Joel

Joel ("Yahweh is God") is a name borne by more than a dozen men in the Hebrew Scriptures and, most prominently, by the prophet whose oracles stand among the Twelve. The Old Testament records Levites, soldiers, tribal chiefs, post-exilic returnees, and one classical prophet under this name. The umbrella below walks through the bearers in canonical order, then turns to the book that bears the prophet's name.

Joel the Son of Samuel

The earliest Joel in the canon is the firstborn of Samuel the seer. "Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba" (1Sa 8:2). The Chronicler preserves the same line in his Levitical genealogies: "Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel" (1Ch 6:33), and again in the appointment of David's musicians, "the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel" (1Ch 15:17). UPDV brackets the name in 1Ch 6:28 — "And the sons of Samuel: the firstborn [Joel], and the second Abijah" — restoring what the Hebrew tradition calls "Vashni" so that the parallel with 1Sa 8:2 holds. Through this Joel runs the line that produced the great temple singer Heman.

The Tribal Joels

Several Joels appear as tribal chiefs in the Chronicler's registers. A Simeonite Joel stands among the chiefs whose clans expanded under Hezekiah: "and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel" (1Ch 4:35). A Reubenite Joel heads a line in the Transjordan: "The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son" (1Ch 5:4), and his territory reached "to Nebo and Baal-meon" (1Ch 5:8). Among the Gadites in Bashan, "Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan" (1Ch 5:12) leads the muster. Issachar contributes another: among the sons of Izrahiah, "Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five; all of them chief men" (1Ch 7:3). Each Joel is a head of clan rather than a man with a narrative.

Joel Among David's Mighty Men

A Joel served in David's elite company. In the Chronicler's list, "Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri" (1Ch 11:38) takes his place among the Thirty. The parallel in Samuel reads instead, "Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite" (2Sa 23:36); the names are commonly treated as variants for the same warrior, "Joel" in Chronicles answering to "Igal, son of Nathan" in Samuel.

The Levitical Joels

Beyond the line of Samuel, the Chronicler names a second Kohathite Joel in Heman's genealogy — "the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah" (1Ch 6:36) — and a Gershonite Joel who served in David's reorganization of the Levites. When David assembled the Levites to bring up the ark, "of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brothers a hundred and thirty" (1Ch 15:7) answered the muster, and David called by name "Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab" (1Ch 15:11). The same family appears in the Levitical census: "The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three" (1Ch 23:8), and in the temple staff under Solomon's preparation, "The sons of Jehieli: Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasures of the house of Yahweh" (1Ch 26:22). A further Kohathite Joel surfaces under Hezekiah: when the king reopened the temple, "Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites" (2Ch 29:12) was among the Levites who arose to cleanse it.

The Manassite Prince

In David's tribal lists, a Joel governs the half-tribe of Manasseh: "of the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah" (1Ch 27:20). His role is purely administrative — a prince over his ancestral half-tribe under David's national organization.

Post-Exilic Joels

After the return, two further Joels enter the record. In Ezra's catalogue of those who had taken foreign wives, "Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah" (Ezr 10:43) appear. In Nehemiah's resettlement of Jerusalem, "Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city" (Ne 11:9) — a civic officer placed over the population gathered into the rebuilt capital.

The Prophet Joel

The classical prophet whose book stands fourth among the Twelve is identified only by patronymic: "The word of Yahweh that came to Joel the son of Pethuel" (Joel 1:1). His oracles are addressed primarily to Judah and Jerusalem, occasioned by a devastating locust plague that the prophet reads as a prelude to the Day of Yahweh.

Judgments Declared

The opening oracle frames the locusts as cumulative ruin: "That which the palmer-worm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten" (Joel 1:4). The prophet calls the priests to fast — "Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men [and] all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh your⁺ God, and cry to Yahweh" (Joel 1:14) — because the visible disaster signals the imminent day: "Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty it will come" (Joel 1:15). Joel addresses Yahweh directly in the chapter's closing cry, "O Yahweh, to you I will cry; for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness" (Joel 1:19).

In chapter two the locust horde modulates into an apocalyptic army. "Blow⁺ the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is near at hand" (Joel 2:1). The day is "a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Joel 2:2), and the oracle closes with the question Joel does not answer: "the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome; and who can endure it?" (Joel 2:11).

Judgment Against the Nations

The third chapter turns outward, gathering the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment. "I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations" (Joel 3:2). The indictment names Tyre, Sidon, the regions of Philistia, and the trafficking of Judeans "to the sons of the Grecians, that you⁺ may remove them far from their border" (Joel 3:6). The summons to the nations inverts the prophetic peace-formula: "Beat your⁺ plowshares into swords, and your⁺ pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong" (Joel 3:10). The harvest figure presses the verdict: "Put⁺ in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread⁺; for the wine press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great" (Joel 3:13). The crowd is named for what the place names: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14). Yet at the same moment Yahweh shelters his own — "Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake: but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the sons of Israel" (Joel 3:16) — and the oracle closes with the recognition formula, "So you⁺ will know that I am Yahweh your⁺ God, staying in Zion my holy mountain" (Joel 3:17).

Restoration

The book's last lines turn to blessing. "And it will come to pass in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters; and a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh, and will water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 3:18). Egypt and Edom remain desolate "for the violence done to the sons of Judah" (Joel 3:19), but Judah's permanence is named: "Judah will remain forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation" (Joel 3:20). The book ends with a final vindication, "And I will make their blood innocent, that I have not made innocent: for Yahweh stays in Zion" (Joel 3:21).