Exegesis and Theology

The Blog of Brian Collins

Jonah’s Use of the OT

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It may be that Jonah alludes to the Flood narrative by drawing on similar language throughout the book.[1] More significant, however, is Jonah’s appeal to Yhwh’s revelation of his glory to Moses in Exodus 34:6 as a reason for rejecting his prophetic mission. Notably, this places Jonah in contrast with Moses, who interceded for the people’s salvation. Jonah is hoping for Nineveh’s destruction.[2] In fact, Jonah seems instead to align himself with rebellious Israel. When Israel was trapped against the Red Sea by Pharoah, they said: ““Isn’t this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exod 14:12). Similarly Jonah said, “Isn’t this what I said, Yahweh, when I was still at home?… Now, Yahweh, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:2, 3).[3]

Just as Jonah contrasts with Moses, so he also contrasts with Elijah, one of the few Israelite prophets who also ministered in Gentile lands (1 Kgs 17:9) and is provided for through animals and plants (1 Kgs 17:4-6; 19:4).[4] Elijah too went into a wilderness, sat under a tree, and asked God to let him die (1 Kgs 19:4).[5] But Elijah is there because he wanted to see Israel repent and he has lost hope that it will. Jonah is there because Nineveh repented and Jonah is disappointed that God is not destroying them. A further contrast is that Elijah stood in the presence of Yhwh (1 Kgs17:1; 18:15) whereas Jonah fled from Yhwh’s presence.

In the prayer in chapter 2, Jonah drew extensively on the Psalms.[6] This highlights that a knowledge of Scripture does not necessarily entail submission to God or his word. The king of Nineveh’s statement, “Who knows? God may turn and relent” (Jonah 3:9) echoes Joel’s similar statement, “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent” (Joel 2:14).[7] Joel made this statement in awareness of Exodus 34:6 (cf. Joel 2:13) whereas the king of Nineveh was ignorant of that description of God. (Jonah was very aware of that text, and it motivated his flight.)

[1] Lessing, CC, 44-46.

[2] Schnittjer, OTUOT, 403-4; Youngblood, ZECOT, 41-42.

[3] Translations, bold, and italics from Schnittjer, OTUOT, 406.

[4] Lessing, CC, 4950

[5] Schnittjer, OTUOT, 407-8; Lessing, CC, 50.

[6] Young, Introduction to the Old Testament, 258; Bell, TMOTB, 410-11; Schnittjer, OTUOT, 408.

[7] See Köstenberger and Goswell, Biblical Theology, 238-39; Schnittjer, OTUOT, 404, 406. Note, however, that I think Jonah is drawing on Exodus and Joel whereas Schnittjer thinks that Jonah is borrowing from Joel.

Structure and Summary of Jonah

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Jonah falls into two major sections, each marked with the statement, “Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah … saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it” (1:1; 3:1, lsb).[1] (This division has been recognized since the time of the Masoretes.)[2] Each major subsection has three parallel subsections: Yhwh called Jonah and Jonah responded (1:1-3; 3:1-3), Jonah was with the Gentiles and told them of God (1:4-16; 3:4-10); Jonah responded to Yhwh’s provision of deliverance (1:17-2:10; 4:1-4). The second section of the book concludes with a final subsection, that does not stand in parallel, in which Yhwh responded to Jonah’s complaint (4:5-11).[3]

The first three verses of Jonah identify the prophet and his commission from Yhwh. He was called to go to Nineveh and preach against its evil. He was told “Arise, go,” and Jonah arose and went—in the opposite direction. (Tarshish may have been located in what is today Spain).[4] Yhwh told Jonah that the evil of Nineveh had come up “to my face” or “into my presence,” and Jonah’s response to this commission was to flee from the face or presence of Yhwh (1:2, 3).

In 1:4-16 the futility of fleeing from the presence of the omnipresent Yhwh is made clear. Yhwh hurled a storm upon the sea, and this resulted in the mariners hurling their cargo overboard. It also led them to cry out to their gods. Jonah, meanwhile, was in oblivious sleep. When Jonah was awakened and the lots identified him as the cause of the storm, he identified himself as one who feared Yhwh, “the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9). The statement is full of irony. If Jonah feared Yhwh, why was he fleeing from his presence instead of carrying out his commission?[5] If he knew that Yhwh is the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land, why did he think it was possible to flee from the presence of God? More fundamentally, if God is the God of all creation, then he is the God of all mankind—and Jonah should not have sought to avoid taking God’s message to the Gentiles.[6] When the sailors asked Jonah what must be done to calm the sea, Jonah did not respond, “I must repent”—even though the book reveals that Jonah did know that repentance would result in God relenting from judgment (4:2). Instead, Jonah called for his own death; he would rather die than take God’s message to the Gentiles (1:12; cf. 4:3). The pagan sailors showed themselves more righteous than the prophet Jonah. They first sought to save his life by rowing him to safety (1:13). Then they asked Yhwh not to kill them because of Jonah or to judge them for throwing him overboard to what they (and he) thought was certain death (1:15). In the end, these Gentile sailors came to fear Yhwh—what Jonah claimed for himself but did not demonstrate.

The next section of the book recounts Yhwh’s salvation of Jonah and his response (1:17-2:10). Yhwh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. Evidently, Jonah had expected to drown when he was thrown overboard, and he understood that Yhwh had miraculously saved him. While in the belly of the fish, Jonah prays this psalm. Some might question the ability of the prophet to compose a psalm while in the belly of a fish, but the wording of the psalm is largely drawn from the book of Psalms. In other words, this is a Scripture saturated person praying God’s words back to him. And yet, something is wrong with this prayer. It is all about Jonah’s physical deliverance and his thanksgiving for physical deliverance.[7] There is no mention of his sin or of repentance.[8] Furthermore, Jonah’s characterization of events is not entirely accurate. He said, “I am driven away from your sight” (2:4), but chapter 1 tells us that he was running from God’s presence. He also claimed, “you cast me into the deep” (2:3), when it seems that Jonah’s repentance could have averted that from happening.[9] There is also an irony in Jonah’s statement, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.” Chapter 1 closes with the Gentile sailors sacrificing to Yhwh and making vows to him. Jonah, by contrast, had not repented of his sin, and he will quarrel with God to the end of the book.[10] Jonah was correct that “Salvation belongs to Yhwh.” The book is clear that God saves the undeserving; those in need of salvation do not save themselves. Nonetheless, Yhwh’s command for the fish to vomit Jonah out may be an indication of what Yhwh thought of this self-righteous prayer.[11]

Jonah 3:1-3 once again identifies the prophet and his commission. This time Jonah obeys. Furthermore, Nineveh is described as “a great city to God” (3:3, esv, mg). Though Gentiles, these people have significance to Israel’s God, who is God over all people.

In Jonah 3:4-10, Jonah’s message and the response of those in Nineveh is recounted. Jonah declared a message of judgment: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (3:4). Israel often rejected the prophets’ messages, but “the people of Nineveh believed God” and responded with repentance (3:5). The king of Nineveh raised the possibility that if they repented, God might relent and not destroy the city. That is precisely how God responded.

Jonah then responded to the deliverance Yhwh provided (4:1-4). Unlike chapter 2, where Jonah extoled his deliverance, Yhwh’s relenting toward Nineveh “was a great evil to Jonah” (lsb). Thus, ironically, Jonah was less concerned about Nineveh repenting of its evil; it is a greater evil to him that Yhwh relented. Jonah revealed why he fled to Tarshish: it was precisely because he knew the character of God as revealed in God’s great statement to Moses of his glory (4:2; cf. Ex. 34:6). Once again, Jonah sought death over life because he was angry about God showing grace to Nineveh. Yhwh responded to Jonah with a probing question: “Do you well to be angry?”

Jonah 4:5-11 concludes the book. Jonah made a booth and waited to see what would happen to Nineveh. Perhaps he thought that Nineveh would lapse back into sin and come under judgment.[12] In any event, just as God had appointed a great fish to save Jonah, so here he appointed a plant to save Jonah from “his evil,” or his “discomfort” (4:6; see esv mg). Once again, Jonah was “exceedingly glad” for his own deliverance. Then God appointed the destruction of the plant along with a “scorching east wind” and a hot sun. And once again, Jonah sought death from God. God then brought the object lesson home by again asking Jonah if he did well to be angry. When Jonah justified his anger, God pointed out how foolish it was for Jonah to be angry over the destruction of the plant and not be sympathetic to the great number of people for whom God had shown compassion. The book closes here without any reference to Jonah’s response because it is calling every reader to examine himself.

[1] Lessing, CC, 30; Youngblood, ZECOT, 38; Timmer, TOTC, 42; cf. Tully Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture.

[2] Goldingay, BCOT, 375.

[3] Youngblood, ZECOT; 38-39; Timmer, TOTC, 45-46; cf. Lessing, CC, 34; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 300.

[4] Hoyt, EEC, 349-50.

[5] Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah, NSBT, 70-71.

[6] Timmer, NSBT, 71.

[7] Timmer, NSBT, 81.

[8] Timmer, NSBT, 81-82; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 303.

[9] Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 303.

[10] Timmer, NSBT, 87-88; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 303.

[11] Hoyt, EEC, 381; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 303.

[12] Timmer, NSBT, 126-27.

Best Commentaries on Joel

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Busenitz, Irvin A. Commentary on Joel and Obadiah. Mentor Commentaries. Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2003.

This is an accessible commentary with good judgments throughout. Busenitz holds to a seven-year eschatological day of the Lord and is premillennial. Thus, he is interested in answering some of the same questions that I have on certain of the eschatological texts in Joel. He also argues persuasively and at length for the ninth century dating of Joel.

Finley, Thomas J. Joel, Amos, Obadiah. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1990.

Finley goes into greater exegetical detail than Busenitz. He deals with the Hebrew text at greater length. He too is premillennial and handles the eschatological texts well. Finley holds to a post-exilic date, but I found many of his arguments were useful for my ninth century dating of the book.

Garrett, Duane A. Hosea, Joel. Vol. 19A. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997.

Garrett provides a well-reasoned, careful study of Joel. He holds to a seventh-century date for the book, instead of a ninth-century date, but many of his arguments were valid and useful for supporting a seventh century date. While I would part ways with him regarding certain exegetical decisions, such as his conclusion that Joel 2 is about a historic military invasion, he is nonetheless an insightful commentator. His comments about how to understand the fulfillment of portion of Joel quoted by Peter in Acts 2 is a case in point.

Nass, Thomas P. Joel. Edited by Christopher W. Mitchell. Concordia Commentary. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2023.

Thomas Nass holds strong opinions about Joel and shares them forthrightly. I found his critiques of liberal scholarship on point; identifying premillennialism with heretical scholarship was not welcome. Nass did was not informed as he should have been about premillennialism and dispensationalism given the harsh words directed toward these positions; he seemed to equate all premillennialism with older forms of dispensationalism. Nonetheless, Nass was often insightful. He also provides detailed comments on the Hebrew text.

Barker, Joel. Joel: Despair and Deliverance in the Day of the Lord. Edited by Daniel I. Block. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020.

I would need to spend more time with this commentary to give a fair evaluation, but I thought it surveyed viewpoints well in the introductory section and gave helpful comments the exegetical sections that I canvassed.

Best Commentaries on Obadiah

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Raabe, Paul R. Obadiah. The Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1996.

Even though the contributors to The Anchor Bible series are usually theologically liberal, Raabe is a conservative Lutheran. His insights on the structure of the book, parallels between Obadiah and other biblical texts, and date were detailed and insightful. Even though Raabe adopted the mid-ninth century date, I found his detailed documentation of data regarding the date was valuable for my conclusion in favor of the mid-sixth century date.

Niehaus, Jeffrey. “Obadiah.” In The Minor Prophets. Edited by Thomas Edward McComiskey. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.

Niehaus provides one of the best recent defenses of the mid-sixth century date. His comments on the text are also insightful. Though this commentary has a section of commentary that deals with the Hebrew text in detail, it also has an English-only exposition that is accessible to those who do not know Hebrew.

Finley, Thomas J. Joel, Amos, Obadiah. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1990.

This is a detailed commentary on the Hebrew text from a premillennial perspective. The comments are careful and insightful. I’ve repeatedly found help in this commentary over the years.

Timmer, Daniel C. Obadiah, Jonah and Micah. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2021.

This is a brief, accessible commentary on Obadiah. However, I found insights in this commentary, especially toward the end of the book, that I was not finding in other commentators. Timmer is one of those authors whose works are always worth purchasing.

Block, Daniel I. Obadiah. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017.

This commentary focuses on discourse analysis, and I found it useful in relating sections to one another as well as illuminating the grammar of the verses on for which I consulted it.

Major Themes of Joel

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The covenant is the major underlying theme in Joel. The day of Yhwh locust judgment that comes upon Israel is a consequence of Israel’s violation of the Mosaic covenant. However, the Mosaic covenant also predicted the coming new covenant for repentant Israel. The new covenant would result in a reversal of judgment. In Joel the revelation of the new covenant is extended to indicate that Gentiles will be caught up in its promises as God says that the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh. The gift of the Spirit is at the heart of the new covenant. The application of all the other promises of the new covenant depends on the gift of the Spirit.

The Day of Yhwh is a day in which Yhwh intervenes to judge humans for their sins. The Flood would be a day of Yhwh. As would be Joel’s locust plague, the conquest of Judah by Babylon, and the fall of Jerusalem to Rome in AD 70. But all of these historical days of Yhwh point forward to the eschatological day of Yhwh, when the Lord returns to judge all mankind for sin. The New Testament refers to this day both as the day of the Lord and as the day of Christ, since Christ is the one to whom the Father has committed all judgment. If the day of Yhwh is the day of Christ, then Christ must be Yhwh. There is also a positive aspect to the day of Yhwh in which God’s people and the entire earth experience restoration.

While there are events that before Obadiah and Joel that we can now call days of Yhwh (like the Flood), the terminology was first introduced in Obadiah 15 and then developed extensively in Joel (who includes both the judgment and restoration aspects). Chronologically, these are the first of the writing prophets, and within the Book of the Twelve Joel is placed second. Thus, this foundational prophetic theme is introduced early and developed by the rest of the prophets.

Repentance is the only proper response to the day of Yhwh. For those within a day of Yhwh it is the only path towards forgiveness and restoration. For those with the day of Yhwh looming near, it is the only means by which to avert God’s judgment. The book of Joel was written to spur people to repentance in the face of the day of Yhwh judgment that his people then faced and that all of his readers would face if they did not repent. Joel is a book of judgment, but it is also a book of restoration. Judgment is the first word, but it is not the last word. For the repentant, Yhwh will restore the years the locusts have eaten. And the book closes with the land flowing with abundance.

NT Use of Joel

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Jesus also drew on imagery from Joel when describing the day of the Lord in the Olivet Discourse (Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24 // Joel 2:10; 2:31; Mt 25:31-46 // Joel 2:30-31).

Peter famously quoted Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2:17-21. The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost and the prophesying in tongues were fulfillments of Joel’s prophecy. More puzzling to some is the fact that Peter also mentions “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes” (Acts 2:19-20). Some insist that Peter’s inclusion of these elements must mean that what Joel described with these words must have already taken place. Thus, the wonders and signs are taken to refer to Jesus’s miracles,[1] the sun turning to darkness refers to the darkness at the crucifixion,[2] the moon turning to blood to a lunar eclipse, which took place at Passover in AD 33, a potential date for the crucifixion.[3] However, these interpreters have trouble accounting for the “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke,” which probably do not refer to the blood of Christ shed on the cross, the tongues of fire that appeared above heads at Pentecost, and the cloud into which Jesus ascended.[4] While it is the case that the cross was the day of the Lord judgment being poured out on Jesus, and while the darkness recounted in the gospels is a sign of this, the lunar eclipse is not mentioned in Scripture, nor are the other elements associated with the crucifixion. It is best therefore, to understand that Peter is not claiming that everything that Joel prophesied was happening right then. Peter was instead recognizing that some of it was taking place and that the last days had arrived. He did not know that the last days last thousands of years.[5]

Peter culminates his quotation with the statement, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Paul also picks up on this statement from Joel in Romans 10:13. Thus, Joel, one of the earliest writing prophets testifies to the way of salvation and that it is open to Jew and Gentile alike.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52 both connect the trumpet with the day of the Lord, which may be a connection rooted in Joel 2:1 and Hebrews 12:26 may be referring to Joel 3:16 when it speaks of the Lord shaking the heavens and the earth when he comes.

The trumpet judgments of Revelation 8-9, as well as drawing on the exodus plagues are drawing on Joel 2. Joel said a fire would burn before these eschatological locusts (2:3), and the first trumpet judgment is one of fire (Rev. 8:7). The second and third trumpet judgments involve flaming objects falling from heaven (Rev. 8:8, 10). Joel said that this would be “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (2:2) and that before the invaders “the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining” (Joel 2:10). The fourth trumpet judgment involves the striking of the sun, moon, and stars, bringing a degree of darkness to the earth (Rev. 8:12). The “army” that descends upon Israel are described in terms that evoke the locust plague recounted in chapter 1 without calling the invading “people” locusts. They are not normal locusts since they are opposed with weapons and they are described not as destroying crops but as invading cities.[6] On the other hand, this is not a human invasion force since their appearance is compared to that of horses (2:4). The fifth trumpet judgment describes strange locusts that look and sound like horses (Rev 8:7, 9 // Joel 2:4-5), but these “locusts” do not eat grass; they have scorpion tails that are used to hurt people (Rev. 8:5-6, 10; cf. Joel 2:6, “Before them the people are in anguish”). The sixth trumpet judgment portrays another invading army with strange horses that wound and kill humans. Though the connection between the sixth trumpet and Joel 2 is not as clear, it could be included in the description of the invading army. Finally, it is worth noting that Joel 2 describes an invasion of Israel, while the trumpet judgments extend to the world.

[1] Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138.

[2] Bruce, Acts, NICNT, 62; Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138; cf. Nass, Joel, CC, 450 (Nass also sees a future fulfillment when Christ returns).

[3] Bruce, Acts, NICNT, 62; Nass, Joel, CC, 450; noted in Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 139, n. 44, but rejected because Schnabel dates the crucifixion at AD 30.

[4] Noted and rejected by Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138-39. While Schnabel wants to see fulfillment at the cross of Christ for this prophecy, at this point he concedes that these elements are future and that the judgment at the cross is linked to the eschatological day of the Lord judgment. Ibid., 139.

[5] Garrett, Hosea, Joel NAC, 373-74; Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC, 276; Peterson, Acts, PNTC, 143-44.

[6] Nass, CC, 216. Note, however, that Nass sees this judgment as active throughout the last days rather than limited to the period of Christ’s coming.

OT Use of Joel

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As one of the early prophets, Joel is referenced by numerous other Old Testament books. Amos, the very next prophet to be written, opens his book with an allusion to Joel. Joel closes his book by prophesying of the judgment of the nations: “Yhwh roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But Yhwh is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel” (3:16). In this context, the roar of Yhwh from Zion is directed against the nations. When Amos opens his prophecy with the words, “Yhwh roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem,” it might seem as though Yhwh is again roaring against the nations, for a series of judgment oracles on the nations follow in Amos 1 and 2. But note that it is not “the heavens and the earth” that “quake” in Amos, but “the top of Carmel [in the northern kingdom, Israel,] withers”—and the judgments on the nations culminates with a pronouncement of judgment on Israel (2:6ff.).[1] The people of Israel had distorted the day of Yhwh prophecies from Obadiah and Joel, applying them only to their enemies. Thus, Amos prophesied, “Woe to you who desire the day of Yhwh! Why would you have the day of Yhwh? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of Yhwh darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20).

This is not to say that Amos denies Joel’s teaching about a positive aspect of the day of Yhwh in which creation is renewed and the curse removed. In the close of his book Amos repeats words from the end of Joel about the mountains dripping with sweet wine and the hills flowing with abundance (Joel 3:8; Amos 9:13).

In Jonah 4:2 we see that prophet quote from Exodus 34:6-7, just as Joel did, but in Jonah God’s grace is extended beyond Israel to repentant Gentiles. There is a hint of this in Joel 2:28 when Joel speaks of the prospect of the Spirit being poured out “on all flesh” (2:28).

Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 reverse Joel’s call for Israel to beat its plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears (Joel 3:10) as they predict the peace that the Messiah will bring. Later prophets such as Isaiah (13:6 // Joel 1:15; 51:3 // Joel 2:3; 66:18 // Joel 3:2); Nahum (2:11 // Joel 2:6); Zephanaih (1:7 // Joel 1:15; 1:14-15 // Joel 2:1-2); Jeremiah (33:15; 50:4, 20 // Joel 3:1); Ezekiel (30:2-3 // Joel 1:15; 36:11 // Joel 3:17; 36:35 // Joel 2:3; 39:29 // Joel 2:28); Zechariah (14:2 // Joel 3:2); and Malachi (4:5 // Joel 2:31) use language from Joel to describe the Day of Yhwh.

[1] Niehaus, “Amos,” in The Minor Prophets, 1:338.

Joel’s Use of the OT

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The word covenant does not appear in Joel, but Joel is clearly operating from an understanding of God’s covenant with Israel. The Mosaic covenant promised agricultural blessing if Israel would be faithful to the Mosaic covenant (Dt. 28:3-5, 8, 11). God also promised agricultural destruction if Israel broke the Mosaic covenant (Dt. 28:16-18). Specifically, God said, “You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. … The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground” (Dt 28:3-4). What Joel records in chapter 1 of his prophecy is the fulfillment of this curse from the Mosaic covenant.

Joel’s hope that God may relent from his judgment (2:13) is based on God’s revelation of his name Yhwh to Moses after Israel first broke the Mosaic covenant. In Exodus 34:6-7 God declared himself to be “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” as well as one who “forgives iniquity and transgressions and sin.”

The locust judgment in chapter 1 alludes to the plague of locusts that God sent on Egypt. In both cases the plague is said to be so severe nothing like it happened in the days of their fathers or grandfathers (Ex. 10:6; Joel 1:2) and such that the telling of it will be passed on from one generation to the next (Ex. 10:2; Joel 1:3). The Egyptian plagues were a day of Yhwh judgment on Egypt (though that term is not used there) that prefigured the ultimate day of Yhwh that will be visited upon all the nations. The trumpet judgments in Revelation 8-9 allude to the plagues on Egypt, and it is not surprising that the trumpet judgments also allude to Joel.

Joel’s promise that Spirit of God would be poured out on everyone, regardless of age or sex reflects a desire of Moses in Numbers 11:29, “Would that all Yhwh’s people were prophets, that Yhwh would put his Spirit on them!” The context for this wish was Moses’s contention that he could not bear this complaining people alone. God then set seventy men aside to aid Moses and empowered them with the Spirit. When Joshua reported to Moses that two other men, not of the seventy also received the Spirit, Moses expressed this wish. Schriener notes, “The fundamental flaw with Israel is revealed by this incident: the people lacked the Holy Spirit.”[1] Moses’s wish gestured toward the promise of the new covenant, and Joel now prophesies that this wish will come to pass. Obadiah is the prophet who most nearly proceeds Joel. Joel takes the day of Yhwh theme that Obadiah introduced and develops it further. Joel also quotes Obadiah’s affirmation that Yhwh will save a remnant from judgment.

[1] Schriener, The King in His Beauty, 71.

Structure and Summary of Joel

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After the superscription, Joel can be divided into six major sections: 1:2-20; 2:1-11; 2:12-17; 2:18-27; 2:28-32; 3:1-21.[1]

Verse 1 identifies the author of the book as Joel, the Son of Pethuel. Nothing further is known about the author except that he received the word of Yhwh recorded in this book.

Joel 1:2-20 recounts a plague of locusts that have descended upon the Israelites in Judah. Joel begins by calling out to the elderly to confirm that this locust plague was like nothing they or their fathers had ever experienced.  This would be a plague that would be recounted generation after generation due to its severity. The drunkards are told to weep because there is no wine to drink. But more seriously, this judgment prevents them from worshipping God through the grain and drink offerings. Their sin has brought a judgment that deprived them of proper worship. In verse 15 Joel identifies this plague as the day of Yhwh. He says the day of Yhwh is near, which doesn’t mean that the day of Yhwh is something other than the locust plague. Rather, the Day of Yhwh is so near that it is upon them.

The second major section 2:1-11 has occasioned debate. Does it refer to (1) a locust invasion in Joel’s day that prefigures the eschatological day of Yhwh,[2] (2) a now past military invasion described under the figure of locusts,[3] (3) an eschatological locust plague,[4] (4) an eschatological military invasion.[5] It is best to understand this passage to be about locusts; they are described as “like war horses,” “like warriors,” and “like soldiers”—which indicates that they are not themselves horses, warriors, or soldiers.[6] It is unlikely that chapter 2 is a continued description of the locust plague recounted in chapter 1 since the verbs in chapter 1 indicate that Joel was referring to a past event, whereas in chapter 2 the verbs indicate that he is speaking of a future event.[7] In addition, the locusts described in chapter 2 will be unprecedented: “their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations” (2:3). In fact, there are several elements in the passage that indicate these are not normal locusts: they are opposed with weapons, and they are described not as destroying crops but as invading cities.[8]

The third major section (2:12-17) is a call to repentance. No one can endure the judgment of the day of Yhwh (2:11) and therefore repentance is called for. This repentance is not to be merely external (the rending of garments) but internal (the rending of hearts). Repentance from the heart is what the first great commandment demands, and a new heart is what the new covenant promised. The hope that God would receive their repentance is based on God’s declaration to Moses of his character. And yet God’s grace and mercy are not presumed upon: “Who knows” (2:14). Note also that Joel highlights as the foremost blessing of forgiveness the restoration of true worship (the ability to offer grain and drink offerings). Thus, all the people, from the oldest to the youngest (and including those normally exempt from such gatherings, the bride and bridegroom [cf. Dt 24:5]) are to gather to beg for mercy. Their main concern, Joel indicates, is to be God’s glory (2:17).

Evidently the Israelites responded with repentance because the fourth section of the book describes God’s response to their repentance (2:18-27). While some of the promised restoration seems to be directed at restoring the land after the locust plague (e.g., “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts has eaten,” 2:25), other promises were not fulfilled in Joel’s day: “And my people shall never again be put to shame.” Israel would still face conquest by Babylon and Rome; Israel would again be put to shame. There is in this section a telescoping of the now past and the still future.[9]

The fifth section of the book (2:28-32) looks forward to the eschatological gift of the Spirit, the ultimate day of Yhwh judgment on the whole earth, and the hope of salvation for those who call upon the name of Yhwh. That a remnant will be saved has already been prophesied by Obadiah.[10] Joel turns to the judgment of the nations in the sixth section (3:1-21) of the book. This section recounts the sins the nations surrounding Judah have committed against God’s people Israel. As a result, God will judge the nations. Some of the judgments described seem to have already happened (3:4-8), while other judgments seem to be eschatological (3:1-3, 9-17, 19, 21). As a counterpoint to this judgment, God promises eschatological blessing to Judah and Jerusalem that is described in terms of a reversal of the locust judgment described in chapters 1 and 2.[11]

[1] The first section is recognized by Garret, Dillard, Stuart, Crenshaw, Tully, and Nass. The second section is recognized by Garrett, Stuart, Crenshaw, Hubbard, Tully, Barker, and Nass (as a subjection of 2:1-17). The third section is recognized by Stuart, Crenshaw, Hubbard, Tully Barker, and Nass (as a subjection of 2:1-17). The fourth section is recognized by Stuart, Crenshaw, Hubbard, Tully, Barker, and Nass. The fifth section is recognized by Garrett, Stuart, Finley, Crenshaw, Hubbard, Tully, Barker, and Nass (as a subsection of 2:28-3:21). The sixth section is recognized by Garrett, Stuart, Finley, Hubbard, Tully, Barker, and Nass (as two subsections of 2:28-3:21).

[2] Bell, The Theological Messages of the Old Testament Books, 384-85; Barker, ZECOT, 75-77; Harman, ESVEC, 268.

[3] Patterson, REBC,.

[4] Grisanti, “The Book of Joel,” in The World and the Word, 425-26; cf. Busenitz, MC, 116.

[5] Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 269; Busenitz, MC, 113-15.

[6] Grisanti, “The Book of Joel, 425.

[7] Garrett, NAC, 333; Nass, CC, 203. If the locust plague in chapter 2 is considered to be the same as that of chapter 1, it would need to be a second wave of locusts.

[8] Nass, CC, 216. These are two elements from a series of three lists that Nass presents: “Features of the Army that Do Not Fit Perfectly with Locusts,” “Features of the Army that Do Not Fit Perfectly with Human Soldiers,” and “Features of the Army that Do Not fit Perfectly with Locusts or Human Soldiers.” Under the last heading Nass lists, “Fire burns before them”; “The earth and heavens shake before them”; “The sun, moon, and stars go dark before them.” Nass concludes from this data that Joel 2:1-11 refers to a composite of the day of Yhwh throughout history, culminating in the eschatological day of Yhwh. But it is more likely that Joel 2 is describing the same events that Revelation describes as the first, fourth, and fifth trumpet judgments.

[9] Michael P. V. Barrett, “Pentecost and Other Blessings: Joel 2:21–28,” Puritan Reformed Journal 12, no. 2 (2020): 8–9. Since the two preceding sections of judgment refer to a near and an eschatological judgment, it makes sense for the description of restoration to include both near and eschatological restoration.

[10] There is some debate about what it would mean for the sun to be turned to darkness and the moon to blood “before the great and awesome day of Yhwh comes.” These seem to describe the kind of events that would characterize the day of Yhwh. There are two possible solutions. (1) Some note that the preposition translated before can simply mean “in the presence of.” Thus, a temporal meaning is not necessary here and should not be advocated. Busenitz, MC, 190-91; cf. Stuart, WBC, 257. Against this, when לִפְנֵי בּוֹא are used together, a temporal meaning of before is always indicated (1 Sam 9:15; 2 Sam 3:35; Eze 33:22; Mal 4:5). Nass, CC, 448. (2) Others note that the Day of Yhwh is a multifaceted event and that the phrase may be used of a specific part of the overall day, thus allowing for the darkened sun and blood-red moon to be both part of the overall day of Yhwh and yet precede the specific aspect designated Day of Yhwh in these verses. Finley, WEC, 75; Blaising, “A Pretribulation Response,” in Three Views on the Rapture, 246–47; Fanning, Revelation, ZECNT, 270, n. 1. Some would even argue that the fuller phrase “the great and awesome day of Yhwh” is “a technical expression that refers to the last half of the seventieth week [prophesied in Daniel 9].” Alan D. Cole, “A Critique of the Prewrath Interpretation of the Day of the Lord in Joel 2–3,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal Volume 9 (2004): 49.

[11] See Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 272.