Who is the Author?

The book of Joel is attributed to Joel son of Pethuel (1:1). Unlike most Old Testament prophetic books, here the opening verse gives no information that establishes the time limits of Joel’s prophetic ministry. Thus, we must rely on internal evidence to determine a date of authorship (sometime between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE).1 All that we know about the prophet Joel is that he prophesied to Judah (2:1, 15, 23, 32; 3:1, 6, 8,16–21) and that his father’s name was Pethuel (1:1). Sometime during Joel’s life, a particularly devastating locust plague occurred, which the prophet interpreted as a symbol of divine judgment.2