Book introduction
The book of Joel
Joel opens with a locust plague that strips the land. He calls the people to return to God with their whole heart and looks ahead to the day of the LORD, when God will pour out his Spirit on all people.
Who wrote Joel?
Joel son of Pethuel. Nothing else is known about him.
When was it written?
Uncertain. Suggestions run from the 800s BC to about 400 BC.
Main themes
- Return to God
- “Tear your hearts and not your garments.”
- The day of the LORD
- A day of judgment and of rescue.
- The Spirit poured out
- Peter quotes Joel at Pentecost in Acts 2.
Outline of Joel
Key verses
Tear your hearts and not your garments. Return to Yahweh your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents from sending disaster.
I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the cutting locust—my great army that I sent against you.
After this I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.
Quoted from the Lumin Translation.
Where to start
Chapter 2 is the center. It is a short book; read all three chapters.
Ask about this book
Questions about Joel?
Lumin answers in a few sentences and shows each verse it cites in full.
Keep going
Keep asking in the Lumin app.Keep this conversation going on the web.
The same short answers with the verse beside each one, plus your saved questions, prayer, and the whole Bible to read in.
Make a free Lumin account and this conversation opens in Ask, ready for your next question. Your saved questions, prayer, and the whole Bible come with it.
All 66 books· Bible map· Search the Bible· Ask
Each introduction gives the traditional view and the main views scholars hold today. Where Christians disagree, it says so.
Report an error in this introduction. If we agree, we fix it and add a dated note.
This inbox is for corrections. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find your country’s line at findahelpline.com.