Joel

Joel - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Jehovah is his God. (1.) The oldest of Samuel's two sons appointed by him as judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. 8:2). (See VASHNI.) (2.) A descendant of Reuben (1 Chr. 5:4, 8). (3.) One of David's famous warriors (1 Chr. 11:38). (4.) A Levite of the family of Gershom (1 Chr. 15:7, 11). (5.) 1 Chr. 7:3. (6.) 1 Chr. 27:20. (7.) The second of the twelve minor prophets. He was the son of Pethuel. His personal history is only known from his book.

1. Eldest son of Samuel the prophet, (1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 6:33; 15:17) and father of Heman the singer. (B.C. 1094.)
2. In (1 Chronicles 6:36) Authorized Version, Joel seems to be merely a corruption of Shaul in ver. 24.
3. A Simeonite chief. (1 Chronicles 4:35)
4. A descendant of Reuben. Junius and Tremellius make him the son of Hanoeh, while others trace his descent through Carmi. (1 Chronicles 5:4) (B.C. before 1092.)
5. Chief of the Gadites, who dwelt in the land of Bashan. (1 Chronicles 5:12) (B.C. 782.)
6. The son of Izrahiah, of the tribe of Issachar. (1 Chronicles 7:3)
7. The brother of Nathan of Zobah, (1 Chronicles 11:38) and one of David’s guard.
8. The chief of the Gershomites in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 15:7,11)
9. A Gershonite Levite in the reign of David, son of Jehiel, a descendant of Laadan, and probably the same as the preceding. (1 Chronicles 23:8; 26:22) (B.C. 1014.)
10. The son of Pedaiah, and a chief of the half-tribe of Manasseh west of Jordan, in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:20) (B.C. 1014.)
11. A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:12) (B.C. 726.)
12. One of the sons of Nebo, who returned with Ezra, and had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:43) (B.C. 459.)
13. The son of Zichri, a Benjamite. (Nehemiah 11:9)
14. The second of the twelve minor prophets, the son of Pethuel, probably prophesied in Judah in the reign of Uzziah, about B.C. 800. The book of Joel contains a grand outline of the whole terrible scene, which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets. The proximate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judah, of a two-plague of locusts --and continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with penitence, fasting and prayer; and then, he says, the plague shall cease, and the rain descendent in its season, and the land yield her accustomed fruit. Nay, the time will be a most joyful one; for God, by the outpouring of his Spirit, will extend the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. The prophecy is referred to in Acts 2.

Definition

Joel was a prophet who probably lived during the reign of King Joash of Judah. There were also several other men in the Old Testament named Joel.

• The book of Joel is one of twelve short prophetic books in the last section of the Old Testament.
• The only personal information we have about the prophet Joel is that his father’s name was Pethuel.
• In his sermon at Pentecost, the apostle Peter quoted from the book of Joel.

(Translation suggestions: How to Translate Names)

(See also: Joash, Judah, Pentecost)

Bible References

• 1 Chronicles 6:33-35
• 1 Samuel 8:1-3
• Acts 2:16
• Ezra 10:43
• Joel 1:2

Word Data

• Strong’s: H3100, G24930