies no definite information, either as to the place or the time of the prophet's labours. The date is greatly disputed, but it is generally agreed that Judah, and most probably Jerus., was the theatre of Joel's prophetic activity.
i. Occasion. — The occasion of the prophecy was an invasion of the country by locusts, accompanied bya drought of unusual severity. A calamity of this kind was not uncommon in Pal., and, in ordinary circumstances, would not be made a subject of prophetic discourse. But the visitation described by J. was exceptionally severe. Successive swarms 01 locusts swept over the country (1'), and their devastations went on for years (2^). "The produce of the fields, vineyards, and orchards was destroyed (1"-"). Food failed for man and beast (l''-'^- '"■ "■ 18-20) The daily otfering to J" was suspended from lack of the necessary materials (!'• " 2"). This was equivalent to an interruption of the covenant relation between J" and His people. A calamity which led to such a result was a very serious one. No propliet would have been faithful to his mission as watcliman of Israel if he had failed to warn the people of the danger ^vith which such a visitation threatened them. Joel saw in the locust invasion a special judgment from J", and used it as a text for one of the most interesting and instructive dis- courses contained in the prophetical books of the OT.
ii. Contents. — The book consists of three chapters. [The Heb. text has four chapters, the last five verses of ch. 2 in AV forming ch. 3 in the MT]. It divides itself easily into two parts, in the first of which (P-2") the prophet, and in the second (2" to the end) J", is the speaker.
The flret part is made up of two discourses, of Mfhich, however, the theme is the same, viz. the locust invasion. Ttie language in which the calamity is depicted differs considerauly in the two chapters. But that the anny, whose movements aid operations are described so graphically and rhetorically in ch. 2, must be Identified with the locusts of ch. 1, appears from 2^\ where the
• This name is generally taken to mean * J" is Go<*.' and this wa« prob. the etjTuology accepted by the later Hel'*ews, with whom the name was popular. But it is very doubtful if this was the primarj- meaning. Nestle {E Igennamen, 86) ftrd W. K. Smith (Aiaj/ii;), 301) identity with the god Wail {Ictars). See, lurlher, Oz/. Ueb. Lex, «.p., and Gray, Heb. Prop. Samea, 153.
t The name might be taken as a Hiph. Impft. from Sn*, (of. 1B^'), but this is not a probable derivation. (See Otf. Heb. I:*Z. <.r.)
JOEL
firomise of the reraovftl of the judftment and the renewal of ble«»- ng» is given In the words, ' I will restore to you the years thai the locust hath eaten, the cankerwnnu, ond tlie caKri'iHtir, and thepalrnerwonn, my (rreat anny which I sent anioni; you." • Afttr introdacin^ his subject (I*-*), the prophet, in the lirst discourse n^20)_ dewrihcB the jurtjonent which has fallen on the country in a narrative reinarKable for the vividness of the picture and the minut«nefts of tlie details. The invading host pours over the lurid in countleiis niyriuds, with t^-eth like the teeth of lions for the work of destruction before tliem. The vine ta Wiiated, The flg-tree is not merely stripped of its leaves,— the very bark is torn off, and trunk and branches are left l>aro(lJ). The prain and the fruit crops are alike destroyed (l^o-^'''). The prophet hn^ere over the desolation wliioh has been wrought, and pushes his description into regions which, if the visitation were not real, would scarcely be referred to. The seed perishe* under the clods ; the bams are left to fall into decay uecanse there is nothing to gather into them (1*''). Such a calamity falls heavilv on the beasta of the field. Under the pangs of hunger and thirst they groan and cry unto God, The instinc- tive appeal of these irrational creatures affects the prophet so powerfully that he associates himself with them in sup- plicating the Lord for relief (11&-20). Thus the first discourse closes.