Bas Krins
Being a Biblically faithful Christian today.

The structure of Joel


1. Introduction

The prophecy of Joel has a striking structure. It begins with a description of a locust plague, which has devastating effects on agriculture. In the second part, a judgment on the people is announced. It is notable that this section has many similarities with the first part. Apparently, Joel sees in the locust plague a symbol of God’s judgment. Some interpreters even question whether there was an actual locust plague at all, or if it is merely a representation of the coming judgment.
Then we see a clear turning point in the prophecy. The imagery shifts. God will pour out His Spirit, and He will deal with the enemies of Israel. In this section, many terms from the first part are repeated.
Central to this part is the concept of the “Day of the Lord.” It occurs five times, successively referring to the locust plague, God’s judgment, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the judgment on the enemies.
In this article, we want to examine the structure of Joel more closely so that its meaning becomes clearer.

2. The structure

It is clear that many elements from the first part are repeated in the second part. Beyond that, however, there does not seem to be a clear structure. The book is often divided into four parts. We will do the same in this article, although the transition between the third and fourth parts is placed at a different point than in the more common divisions. Usually, the prophecy about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is included in the third part. As will be further explained, it is more logical to associate it with the fourth part.
If we pay attention to the repetition of certain keywords, the following structure emerges:

PART 1
A. Next generation. All inhabitants
  B. Mighty people / Mourning, no grain and drink offering, fasting / Fire that consumes
  C. Locusts (four kinds) / Vine, fig tree / Corn, wine, oil

Part 2
A. Next generation. All inhabitants
    D. Zion / Day of the Lord / Sun and moon darkened
B. Mighty people / Mourning, no grain and drink offering, fasting / Fire that consumes
    D. Sun and moon darkened / day of the Lord / Zion

PART 3
  C. Locusts (four kinds) / Vine, fig tree / Corn, wine, oil

PART 4
Prophecy outburst Holy Spirit
    D. Sun and moon darkened / day of the Lord / Zion
      E. Pagans / Valley of Jehoshaphat
        Judgment for Tyre, Sidon, Philistia
      E. Pagans / Valley of Jehoshaphat
    D. Day of the Lord / Sun and Moon Darkened / Zion
Tempelstroom
A. Next generation


3. First part: Joel 1:1-20

Just as in the first verse, the prophet addresses all the inhabitants of the land. He encourages them to pass the message on to the next generations. The locust plague is announced using the image of a people going out to battle. Because of the locusts, the harvest has failed, and even grain and drink offerings can no longer be brought. Therefore, the prophet calls for mourning, a period of fasting, and the gathering of the elders for a solemn assembly. The removal of food is seen as a foreshadowing of the coming Day of the Lord—a day of judgment on the people. This section ends with an image of the destruction caused by the locusts, reminiscent of a fire that has devoured the pastures of the desert. These elements are echoed in the second part.
To describe the extent of the locust plague, four different terms are used for these creatures. Various translations each make their own choice in rendering this in English:
“What the young locust left, the locust ate; what the locust left, the migratory locust ate; and what the migratory locust left, the swarming locust ate”,
“What the first locust left, the second ate; what the second left, the third devoured; and what remained after the third, the fourth stripped bare”.
Twice it is mentioned that the vine and fig tree have withered, and it is then added that grain, wine, and oil are all gone.
These elements are repeated at the beginning of the third part.

4. Second part: Joël 2:1-17

his section begins and ends with a call to blow the trumpet in Zion. A different image is now used for the disaster: the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their light.
Many elements from the first part reappear in this section: all the inhabitants of the land; the next generations; a people going out to battle; the failed harvest, so that even grain and drink offerings can no longer be brought; the call to mourning, to a period of fasting, and the gathering of the elders for a solemn assembly; the announcement of the coming Day of the Lord; and finally, the image of the consuming fire.
As mentioned, this section ends with a call to blow the trumpet in Zion and to proclaim a fast. The three elements—Zion, the Day of the Lord, and the darkening—now appear again, but in reverse order.


5. Third part: Joël 2:18-27

In the third part, we see that the perspective changes: “Then the LORD took care of His land.” A reference is also made to the conclusion of the previous section. The previous section ended with a plea to God not to deliver the people over to the nations; here, God promises that He will no longer give the people over as an object of shame among the nations. This already reveals a characteristic of this section: key words from the previous parts are reused, but now placed in an opposite context. God will once again look after His people.
In this section, there are several references to the first part of Joel. God will send grain, new wine, and oil so that people will be satisfied. The pastures will become green again, and the vine and fig tree will yield their produce once more. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. And God promises: “I will restore to you the years that the locust, the young locust, the swarm locust, and the creeping locust have eaten—My great army that I sent against you.


6. Fourth part: 2:28 – 3:21 / 3:1 – 4:21

The last part of Joel has a chiastic structure:

Prophecy outburst Holy Spirit
D. Sun and moon darkened / day of the Lord / Zion
E. Pagans / Valley of Jehoshaphat
Judgment for Tyre, Sidon, Philistia
E. Pagans / Valley of Jehoshaphat
D. Day of the Lord / Sun and Moon Darkened / Zion
Tempelstroom
A. Next generation

In the middle of this chiastic text is the judgment on Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia. The Phoenicians (Tyre and Sidon) were known for their trade across the Mediterranean, while the Philistines (Philistia) benefited from the trade route to the south. It is unclear why these particular nations occupy the central position in this prophecy.
Before this prophecy, the Gentile nations are mentioned twice, and God is said to hold a court in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. After this prophecy, the Gentile nations are mentioned again, now four times, and it is stated that God will judge these nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It is likely that the Valley of Jehoshaphat is not meant as a geographical designation. It may refer to the story in 2 Chronicles 20, where Jehoshaphat defeats a large group of enemies in a valley in the wilderness of Jeruel. Additionally, there is a wordplay, as the name Jehoshaphat can be read as “to hold a court/judge” (in the text before the judgment on Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia) and also as “to judge/execute justice” (in the text after the judgment on Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia). In Hebrew, the words “Jehoshaphat,” “to hold a court,” and “to judge” all share the same three consonants.
Next, we move to the following layer (D). Here we read about the darkening of the sun and moon, the Day of the Lord, and Mount Zion. The similarities between the first and second texts—before and after the prophecy about Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia—are evident. At the beginning and end of the second part, we also encountered these elements. In the second part, the judgment on Judah was framed between D and D; here, in the fourth part, the judgment on the enemies is framed between D and D.
In the outermost layer, we find the prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the prophecy of the streams of water:
“Then it shall come to pass that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Yes, even on the servants and handmaidens in those days I will pour out My Spirit.
On that day the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall overflow with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD and will water the Valley of Shittim.”
When the texts are placed side by side in this way, the parallel becomes clear. The Spirit poured out on everyone, from young to old, is compared to a stream of wine, milk, and water flowing from the temple, even watering the driest places. The Valley of Shittim can also be translated as the Acacia Valley; the Hebrew word “sittim” means acacias. The acacia can even grow under extremely dry conditions in the desert, and the name Acacia Valley seems to be symbolically intended to indicate a very arid place in the wilderness.
In this way, this image from Joel resembles the vision in Ezekiel, who also saw a stream of water flowing from the temple. And, as with Ezekiel, it is a picture of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
At the conclusion, we read that the Lord will roar from Zion like a lion. The words “like a lion” are not present in the Hebrew text, but the verb for “roar” used here clearly refers to a lion, which is why the words “like a lion” have been rightly added in several translations. This is a clear reference to the beginning of the first part, where the locusts are compared twice to a lion.
Finally, we read: “But Judah shall remain forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.” This is a reference to the beginning of the first part and the second part, where the next generations are also mentioned (indicated in the structure with A).


7. Conclusion

Joel clearly exhibits a very carefully constructed structure.
The book begins with a description of a locust plague that has devastating consequences for the land. This disaster is then used with similar wording to indicate that God will come with His judgment on the land in the same way.
Then there is a turning point. God will once again look after His land. The land will again yield grain, wine, and oil, and the enemies will be driven away.
In the final section, the perspective goes one step further. God will not only look after His people and repay the Gentiles for what they have done to them, but He will also pour out His Spirit on His people. This section contains a detailed chiastic structure, in which the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is compared to a stream of wine, milk, and water flowing from the temple.


Bas Krins