Joel
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
Joel moves from devastating loss and a call to communal return toward restoration, the gift of the Spirit, and the day of the Lord. Its date is debated; the book itself does not name the ruling king.
Historical context
The book's precise historical setting is uncertain. Hebrew, Greek, and modern editions do not all divide Joel into the same number of chapters.
Key points
- The call to rend hearts rather than garments challenges empty ritual display.
- The Spirit promise crosses distinctions of age, sex, and social standing.
- Acts and Romans reuse Joel in different arguments; neither use should be substituted for the whole prophetic book.
Scripture
- Joel 2:12-17 — Communal return is grounded in God's gracious and merciful character.
- Joel 2:28-32 — The Spirit promise and calling on the Lord's name belong to a day-of-the-Lord context.
- Acts 2:14-21 — Peter explicitly quotes Joel to interpret Pentecost.
- Romans 10:9-13 — Paul quotes the salvation promise in a paragraph about confessing Jesus as Lord; examine the referent rather than assuming it.
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Joel: complete public-domain WEB text
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes