Joel

by Mark W. Chavalas

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Introduction

Unlike many of the prophetic books, the superscription of this book contains no historical data (i.e., mention of the reign of a particular king), nor is there any mention of the prophet in any other biblical book. Furthermore, there are few hints in the text as to its date. The first part of the book describes an ecological crisis, while the remainder provides few references to historical situations in Israel or in neighboring states. Thus, the book has been notoriously difficult to date; opinions have greatly varied, ranging from the ninth century B.C. to the postexilic period, as late as the fourth century B.C.1

The first part (1:1–2:27) has frequent statements about priests and appears to describe active temple worship. None of these items provide conclusive evidence for a date. However, the second part (2:28–3:21) appears to contain references to the fall of Judah, the Jewish Diaspora, and a return of the exiles, which suggest a postexilic time period (e.g., 3:2, 7). There are also no references to Samaria and the northern kingdom that fell in 722 B.C. Moreover, references to the Greeks (3:6) and the citing of earlier prophetic literature (Isa. 2:4, referenced in 3:10; Amos 1:2, referenced in 3:16) appear to imply a later date to the text, probably between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. The other peoples mentioned (Philistines, Sabeans, Tyrians, and Sidonians) are known to have had relations with Israel throughout the early first millennium B.C.2 There are, however, references to an invasion of Judah by locusts, which, if symbolic, may be referring to the invasion of the Assyrians in 701 B.C. or by the Chaldeans in 598/586 B.C. In sum, the book of Joel does not lend itself to an easy chronological determination.

To make matters worse, many scholars dispute the overall unity of the work, which would make the attempt to determine the date somewhat irrelevant. At any rate, the inconclusiveness in determining the date of Joel will remain a factor in every discussion of its historical background.