Yoel HaNavi
c. 480 BCE–c. 400 BCE · Biblical era · Jerusalem
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Yoel son of Petuel (Joel) is the second book of the Twelve. His book opens with a plague of locusts so severe that he tells the elders to recount it to their children, and they to theirs (Joel 1:2-4), and he calls the priests to fast and lament in the Temple (Joel 1:13-14). The disaster becomes a sign of 'the day of the LORD': 'Blow a horn in Zion' (Joel 2:1, 2:15). The second half turns to hope, including the promise 'I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy' (Joel 3:1 in Hebrew numbering), and a judgment of the nations in the Valley of Yehoshafat (Joel 4:2). No year is given, so his date is disputed. Jewish tradition in Seder Olam places him under King Menashe, while Rashi records a view that he prophesied in the famine of Yehoram's day. Many modern scholars date the book to the Persian period after the return from Babylon.
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JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
Joel addresses the Temple priests ('ministers of the altar', Joel 1:13) and calls for a shofar to be blown in Zion and for an assembly between the portico and the altar (Joel 2:1, 2:15-17), so his prophecy is set in Jerusalem. Years are left blank because his date is disputed.
Jerusalem in this era
In the Hebrew Bible, David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital, Solomon builds the First Temple there, and Nehemiah rebuilds its walls after the return from Babylon; in 164 BCE Judah Maccabee rededicated the Temple, the origin of Hanukkah. Archaeologists debate how large the city was in the 10th century BCE; it is well attested as the capital of Judah by the 8th century BCE, and Babylon destroyed it in 586 BCE.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Yoel HaNavi’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Yoel HaNavi’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Jewish world
Buddhist world
Graeco-Roman world
Luminaries & Explorers
Hindu world
Works
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