Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
In previous articles, we examined 4 prophets, listing them in the order in which they are recorded in tradition (that is, as the Sages speak of them). Beginning, as in the Book of the “12 Prophets,” with Hosea, we “skipped over” the prophet Joel, who appears between Hosea and Amos. Then we moved on to the prophet Micah, “skipping over” the prophets Obadiah and Jonah along the way.
Let us now return to Joel and restore the order followed in the Book of the “12 Prophets.”
The Book of Joel does not mention the kings of his time. For this reason, the dating of Joel’s prophecy remains uncertain. There are, however, several opinions on the subject. According to one of them, Joel was the son of the prophet Samuel. This opinion is based on the statement in the Book of Samuel (chapter 8, verse 2): “The name of his (Samuel’s) firstborn son was Joel, and the second was Abijah.” Admittedly, the Book of Samuel says that his sons did not follow in their father’s footsteps. But there is a tradition that they later mended their ways, and that one of them even became a prophet. Yet the Book of Joel gives an entirely different name for his father: Pethuel. However, we do not encounter a prophet by that name anywhere else.
How can we untangle this confusion?
You probably remember that when a prophet’s father is mentioned by name, it means that the father was also a prophet. We are left to assume that the name Pethuel refers to the prophet Samuel, because no other prophet is known whose son was named Joel. And it is quite common in the Tanakh for one person to appear under two or more names. There is also a well-known principle: “The Torah comes not to mislead, but only to clarify.” We apply this principle repeatedly.
But then it is interesting to ask why Samuel is called Pethuel?
This name has the root lefatot—to entice. “Pethuel” translates as “One Who Entices the Almighty.” Psalm 99 (verse 6) says: “...Samuel is among those who call upon His Name.” It was specifically Samuel who was said to know how to “entice” G-d with his prayer. In all likelihood, he is Pethuel.
Other opinions concerning the period of Joel’s prophecy are also known, but we will examine them later.
The Book of the Prophet Joel describes a terrible calamity—an invasion by hordes of locusts of four different kinds.
There is an opinion that “four” symbolizes the 4 extremely difficult exiles that the Jewish people are destined to endure.
Locusts bring both destruction of property and the death of all living things. They destroy crops and harvests, cause famine, and eat everything they can (including the wooden parts of houses).
The prophecy then describes how G-d will have compassion on the Jewish people and remove this terrible affliction from them.
Rabbi Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel and the Oral Tradition view the locusts as an allegorical representation of our evil inclination. Chapter two of the Book of Joel (verse 20) says: “I will remove the northern (locust swarm) from you and cast it into a barren and desolate land, its front toward the eastern sea (in Jewish tradition, east is always in front), and its rear (the locusts) toward the last (western) sea.”
Recall that when we discussed the “12 Tribes of Israel,” we spoke about how the Almighty, in creating the world, left its northern side unfinished and placed the evil inclination there. Similarly, every person has an unfinished side, a north of their own; the Almighty made us this way on the day He created humankind.
Thus, each of us must “finish building our north” by struggling against our evil inclination.
The Oral Tradition says that the “northern” locusts are the evil inclination itself, hidden deep within us. Its end will come on the last day, when Mashiach arrives. Joel’s prophecy speaks of a sea. But “day” and “sea” in Hebrew—yam and yom—sound similar, and on the level of derash, their meanings can stand in for one another.
Joel’s prophecy also says that what has been driven out (that is, the evil inclination) will give off a foul smell, and then everyone will clearly see how repulsive the evil inclination is.
Chapter three of the Book of Joel says that after the evil inclination is driven out, the Almighty will pour out His spirit upon all flesh; sons and daughters, the elderly and the young, and even male and female slaves will all see prophetic visions. And there will be signs in the heavens and on earth—blood, fire, and columns of smoke—before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Almighty.
And only those in Jerusalem will find deliverance.
The prophet named Malachi, the last of the 12 Minor Prophets, also speaks of this great and terrible day. We will return to this later.
At the end of chapter 4 of the Book of Joel, almost at its very conclusion, it says that Israel will eventually become an extraordinarily fruitful land: juice will flow from the peaks of all the mountains, the hills will flow with milk, and the riverbeds will fill with water. The Oral Tradition says that the clearest sign that the coming of Mashiach is approaching is increasing fertility in the Land of Israel. Israel is compared to a faithful wet nurse. If the son she is nursing is taken away from her, she will give milk to no one else.
But if he is brought back… sensing his return, she rejoices, welcomes him with open arms, and feeds him.
The prophecy also says that a spring will flow from the House of the Almighty (that is, the Temple) and water the Valley of Shittim. (In this valley, the Jews who had left Egypt sinned with the daughters of Moab. The Valley of Shittim symbolizes passions. When the Third Temple—the House of the Almighty—is built, the spring that wells up within it will water this valley, and no thirst will remain there. Passion and thirst share the same nature).
Joel prophesies that Egypt will be desolate, and Edom desolate and empty. They will receive this punishment for having robbed the Jewish people and shed Jewish blood.
Jerusalem and Judea, however, will remain inhabited forever, from generation to generation.
to be continued