LITTLE is known of the prophet [Joel]; he was the son of pethuel, probably a Judahite, and prophesied in Jerusalem. . . .
The occasion of the book was a dire plague of locusts, accompanied by a severe drought, the results and course of which are described i. 2ii. 17, resulting in the prophet's call to fasting and repentance. This fast must have been observed, since in the second and remaining part of the book promises of good abound, relating to the immediate and the distant future. The immediate outlook is the defeat of the foe, healing and good fortune, so that Zion rejoices in its God; in the distant future Yahweh's spirit is to come on all flesh, making all prophecy superfluous, while Zion is to dwell in security. . . . The book closes with blessing upon Judah and Jerusalem and promise of destruction for their foes. The articulation of the book is good and its parts are well related. The day of Yahweh, which in the first part appears as one of terror unless repentance supervenes, is in the second part a day of grace because that repentance has come. . . .
The plague of locusts is to be taken literally, not metaphorically. The metaphoric interpretation depends largely upon the fact that one of the names for locusts in the Masoretic pointing means "northern," and Judah's enemies were northern, while the locusts usually came from the south.
