3. Brother of Nathan of Zobah, and one of David's famous warriors (1 Chron. xi, 38) ; called Igal (q. v.) in the parallel passage (2 Sam. xxiii, 36).
4. The third named of the four sons of Izrahiah, a chieftain of the tribe of Issachar (1 Chron. vii, 3). B.C. prob. cir. 1017.
5. A chief Levite of the family of Gershom, at the head of 130 Temple servitors (1 Chron. xv, 7, 11) ; prob- ably the same with the third of the " sons" of Laadan (1 Chron. xxiii, 8), and also with the son of Jehiel, who, with Zetham his brother, had charge of the " treasures of the house of the Lord" (1 Chron. xxvi, 22). B.C. 1014.
6. Son of Pedaiah, and prince of the half-tribe of Ma- nasseh west (1 Chron. xxvii, 20). B.C. 1014.
7. Son of Pethuel, and second of the twelve minor
prophets (Joel i, 1). His history is only known from the contents of the book that bears his name.
JOEL, BOOK OF. I. Personal Ciratmstances. — l. Birthplace Pseudo-Epiphanius (ii, 245) records a tra- dition that the prophet Joel was of the tribe of Reuben, born and buried at Bethhoron (v. r. Bethoim, etc.), be- tween Jerusalem and Csesarea. It is most likely that he lived in Juda-a, for his commission was to Judah, as that of Hosea had been to the ten tribes (Jerome, Co7}i- ment. in Joel.). He exhorts the priests, and makes fre- quent mention of Judah and Jerusalem (i, 14; li, 1, 15, 32; iii, 1, 12, 17, 20, 21). It has been made a question whether he were a priest himself (Winer, Reahc), but there do not seem to be sufficient grounds for determin- ing it in the affirmative, though some recent writers (e, g. Maurice, Pi-o^ihets and KiiKjg, p. 189) have taken tliis view.
2. Date. — Various opinions have been held respecting the period in which J(iel lived. It appears most proba- ble that he was conlcnijiorary with Amos and Isaiah, and delivered his predictions in the reign of Uzziah, B. C. cir. 800. This is the opinion maintained by Abar- banel, Vitringa, Kosenmliller, De Wette, Holzhausen, and others (see D. H. v. Kcilln, Diss, de Joel cetate, Marb. 1811 ; JJiger, in the Tiihinff. theol. Zeitschr. 1828, ii, 227), Credner {Joel, p. 38 sq.), with whom agree Movers (Chron. 119 sq.), Hitzig (Kleine Proph. p. 4), and Meier {Joel, p. 16 sq.), places him in the time of Joash ; Ber- tholdt {Einleit. iv, 1004) in that of Hezekiah ; Cramer and Eckermann in Josiah's reign ; Jahn {Einl. ii,476) in Manasseh's; and Schroder still later; while some have placed him during the Babylonian captivity (Steudel, in Bengel's A rchiv, ii, 232), and even after it (Vatke, Bihl. Theol. p. 462). The prmcipal reason for the above conclusion, besides the order of the books (the Sept., however, places Joel after Amos and INlicah), is the spe- cial and exclusive mention of tlie I'-gyjitians andEdom- ites as enemies of Judah, no allusion licing made to the Assyrians or Babylonians, \-. ho arose at a later period.
II. Contents. — We find, what we should expect on the supposition of Joel being the first prophet to Judah, only a grand outline of the whole terrible scene, which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets (Browne, (9/ rfo Sacl. p. 691). The scope, there- fore, is not any particular invasion, but the whole day of the Lord. " This book of Joel is a type of the early Jewish prophetical discourse, and may explain to us what distant events in the history of the land would expand it, and bring fresh discoveries within the sphere of the inspired man's vision" (Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 179). The proximate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judaja, of a twofold character : want of water, and a plague of locusts, continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with peni- tence, fasting, and prayer, and then, he says, the plague shall cease, and the rain descend in its season, and the land yield her accustomed fruit — nay, the time will be a most joyful one ; for God, liy the outpouring of his Spirit, will impart to his worshippers increased knowledge of himself, and, after the excision of the enemies of his people, wiU extend through them the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. Browne {Ordo Sa;cl. p. 692) regards the contents of the prophecy as embracing two visions, but it is better to consider it as one connected representation (Hengstenberg, Winer). For its inter- pretation we must observe not isolated facts of history, but the idea. The swarm of locusts was the medium through which this idea, " the ruin upon the apostate Church," was represented to the inward contemplation of the prophet ; but, in one unbroken connection, the idea goes on to penitence, return, blessing, outpouring of the Spirit, judgments on the enemies of the Church (1 Pet. iv, 17), tinal establishment of God's kingdom. All prior destructions, judgments, and victories are like the smaller circles, the final consummation of all things, to which the prophecy reaches, being the outmost one of
JOEL, BOOK OF
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JOEL, BOOK OF
alL There are thus four natural divisions of the entire book.