Bible Dictionary
JOEL (Book)
JOEL (Book)
We have in this book no precise indication of the prophet’s time. But certain details seem to militate powerfully against an earlier date than Isaiah. It is thought to be set at the time of the religious revival early in the reign of Joash (2 Kings 12:1, 16; 2 Chron. 24:1).
Since Joel does not mention the king, but speaks of the priests and the regular ceremonies of worship (Joel 1:9, 13; 2:12-17), this situation harmonizes with the time of King Joash’s minority. , when power was exercised by the high priest Jehoiada as regent (2 Chron. 23:2, 3).
On the other hand, Joel makes no mention of the Assyrians or the Chaldeans, while he alludes to enemies that did not exist as nations at the time of the great empires, or that did not represent a threat to Judah then:
the Edomites (Joel 3:19),
Phoenicians and Philistines (Joel 3:4).
He makes no mention of the northern kingdom. Therefore, it can be placed around the year 800 BC. It can be added that many prophets used entire passages from Joel (cf. Am. 9:13 and Jl. 3:18; Is. 13:6, 9, 10 and Jl. 1:15; 2:1, 10; Zeph. 1:14, 15 and JI. 2:1, 2; Ez. 47:1 and Jl. 3:18; Abd. 17 and Jl. 2:32). The position of those who seek to place the prophecy in the time of Jeremiah, or even after the exile in Babylon, is untenable.
Joel’s prophecy has as its essential perspective the time of the end. Joel starts from a very common catastrophe in the East, an invasion of locusts followed by a terrible drought, to describe the terrible time of the judgment of God’s wrath on his people and the nations, the Day of darkness and darkness, great and very terrible, the great and terrible day of Jehovah (cf. Jl. 1:15; 2:1, 2, 11, 31).
The prophet reveals this “day”, which will not be a solar day, but a period of several years, a period that must correspond to the reign of the Adversary (Antichrist) according to Dan. 9:24-27 and that Jesus described in Mt. 24:29-30, Peter in 2 Pet. 3:10-13, and John in Rev. 7 ff.
Joel presents us with the following stages:
(a) The dawn of the day of Jehovah. Punishment of unfaithful Judah (in Joel, Judah represents the entire people), which will consist of the sudden invasion of the country by an innumerable people (Joel 1:6). This people is identified (Jl. 2:20): those of the north. Ezekiel gives impressive details about this enemy (Ez. 38:1-9, 14-16).
This people, including within it an entire group of nations, will be so numerous that Joel compares it to an invasion of locusts (Joel 1:4), attributing to it the same destructive power (Joel 1:6, 7). In Ez. 38:9 He is seen as a cloud that will cover the land. Jl. 2:1-11 constitutes an apocalyptic vision of this invasion: chariots and horses, flame of fire, darkened sky, trembling earth, trembling heavens.
It could be identified with a battle involving nuclear weapons. “Who can bear it?” (Joel 2:11). The prophet specifies the place of the battle: “the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 12), around Jerusalem. “That is where the outcome of this war will be decided.”
(b) The result of the cataclysm: If God has to punish, he also wants his salvation. Therefore, he addresses urgent appeals to him to repent (Jl. 1: 13-14; 2: 12-17). The punishment will be for Judah like a crucible of purification. And the terrible and swift storm will be followed by a miraculous deliverance.
God Himself will intervene to break the spirit of the invader and annihilate him (JI. 2:18-20). The parallel description of this divine intervention given by Ezekiel is even more detailed and cataclysmic (Ez. 38:17-23; 39:1-7); the enemy from the north will find his total ruin there (Ez. 39: 11-17). “This is the day of which I have spoken” (Ez. 39:8).
Certain commentators doubt whether this defeat of the northern enemy should be placed at the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan. 9:27), or whether it should be considered a phase of the battle of Armageddon. (See ARMAGEDDON, GOG.). In the first case it would mark the victory of the Antichrist and the starting point of the evil pact that he will make with Israel.
It seems, however, that Joel, like Ez. 38-39, fits better with the point of view of a double fulfillment, before the tribulation and after the Millennium (cf. Alexander, Ralph: “Ezequiel”, Pub. Portavoz Evangelico, Barcelona, 1979, PP. 123-134) . Joel deals in particular with the first fulfillment, in the period that closes the Great Tribulation and begins the Millennium (cf. Jl. 3:1-2, 11-13, 18-21).
(c) The pouring out of the Spirit on Israel. JI’s passage. 2:28-32 constitutes a separate chapter, chapter 3 in the Hebrew Bible. There has already been a first partial fulfillment of this prophecy at Pentecost, because Peter affirms: “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel…” (Acts 2:16-21).
The Spirit has been, in effect, given to all believers, whereas in the OT it was only given to certain privileged servants of God. But it is evident that Pentecost was not yet the great Day of the end, marked by cosmic phenomena and by the visible triumph of the Lord.
What also remains to be accomplished is the conversion of “all Israel” to the Messiah, thanks to a particular outpouring of the Spirit that the unbelief of the nation has delayed until now (Jl. 2:28-32; Is. 32:13- 15; 34:16; Ez. 36:24-27; 39:28-29; Zech. 12:10). When this happens, “my people will never again be put to shame” (JI. 2:26-27).
(d) The glory of the messianic reign. Joel proclaims the end of the Day of Jehovah with the announcement of the Lord’s advent to Zion (Joel 3:17, 21). Prosperity, peace and security will be assured to God’s people (Joel 3:16, 18-20).
This kingdom of Christ on earth is described most fully by Isaiah and other prophets. It will be a time of immense blessings for Israel and for all nations. (See MILLENNIUM.)
Summing up, it can be said that Joel presents the events of the end in the following order:
(a) Invasion of Palestine by the nations, on the Day of Jehovah (Joel 2:1-10; cf. Zech. 14:2; Rev. 16:14).
(b) Destruction of the invaders by the Lord Himself (Joel 2:11; Rev. 19:11, 21).
(c) Repentance of the chosen people (Joel 2:12-17).
(d) Divine promises of deliverance (Jl. 2:18-27).
(e) Outpouring of the Spirit upon Israel (Joel 2:28-29).
(f) Glorious return of Christ, proclamation of his salvation and his kingdom (Jl. 2: 30-32; cf. Acts 15: 15-17).
(g) Judgment of the nations (Jl. 3:1-16).
(h) Description of the messianic kingdom (Jl. 3:17-21; cf. Zech. 14:1-21).
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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