Who was Joel? Joel-1 and part of Joel-4.
Among the works we used in this study the readers may find interest in an English-language Commentary, "Artscroll Tanach Series, Trei Asar, The Twelve Prophets vol.1." In this work the Commentary of Joel/Yoel was writtern by Rabbi Matts Robert.
Joel (NASB) 1:
1 THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO JOEL, THE SON OF PETHUEL:
The name "Joel" in Hebrew is pronounced as "Yo-el." It is usually understood to mean "The LORD is God," but it could also connote "A pleasing person, a gentleman." We do not know for sure when Joel lived. The general consensus assumes either it was just some time after the Exile of the Ten Tribes and before the Exile of the Jews to Babylon or it was shortly after the Jews had begun to return from Babylon.
The Midrash Seder Olam says that Joel lived during the time of King Menasseh of Judah. Others agree with this and that is what we too are assuming. In practical terms it does not make much difference.
For the sake of historical context remember that:
The 12 Tribes divided into two sections in the time of Rehoboam son of Solomon.
Less than 200 years later, the northern 10 Tribes were taken into Exile by the Assyrians. They did not return. This was during the reigns of the Kings of Judah, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The Last of the Ten Tribes were taken away during the reign of King Hezekieh who was followed by King Menasseh i.e. the putative time of Yoel. Yoel therefore was either alive when the Last of the Ten Tribes were exiled or he was born just after that. Following King Menasseh son of Hezekiah came King Amon and after him King Joash (Joshiah). The sons and brother of Joash replaced each other as rulers while the population of Judah was deported in stages to Babylon.
The prophets Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, and Micah, preceded Joel who was coeval with Nachum and Habakuk. Jeremiah followed after them.
According to this, Joel would probably have lived shortly after the exile of the Ten Tribes to Assyria and some time before the Exile of the Jews to Babylon.
The Book of Joel in the Bible comes after the Book of Hosea and just before the Book of Amos. Amos in some ways is a continuation of Joel.
cf.
Joel: Misplaced Prophet of the Locust Plague
Joel vividly portrays the dependence of human life upon God's favor.
BY MICHAEL FISHBANE
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/joel-misplaced-prophet-of-the-locust-plague/
... some of the final words of Joel (Joel 4:16) rally with the opening words of Amos (Amos 1:1), and an arranger might have brought them into conjunction. Second, the Book of Joel refers repeatedly to the day of the Lord as a time of doom and terror (Joel 1:15; 2:11), as does Amos (Amos 5:18, 20). And finally, one may observe that the central horror of the Book of Joel is a plague of locusts, one type of which is called the gazam (cutter [Joel 1:4 ]), whereas the prophet Amos reports how God brought about a plague of gazam (Amos 4:9), among other disasters, in order to bring the people to repentance all to no avail.
Joel 1:
2 HEAR THIS, YOU ELDERS,
AND LISTEN, ALL INHABITANTS OF THE LAND.
HAS ANYTHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED IN YOUR DAYS,
OR IN YOUR FATHERS DAYS?
3 TELL YOUR SONS ABOUT IT,
AND HAVE YOUR SONS TELL THEIR SONS,
AND THEIR SONS THE NEXT GENERATION.
The first chapter of Joel speaks of a great plague of locusts that covers the land. For a description of Locusts, see Introduction. Locusts.
Joel 1:
4 WHAT THE GNAWING LOCUST [Hebrew: "gazam"] HAS LEFT, THE SWARMING LOCUST HAS EATEN;
AND WHAT THE SWARMING LOCUST HAS LEFT, THE CREEPING LOCUST HAS EATEN;
AND WHAT THE CREEPING LOCUST HAS LEFT, THE STRIPPING LOCUST HAS EATEN.
Joel compares the locusts to Hosts of Foreign Invaders:
Abarbanel suggest the four types of locusts represent the four foreign invaders who were to occupy Israel: Babylon, Persia, Greece (i.e. the Macedonian Greek Seleucid Rulers successors of Alexander the Great who ruled over Syria and Judaea), and Rome. We for our part ascribe the whole descripition historically to the Assyriuan Conquest. The Assyrian Conquest and Exile of the Ten Tribes actually inbvolved four different participants:
(1) The Assyrians themselves who may also have included Babylonians.
(2) Edomites. In addition to the Land of Edom (Idumea) south of Judah, the Edomites also had enclaves in other areas including a suburb (Teman of Edom) of Babylon, a province more to the north (again of Teman) and part of the city of Tyre. These Edomites participated in the Exile of the Ten Tribes and oversaw the deportation and resettlement of Hebrews to areas to the north of Assyria and also as colonists overseas. The manpower for these maritime activities were carried out by Philistines and Phoenicians from Tyre.
(3) Philistines. The Philistines, despite being culturally close to the Ancient Greeks, were related to Mitsraim, i.e. to Egypt. They served as proxies at first for the rulers of Egypt and after that for the Assyrians. The Philistines had occupied cities to the southwest of Judah. They also worked in tandem with the Minoans of Crete and the Myceneans (Ancient Greeks) of Cyprus and Greece. The Philistines were also known as Palast. They are to be identified with the Pelasgoi who were a people that had onceoccupied parts of Greece and Cyrpus The Pelasgoi were mentioned as a specific people by several Greek authors, including Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides, and were said to have once inhabited various areas, such as Thrace, Argos, Crete, and Chalcidice. "Pelasgoi" means "People (goi) of Pelas" connoting Philistia. The term is sometimes inaccurately applied to all the indigenous inhabitants of the Aegean Sea region and their cultures before the Greeks as we know them appeared. In the Odyssey, of Homer the Pelasgoi appear among the inhabitants of Crete an island also attributed to the Philstines. According to Strabo, Aeschylus' Suppliants defines the original homeland of the Pelasgians as the region around Mycenae (in Greece) and both Minoan (from Crete) and Mycenean artifacts were characteristics of the Philistines. In Greek legends the Pelasgoiu are also linked with the Danaides daughters of Danaus from the Tribe of Dan.
(4) The People of Tyre. Tyre was a city originally associated with the Canaanite Phoenicians. Part of Tyre was located on an island in the sea and another part on the coast. When Alexander the Great conquered Tyre he caused a causeway to be built linking the island to the coast. Inhabtiants of the island were Phoenicians proper whereas those on the coast opposite appear to have been Edomites.
In the Book of Amos it says:.
Amos (NKJV) 1:.
6 THUS SAYS THE LORD:
FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF GAZA, AND FOR FOUR,
I WILL NOT TURN AWAY ITS PUNISHMENT,
BECAUSE THEY TOOK CAPTIVE THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY
TO DELIVER THEM UP TO EDOM.
7 BUT I WILL SEND A FIRE UPON THE WALL OF GAZA,
WHICH SHALL DEVOUR ITS PALACES.
8 I WILL CUT OFF THE INHABITANT FROM ASHDOD,
AND THE ONE WHO HOLDS THE SCEPTER FROM ASHKELON;
I WILL TURN MY HAND AGAINST EKRON,
AND THE REMNANT OF THE PHILISTINES SHALL PERISH,
SAYS THE LORD GOD.
9 THUS SAYS THE LORD:
FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF TYRE, AND FOR FOUR,
I WILL NOT TURN AWAY ITS PUNISHMENT,
BECAUSE THEY DELIVERED UP THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY TO EDOM,
AND DID NOT REMEMBER THE COVENANT OF BROTHERHOOD.
10 BUT I WILL SEND A FIRE UPON THE WALL OF TYRE,
WHICH SHALL DEVOUR ITS PALACES.
11 THUS SAYS THE LORD:
FOR THREE TRANSGRESSIONS OF EDOM, AND FOR FOUR,
I WILL NOT TURN AWAY ITS PUNISHMENT,
BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD,
AND CAST OFF ALL PITY;
HIS ANGER TORE PERPETUALLY,
AND HE KEPT HIS WRATH FOREVER.
12 BUT I WILL SEND A FIRE UPON TEMAN,
WHICH SHALL DEVOUR THE PALACES OF BOZRAH.
In the above passage the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and THE REMNANT OF THE PHILISTINES are excoriated. So are the Canaanite Phoenicans of Tyre. Both Gaza of the Philistines and Tyre are condemned for delivering the "Captivity" of Israelites to Edom. Edom itself is ultimately cursed for having played a major role in the Exile and acting with great cruelty. The Edomite centers of Teman and Bozrah are mentioned. These were not in the Land of Edom as we know it but rather in the area of Mesopotamia and to the North.
Prophecy is usually consecutive but sometimes it flits around, begins in one section and continuing the theme elsewhere. This takes us to Joel chapter 3 (in some verse divisions listed as Joel 4).
[Beginning of Chapter 3 - or 4 in some translations.].
Chapter 3.
1 For behold, in those days and at that time,
WHEN I BRING BACK THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM,
2 I WILL ALSO GATHER ALL NATIONS,
AND BRING THEM DOWN TO THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT;
AND I WILL ENTER INTO JUDGMENT WITH THEM THERE
ON ACCOUNT OF MY PEOPLE, MY HERITAGE ISRAEL,
WHOM THEY HAVE SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS;
THEY HAVE ALSO DIVIDED UP MY LAND.
Jehoshaphat was a King of Judah. He was the son of King Asa, son of Rehoboam, son of Solomon. Jehoshaphat had close connections to the northern separate Kingdom of Israel. Jehoshaphat aided King Ahab of Israel in his unsuccessful attempt to recapture the city of Ramoth-Gilead. He married his son and successor, Jehoram, to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of Samaria, Israel. Jehoshaphat also joined Ahaziah the son of Ahab in attempts to circumnavigate Africa from the east and reach Spain. . Jehoshaphat helped Jehoram of Israel, son of Ahaziah, in a war against Moab.
The name Jehoshaphat connotes "God Judges."
The scenario depicted here in Yoel is similar to that of the Final Battles against Gog and Magog. In the Wars of Gog and Magog Judah and the Ten Tribes will have reunited and divided the Holy Land from the Nile to the Euphrates between them. They will be living in peace with Jerusalem as their capital. Gog and Magog from the Far North and numerous other Peoples of the World will unite and attempt to destroy the Returning Israelites (Ezekiel chs. 38, 39). The forces of Gog and Magog will be destroyed. After that God will establish a new Temple and dwell with his people for a period of lasting peace (chs 40-48).
The Almighty will take vengeance on the nations for persecuting the Jews of Judah.
Judah was also involved in the Exile of Assyria. In fact most of Judah may have been taken into Exile alongside the Ten Tribes! The present-day Jewish People derive mostly from those Jews who were saved from the Assyrians and fled to Jerusalem.
First the Assyrians exiled the Ten Tribes. Under Sennacherib they then attacked Judah.
2-Kings 18:
13 AND IN THE FOURTEENTH YEAR OF KING HEZEKIAH, SENNACHERIB KING OF ASSYRIA CAME UP AGAINST ALL THE FORTIFIED CITIES OF JUDAH AND TOOK THEM.
Sennacherib later wrote of capturing the cities of Judah, taking more than 200,000 people captive and giving the towns of Judah to the Phillistine rulers of Ashdod, Ekron, and Gaza:
"AS FOR THE KING OF JUDAH, HEZEKIAH, WHO HAD NOT SUBMITTED TO MY AUTHORITY, I BESIEGED AND CAPTURED FORTY-SIX OF HIS FORTIFIED CITIES, ALONG WITH MANY SMALLER TOWNS, TAKEN IN BATTLE WITH MY BATTERING RAMS. ... I TOOK AS PLUNDER 200,150 PEOPLE, BOTH SMALL AND GREAT, MALE AND FEMALE, ALONG WITH A GREAT NUMBER OF ANIMALS INCLUDING HORSES, MULES, DONKEYS, CAMELS, OXEN, AND SHEEP. AS FOR HEZEKIAH, I SHUT HIM UP LIKE A CAGED BIRD IN HIS ROYAL CITY OF JERUSALEM. I THEN CONSTRUCTED A SERIES OF FORTRESSES AROUND HIM, AND I DID NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO COME OUT OF THE CITY GATES. HIS TOWNS WHICH I CAPTURED I GAVE TO MITINTI, KING OF ASHDOD; PADI, RULER OF EKRON; AND SILLI-BEL, KING OF GAZA."
One late Jewish mythical source says the captives from Judah were mostly from the Tribe of Simeon. Nevertheless, the straightforward impression is that they comprised a good many from Judah.
Joel indicates that the Phoenicians of Tyre as well as the Philistines divided Israelite captives among them, the same as, according to Amos, they had done to the Israelites from the Ten Tribes before them.
(We are noiw going to jump to the end of the Book of Yoel where he continues the present theme. After that we will return to Yoel ch.1 from where we left off).
Joel 3:
3 THEY HAVE CAST LOTS FOR MY PEOPLE,
HAVE GIVEN A BOY AS PAYMENT FOR A HARLOT,
AND SOLD A GIRL FOR WINE, THAT THEY MAY DRINK.
4 INDEED, WHAT HAVE YOU TO DO WITH ME,
O TYRE AND SIDON, AND ALL THE COASTS OF PHILISTIA?
WILL YOU RETALIATE AGAINST ME?
BUT IF YOU RETALIATE AGAINST ME,
SWIFTLY AND SPEEDILY I WILL RETURN YOUR RETALIATION UPON YOUR OWN HEAD;
5 BECAUSE YOU HAVE TAKEN MY SILVER AND MY GOLD,
AND HAVE CARRIED INTO YOUR TEMPLES MY PRIZED POSSESSIONS.
6 ALSO THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH AND THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM
YOU HAVE SOLD TO THE GREEKS,
THAT YOU MAY REMOVE THEM FAR FROM THEIR BORDERS.
The people of Judah are here recalled together with those of Jerusalem. Joel may be conflating several events as we find with Prophecy. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and later by the Romans may also be intended.
Since a good portion of Judah were apparently taken captive, like the Ten Tribes, why is this not emphasized by Scripture?
Nachmanides answered a similar question.
Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270) in "Sefer HaGeulah" (The Book of Redemption) writes:
THEY (THE SAGES) SAID IN THE MIDRASH SEDER OLAM # OF THOSE WHO CAME INTO THE LAND IN THE TIME OF EZRA THE WHOLE COMMUNITY TOGETHER NUMBERED 42,360. THE TOTAL WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED HOWEVER ONLY NUMBERED 30,360. WHAT HAPPENED THEREFORE TO THE MISSING 12,000? THESE WERE THOSE FROM THE OTHER TRIBES WHO CAME UP WITH EZRA. #
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH THEN ENCOMPASSED THE TRIBES OF JUDAH, BENJAMIN, AND LEVI]. THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL INCLUDED THE TEN NORTHERN TRIBES. THESE WERE EXILED BY SANCHERIB [Sennacherib in rabbinical literature is a figure taken to represent all of the Assyrian Monarchs] AS IT SAYS, 'UNTIL THE LORD REMOVED ISRAEL OUT OF HIS SIGHT, SO WAS ISRAEL EXILED OUT OF THEIR OWN LAND TO ASSYRIA UNTO THIS DAY' (2-Kings 17:12). THIS IS A PROOF THAT ALL THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL WAS EXILED TO ASSYRIA BUT THE KINGDOM OF DAVID REMAINED AS IT WAS UNTIL NEBUCHADNESSAR EXILED THEM TO BABYLON.
IT ALSO APPEARS FROM THE SIMPLE MEANING OF THE TEXT, THAT BEFORE THE EXILE OF THE NORTHERN COUNTRY BY SENNACHERIB THERE WERE GATHERED INTO THE CITIES OF JUDAH PEOPLE FROM THE NEIGHBORING TRIBES OF MENASSEH, EPHRAIM, AND SIMEON AND THESE THEN DWELT IN THE HERITAGE OF JUDAH. THIS EXPLAINS WHAT WAS SAID CONCERNING KING JOSIAH, 'THEY DELIVERED THE MONEY THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD WHICH THE LEVITES THAT KEPT THE DOORS HAD GATHERED OF THE HAND OF MANASSEH AND EPHRAIM, AND OF ALL THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL, AND OF ALL JUDAH AND BENJAMIN' (2-Chronicles 34: 9). PRIOR TO THAT TIME IN THE PERIOD KING ASA IT WAS WRITTEN, 'AND HE GATHERED ALL JUDAH AND BENJAMIN, AND THE STRANGERS WITH THEM OUT OF EPHRAIM AND MENASSEH, AND OUT OF SIMEON: FOR THEY FELL TO HIM OUT OF ISRAEL IN ABUNDANCE WHEN THEY SAW THE LORD HIS GOD WAS WITH HIM' (2-Chronicles 15: 9).
THOSE FROM THE TRIBES OF EPHRAIM AND SHIMEON FROM ISRAEL THAT WERE PRESENT (2-Chronicles 35:18) WITH JUDAH WERE THEY WHO DWELT IN THE LAND OF JUDAH OR PERHAPS TO SOME DEGREE ALSO THOSE WHO HAD DWELT IN THEIR OWN TERRITORIES ADJOINING JUDAH AND HAD FLED TO JUDAH. THEY ARE REFERRED TO IN A GENERAL SENSE AS 'FROM ISRAEL' (2-Chronicles 35:18) AND NOT BY THEIR SPECIFIC TRIBES SINCE THEY REPRESENTED ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THEIR TRIBE. THESE ARE THEY WHO RETURNED UNDER EZRA WITH THE JEWS FROM BABYLON. THEY WERE NOT EXPRESSLY MENTIONED BY THEIR TRIBES SINCE THEY WERE ATTACHED TO JUDAH. THEY ALL SETTLED IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH. THERE WAS NO REDEMPTION FOR THE TEN TRIBES WHO REMAINED IN EXILE.
HE ALSO SAID, 'AND IN JERUSALEM DWELT OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH, AND OF THE CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN, AND OF THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM, AND MANASSEH' [1-Chronicles 9:3]. HE ONLY RECALLS IN DETAIL HOWEVER THE GENEALOGIES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN WHOSE NAMES AND FAMILY TREES HE ELABORATES UPON. EVEN HERE HE DOES NOT GIVE ALL THE GENEALOGIES BUT ONLY A SECTION OF THEM AS IS THE PRACTICE IN SCRIPTURE. HE ALSO SPEAKS OF THE PRIESTLY FAMILIES AND THE LEVITES, WHOM HE SAYS 'HITHERTO WAITED IN THE KING'S GATE EASTWARD: THEY WERE PORTERS IN THE COMPANIES OF THE CHILDREN OF LEVI' [1-Chronicles 9:18].
WE HAVE EXPLAINED THIS SECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OPINION OF OUR SAGES OF BLESSED MEMORY. THESE SAID THAT IN THE TIME OF THE SECOND TEMPLE A FEW REFUGEES FROM THE OTHER TRIBES ALSO CAME UP. THEY DID NOT COME FROM ALL OF THE OTHER TRIBES BUT ONLY FROM EPHRAIM AND MENASSEH. [another authority however, Tosefot in the Talmud, Arakin 32;A, SAYS THAT, 'FROM EACH AND EVERY TRIBE A FEW RETURNED']. THESE FEW WERE NOT ENOUGH TO BE TERMED A TRIBE IN THEIR OWN RIGHT OR EVEN PART OF A TRIBE. DUE TO THEIR MINORITY POSITION THEY WERE INCLUDED AMONGST THE TWO TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN AND DWELT IN THEIR CITIES. THIS SECOND REDEMPTION WAS NOT MEANT FOR THE OTHER TRIBES.
WHEN DID THEY [THE TEN TRIBES] COME BACK AND WHEN WERE THESE ENORMOUS EXILED GROUPS INGATHERED TO INHERIT THE CITIES OF EPHRAIM AND SAMARIA?
WHEN DID SAVIOURS GO UP ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF ESAU?
IN THE TIME OF EZRA ONLY A FEW RETURNED AS PIGEONS TO THEIR DOVECOTES.
IT SAYS, 'THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE LORD'S [Obadiah 1:21]. AT THAT TIME EVERYONE WILL OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
'AND THE LORD SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH' (Zechariah 14:9).
THIS TOO WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE CONCERNING THESE AND ALL SIMILAR VERSES CONCERNING THE REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL AND THE FALL OF EDOM AND THE LIKE IS THAT IT IS ALL FOR THE FUTURE.
In other words through the inhabitants of Jerusalem especially they who were descended from Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (as he explains) the portion of Israel known as "Judah" was to realize its destiny.
The other Tribes were to give expression to their Prophesied Tribal goals through their brothers who were not attached to Judah but separate from them.
Joel 3: (continues:)
3: 7 BEHOLD, I WILL RAISE THEM
OUT OF THE PLACE TO WHICH YOU HAVE SOLD THEM,
AND WILL RETURN YOUR RETALIATION UPON YOUR OWN HEAD.
8 I WILL SELL YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS
INTO THE HAND OF THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH,
AND THEY WILL SELL THEM TO THE SABEANS,
TO A PEOPLE FAR OFF;
FOR THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.
Irish Legends frequently speak of their ancestors having once been captured slaves in Greece and also being descewdned from or related to the Jews.
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