Week 3 - Joel 1.1-2.17 - The Day of the Lord is at Hand

We know nothing of Joel’s personal history except that he was the son of Pethuel. In Hebrew his name means “Jehovah is God.” Some suggest he was a priest or the son of a priest, but no firm evidence for this assertion exists. No king of Israel or Judah is mentioned in this book, which creates problems if we wish to place a fixed date on this writing. Some scholars date the book prior to 900 B.C., while others have it as late as 350 B.C. Elders seem to be the real leaders in the country during Joel’s writing and would have been looked at as the leaders of the nation during the formative years of the king. Because of this and the placement of this book in the Hebrew listing of the books, we will assume that the earlier date is the best date for Joel.