Joel 1:1

1 God's Message to Joel 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 God's Message to Joel son of Pethuel:

2 Attention, elder statesmen! Listen closely, everyone, whoever and wherever you are! Have you ever heard of anything like this? Has anything like this ever happened before - ever?

3 Make sure you tell your children, and your children tell their children, And their children their children. Don't let this message die out.

4 What the chewing locust left, the gobbling locust ate; What the gobbling locust left, the munching locust ate; What the munching locust left, the chomping locust ate.

5 Sober up, you drunks! Get in touch with reality - and weep! Your supply of booze is cut off. You're on the wagon, like it or not.