{"id":76783,"date":"2020-07-01T17:46:43","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T14:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76783"},"modified":"2020-07-01T17:46:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T14:46:43","slug":"dating-a-prophet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dating-a-prophet\/","title":{"rendered":"Dating a Prophet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"76783","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"515","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"He\u2019s hard to pin down...\r\n\r\n","content":"

The Book of Joel confronts us with a problem unprecedented in our 929 experience: It lacks an explicit historical identification. The opening verse: \u201cThe word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel\u201d identifies only the prophet; there is no mention of the king(s) during whose reign(s) he prophesied. Naturally, that has led to considerable speculation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi identified Pethuel with the Prophet Samuel, who \u201centreated God (<\/span>pitah la`el<\/span><\/em>) with his prayer,\u201d but also cited another opinion to the effect that Joel\u2019s prophecy was uttered during the reign of Jehoram son of Ahab, during the selfsame seven years of famine prophesied by Elisha (2 Kings 8). Yet a third opinion, which he attributed to the 8<\/span>th<\/span> century Halakhot Gedolot, placed Joel, along with Nahum and Habakuk, during the reign of Manasseh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yosef Kara cited Rashi\u2019s first interpretation and attributed it to Seder Olam, the standard work of rabbinic chronology. Ibn Ezra, ever the skeptic, wrote: \u201cWe have no way to determine his era, and according to the straightforward (<\/span>peshat<\/span><\/em>) meaning of the text he was not the son of Samuel.\u201d Radak, ever the eclectic, wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n

This prophet prophesied first about the locusts that God would bring to the Land of Israel on account of their sins. Then, he prophesied a future prophecy for the Messianic Age. Some say that during the reign of Jehoram son of Ahab, he prophesied a famine, to wit: \u201cGod has summoned a famine to come upon the land for seven years\u201d (2 Kings 8:1). Four [of those] years were taken up by the four species of locusts, and for three years, the rains were withheld.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also cited the opinion that situated Joel in the era of Manasseh along with Nahum and Habakuk (attributing it to Seder Olam rather than Halakhot Gedolot), adding that this information was withheld from the text on account of that king\u2019s improprieties.<\/span><\/p>\n

A most original interpretation was offered by Yosef Ibn Kaspi (Provence, 1279-1340), placing the subject of Joel\u2019s prophecy\u2014if not necessarily the prophet himself\u2014firmly in the Second Temple era:<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, it appears to me that after he had verified through Isaiah and Hosea and others of his predecessors that the First Temple would be destroyed and a second one built, even though they had made no predictions of Second Temple events to befall our people save for Ezekiel who predicted the rise of the third creature [see Daniel 7, referring to the Greeks] and the troubles it would cause our people until the Hasmoneans defeated them, this prophet reinforced this matter, too. Therefore, he addressed \u201cthe people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem [who] were sold to the Ionians\u201d (4:6).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":76784,"id":76784,"title":"joel1-joel-michaelangelo","filename":"joel1-joel-michaelangelo.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/joel1-joel-michaelangelo.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dating-a-prophet\/joel1-joel-michaelangelo\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"joel1-joel-michaelangelo","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":76783,"date":"2020-07-01 14:46:27","modified":"2020-07-01 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