Joel 1:1

1 The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

Joel 1:1 Meaning and Commentary

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 gives this reason for his being called Pethuel, because in his prayer he persuaded God; but the long span of time will by no means admit of this, nor the character of Samuel's son agree with Joel; and therefore is rightly denied by Aben Ezra, who observes, however, that this man was an honourable man, and therefore his name is mentioned; and gives this as a rule, that whenever any prophet mentions the name of his father, he was honourable. Perhaps, it is here observed, to distinguish him from another of the same name; and there was one of this name, Joel, a high priest in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, according to Seder Olam Zuta ^F9 and Abarbinel ^F11; in whose time Joel is by some thought to prophesy.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Fol. 104.
F11 In Meyer. Anotat. in ib. p, 626.

Joel 1:1 In-Context

1 The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

2 Give ear to this, you old men, and take note, you people of the land. Has this ever been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Give the story of it to your children, and let them give it to their children, and their children to another generation.

4 What the worm did not make a meal of, has been taken by the locust; and what the locust did not take, has been food for the plant-worm; and what the plant-worm did not take, has been food for the field-fly.

5 Come out of your sleep, you who are overcome with wine, and give yourselves to weeping; give cries of sorrow, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it has been cut off from your mouths.