Joel 1:1

The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Who this Pethuel was is not known; Jarchi takes him to be the same with Samuel the prophet, who had a son of this name, 1 Samuel 8:2; and

The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. The word of the Lord that came to Joel. He records nothing of himself except his divine commission.

JOEL CHAPTER 1 Joel declareth the destruction of the fruits of the earth by noxious insects, Joe 1:1-7, and by a long drought, Joe 1:8-13. He recommendeth a solemn fasting with prayer to deprecate these judgments, Joe 1:14-20. Since this preface is word for word the same with that of Hosea, Hosea 1:1, see it there explained. Joel; supposed to be of the posterity of Reuben, therefore could not be (as the Jews suppose) Samuel's son, nor will his time fit to 1 Chronicles 5:4,8; but of what tribe soever, we know he came from God, and with his authority, and is so cited by the apostle, Acts 2:16. The son of Pethuel: more of this man I know not, and it is possible he might be, as the Jews suppose, very eminent, because he is named; however, it is an honour to be reported a prophet's father. The time of his prophesying, though not demonstrable, is with greatest probability laid about the latter end of Jeroboam the Second's reign over Israel, and in the days' of Uzziah over Judah.

Joe 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.Ver. 1. The word of the Lord that came, &c.] See the note on Hosea 1:1, with whom Jerome and some other interpreters make this prophet a contemporary, for the likeness of argument; and that common canon of the Jewish doctors, that the prophet who sets not down his time is to be held of the same time with him that is placed before him. The Seventy set him not only after Hosea, but also after Amos and Micah: and the ancient Hebrew Chronicle, called Sedar Olam, affirmeth that Joel prophesied together with Nahum and Habakkuk, the days of King Manasseh; which Drusius would prove out of Joe 3:5. Others, with more show of reason, out of 2 Kings 21:10; 2 Kings 23:26. Joel might very well be one of those prophets that denounced God’ s heavy judgments against Judah, for the sins and abominations of Manasseh, whom some make to be his convert. For although at first the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people, but they would not hearken, yet the rod might set the word to work afterwards; for Manasseh, when he was in affliction, besought the Lord, and humbled himself greatly, and Joel might very well be to him a son of Pethuel, or of God’ s persuasion: God, by his ministry, might speak to his heart, Hosea 2:14, set before him an open door (another Etymology of the name Pethuel, ostium Dei mouth of God), Revelation 3:8, minister unto him an entrance farther and farther into Christ’ s everlasting kingdom, 2 Peter 1:11. If any think it more likely that Joel prophesied under Josiah, king of Judah, when that great famine occured which is described in like terms by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 14:1-2 cf. 2 Kings 23:26, I shall not strive with him. But that this Joel was the son of Samuel (here called Pethuel, a persuader of God, because what he asked of God he obtained), as R. Salomon would carry it, I cannot imagine: for that Joel was not a prophet, but a corrupt judge, 1 Samuel 8:1-5.

(1) Joel.—Compounded of Jehovah—El, the composite title of the God of Revelation and of Nature, which is the subject of Psalms 19. It was a favourite name among the Jews, and was borne by an ancestor of Samuel, who gave it to his elder son. There is nothing known of the personal history of Joel the prophet, except the name of his father, Pethuel, or—LXX.—Bethuel.

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JOEL Chronological Notes relative to the commencement of Joel's prophesying, upon the supposition that this event took place about six hundred and ninety years before the commencement of the Christian era. -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3314. -Year of the Julian Period, 4024. -Year since the Flood, 1658. -Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 322. -Year since the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 285. -Year since the extinction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 31. -Third year of the twenty-second Olympiad. -Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian computation, 64. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 690. -Cycle of the Sun, 20. -Cycle of the Moon, 15. -Third year of Eryxias, the last decennial archon of the Athenians. -First year of Anaxidamus, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclidae. -Thirty-fifth year of Eurycrates I., king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenidae. -Eleventh year of Deioces, the first king of the Medes. -Fortieth year of Perdiccas I., king of Macedon. -Twenty-ninth year of Gyges, king of Lydia. -Ninth year of Manasseh, king of Judah. CHAPTER I This and the beginning of the next chapter contain a double prophecy, applicable in its primary sense to a plague of locusts which was to devour the land, and to be accompanied with a severe drought and famine; and in its secondary sense it denotes the Chaldean invasion. Both senses must be admitted: for some of the expressions will apply only to the dearth by insects; others to the desolation by war. The contexture of both is beautiful and well conducted. In this chapter the distress of every order of people is strongly painted; and not only does the face of nature languish when the God of nature is displeased, 1-19; but the very beasts of the field, by a bold figure, are represented as supplicating God in their distress, and reproaching the stupidity of man, 20. NOTES ON CHAP. I Verse 1. The word of the Lord that came to Joel] See the introduction for some account of this prophet, whose history is very obscure. Bishop Newcome thinks that he prophesied while the kingdom of Judah subsisted, and refers to Joe 2:1; Joe 2:15, (see also Joe 1:14, and the note there,) but not long before its subversion as his words, Joe 3:1, seem to imply that its captivity was approaching. See 2Kg 21:10-15. He therefore favours the conjecture of Drusius, that this prophet lived under Manasseh, and before his conversion, 2 Chronicles 33:13; that is, some time from before Christ 697 to (suppose) 660.

1. The Title1. The word of Jehovah that came unto] so Hosea 1:1; Micah 1:1; Zephaniah 1:1. came unto] lit. was (ἐγένετο) unto, a very common expression in connexion with Jehovah’s ‘word’: 1 Samuel 15:10; 2 Samuel 7:4; 1 Kings 16:1; 1 Kings 16:7; Jeremiah 1:2; Jeremiah 1:4; Jeremiah 1:11, &c.

The word of the Lord that came to Joel - Joel, like Hosea, mentions the name of his father only, and then is silent about his extraction, his tribe, his family. He leaves even the time when he lived, to be guessed at.

1. The title. The word of Jehovah — A title similar to that in Hosea 1:1; Micah 1:1; Zephaniah 1:1 (see on Hosea 1:1).