Joel: The Prophet with the Hellenistic Vision

Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Jeremiah those names are notorious in Judaism and Christianity.  Those very names conjure up images of men calling out to crowds proclaiming warnings from God for future sieges that Judah and Israel would face.  Isaiah warns to trust in Yahweh and the Assyrians would not be a threat.  There was Jeremiah and his warning of the Babylonians invading the kingdom of Judah in the 6^th century.  He then calls for repenting and coming back to Yahweh to stop the oncoming slaughter. Second Isaiah and that Prophet, whoever he be, warning the Babylonians that Cyrus the Great of Persia is coming.  Even the prophet Ezekiel and his theological explanation of why the Babylonians were able to conquer Jerusalem his attempt to answer the question; where is Yahweh?

All of these prophets proclaim messages from God that in turn will force the Hebrew people not only to go through hard times; but alter their own understanding of God and theology to explain away the events taking place.  However, there is one event that would have triggered the same kind of response one that would have altered the Jewish theological thought. I will set out to demonstrate that we cannot simply play this book off as a simple and mere destruction by natural elements¹.   I will seek

1. This is a theory  F. W. Farrar came to conclude, and has since been expanded upon, in his book, The Minor Prophets, Their Lives and Times, in Men of the Bible series, 1890

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to prove that the book of Joel can be dated accurately and be dated to reflect a time in which Joel and his people will see Alexander and the Hellenes invade the home land.  In this dating I will seek to place Joel in the 4^th Century BCE.     It becomes evident the first question that comes to mind is why this topic is of such importance?  That is to say why do we need a warning about this time period?  My response to that is simply why wouldn’t we?  Would that not need an explanation?  Where is the reasoning for this destruction that will ensue? For we know after the Hellenes conquered the land they made Hebrew an illegal language.  Does this not need an answer as to why².  Where is the new theology that explains the shift change in empirical rule?  Prophetic texts as a whole in the Old Testament have explained away other events, so where is the book for this one?  However, there is another Prophet who foretold of destruction and times of great pearl.  A Prophet that because of the things foretold and the lack of relatable time placers his book is hard to date.  Scholars place this book being written in 9^th century BCE to as late as 100 AD.  That man and the book that bears his name is the prophet Joel, son of Pethuel .

The book of Joel tells of a time in which great famine will plague the land.  A time in which locusts will be so numerous they will black out the sun. (Joel 1:4) A day and time when fire will consume the country side and destroy the fields of harvest causing no food to harvest in the land.  (Joel1:19)   A day and time in which water is no longer in the brooks and the animals have nowhere to drink. (Joel 1:20) A day that will be so devastating that the only reason conceivable for it happening is it is the day of Yahweh³.  (Joel 1:15)

2.  This is not to say that the language issue itself needs a “why” but rather the invasion of the Hellenes need a reason why, which has been dismissed by Scholars following Farrar’s theory.

3.  All scriptures our NRSV (Harper Collins)

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With events so troubling and devastating the question has to be asked; what is the day of the Lord as described by Joel?  Is it simply a day of destruction by natural elements and creatures of destruction?  Or is it an apocalyptic text that describes the future of the world? Or is it as Joel in the first chapter (1:6) hints at and an invasion by an army?  Could Joel be prophesying a vision of the Greeks?  It is here I will begin my analysis of Joel and set out to prove Joel is the prophet with the Hellenistic Vision. 

Why dating is so important.

Whether one labels the prophets in titles of minor and major or former and later, we can all agree in a scholarly sense that the minor or later prophets have, what I have come to call a Theo-Historical understanding.  That is to say given all we know about the history of Judah and the theological implications of invasions, exiles, famine, social issues, et cetera.  We begin to understand through their messages what the people thought, problems in the kingdom, theological reasoning et cetera.  It seems to be getting easier to see why dating is so important.  And some texts are easier than other to date. We see those mentioning Kings and great events are easier to date for obvious reasons. 

At the same time Joel is becoming harder to date textually by itself.  There is no mention of Kings by name, or great events that history had recorded4.  There are no mention of specific events in which one can look at and say this happened here at this time and place. In fact we know little of what Joel is speaking of, are they simply metaphors, is there a literal famine happing, or is this a warning of a coming invasion. The dating of Joel is to be quintessential for this reason. By dating Joel, this will be no

4.  These “non-mentioning” have multiple theories that will be expanded upon later in the paper. One of the most common reason for the lack of Kings being named is in the dating of Joel to the 9^th Century BCE started by W. W. L. Pearson, The Prophecy of Joel: Its Unity, Its Aim, and the Age of Its Composition 1872. This is later expanded on by William Prinsloo in The Unity of the Book of Joel.

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easy task demonstrated by the numerous dates that have been given and no real sense of acceptance for any, we will be able to place the oracles and visions of the prophet Joel to a understanding of the theology that the prophet is conveying for the time in which he was trying to convey it.  And if we do not have any of this about Joel all we have is a book foretelling of prophecy that is in the future; and with this we have a prophet acting outside of how prophets traditionally act in this time.

What is a Prophet?

Everyone in the Ancient world had magicians, physics, spiritual advisers; but only Israel and later Judah had prophets.  It is important to ask what are prophets? What is the role of a prophetic figure; to curse, to heal, to bless, to advise, to make aware, to summon all of this in some form or fashion, or is more than just a message? Moreover, what is a prophetic ministry? Walter Brueggemann’s⁵  takes hold to these questions and help to explain just what a prophet is⁶.   Brueggemann, walks the reader through this notion of a “royal consciousness” a phrase he uses to describe the issue of numbness in society. It is this need to understand the numbness or complacency factor in a society that Brueggemann makes a critical issue in his work. He argues in order to understand how a Monarchical figure or the people in a society act, think or even view the current situation they are placed and how prophets come about and delivers their message; one must grab hold to the idea set fourth of royal consciousness⁷ and replace it with an alternative one. He goes onto explain the need of an atmosphere in a society conducive to the prophetic figure to come about. Brueggemann goes on to speak about the three societal have to’s for a

5.  W. Bruggemann is an Old Testament Scholar specializing in Prophetic studies.

6. W. Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination

7.  This theory that would play heavily in Farrar’s theory, later on by other scholars,  in such a way that if the mere non-mentioning of the King (Joash) is because of his seemingly minority position to his High Priest thus saying the royal consciousness in the land was one of the King having very little power.

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prophet to exist as well as how the prophetic figure operates in the forces around him/her in order to pierce the royal veil by evoking, nurturing, or nourishing the status quo so that the message sent from a deity can penetrate to the heart of the people and the situation.

Through this notion of piercing and breaking the complacency factor that the prophetic figure has to sever Brueggemann reveals factors such as the following to examine the ministry of an intermediary.

1) Central/peripheral intermediaries are the first genre to be explained.  Central intermediaries are ones close to the central government.  These are the ones whose stories tell of them in direct contact with the leaders. Peripheral prophets are ones outside the normal mode of governing.    However, this classification can depend upon the circumstance.  For example so prophets were central in some instances and peripheral⁸.

2) Bringing about an alternative consciousness is the second duty of most of the prophets of the old.  All the Prophets in the Old Testament are making a point.  Whether that point be a social issue, religious, or spiritual advice the prophet is the one to make those proclamations. 

 3)Energizing/criticizing techniques are used in every aspect.  Prophets will either criticize to bring the issues to light or energize.  This is to say the words will be one of encouragement or demise.

The way in which the intermediary does this is relied upon the prophet’s prophetic imagination as is pointed out time and time again in this scholarly examination into the prophets of old and a foreshadowing of today’s complacency. It is through this imagination the prophet takes you out of you

8.  This theory was originally Robert R. Wilson’s asserted in his work, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel.

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zone of comfort that the kingdom has invoked and inserts an alternative consciousness of viewing the current situation at hand.

Brueggemann takes the reader through the Hebrew children coming out of Egypt with Moses and the exodus to the rise of the Solomonic period in Israel. He then takes the reader through the fall of the United Kingdom of Israel all the way to the life and ministry of Christ, and how he resembles a prophet in his daily life and messages. After much examination it is clear to see that Joel is a criticizing prophet.  However we do not know if he is central of peripheral prophet.  We do not know because we do not have any themes of advice to kings being given.   All we have in Joel is a warning of this day of Yahweh.

The Book Of Joel

                The prophecies of the Book of Joel are divided into two parts⁹.  The subjects of the first half can be briefly summarized as the prophet at the beginning calls the attention of the elders and of all the populace of the land to a coming event the like of which has never been seen, a terrible visitation by locusts which will be coincident with a famine, and which will together reduce the entire land to the bitterest misery Joel then urges the people to fast and to pray, and to mourn. In this double examination Joel observes the approach of the "day of the Lord", which is to be accompanied in by an awful affliction.  The only thing that will help is to repent .  Repent not to save them as in prophets before had

9. Wolf Commentary Joel and Amos 1977

                                                                                                                                                                                               

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taught, but rather to ensure Yahweh would see them through.  This says that Joel see’s the events as things that cannot be avoided.

In the second half it is first related how the people did actually bring about a gracious change in God's plans by obeying the prophet's injunctions; this is followed by God’s answer to the prayer

of the people; then there is the promise of relief from famine through abundant rains and through a marvelous fruitfulness, after which the spirit of prophecy is to be poured out over all flesh, and the day of the Lord will draw near, accompanied by terrifying signs in heaven and earth. These terrors, however, are not for the Jews, who will be rescued in the day of the lord because they called on the Lord, but for their enemies. At the time of the change in the fate of Judah and Jerusalem the Lord will gather all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat there to be destroyed through the fulfillment of the divine judgment of wrath, because they have plundered the treasuries of the Lord and have sold the sons of Judah and of Jerusalem to the sons of the Grecians. God will be a refuge for His people; strangers will no longer pass through Jerusalem; the soil of Judah will become exceedingly fruitful, and a fountain will even water the valley of Shittim, whereas Egypt and Edom will be changed into a wilderness on account of the evil they have done to Judah.

Dating Joel 9^th Century

The book of Joel was originally thought to be written in with some of the early prophet, placing it in the 9^th century.  This was mostly based on its place in the canon.  This view was traditionally held until the time of Karl August Credner¹⁰.  Credner held to this practice in some form.  His argument for

10.  Credner, a scholar working off of Farrar’s theory. (Wollf, 1977)  

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placing Joel earlier than the twelve prophets was not so much to do with its place in the canon, but moreover it was based upon the content of Joel and the books following in actual time.  Credner argues that Joel came before Amos and the others.  His basis for this assumption is based upon the notion that Amos and the other eleven are basing their prophecy off of Joel’s well known proclamations.  This is to say that Joel came before them and sent a message of future destruction.  A message that Credner suggests is picked up on by prophets such as Amos and Hosea.  But this is to go against what scholars such as Bruggermann suggest about the mission of a prophet.    To say the prophet is speaking of an event to happen a century before it does is not the work of a prophet but rather the work of a psychic.  We know based on modern explorations of the texts of the prophets that they in fact do not do this.  Prophets in their original meaning of their words are predicting the near and concise events set to take place within that generation or the next, not ones so far away that the prophet could not be held accountable.  Accountability of the words of the prophet is exactly how the Hebrew people know who is and is not a real prophet. (Deut 18:22).   So not to have that accountability with in the immediate passing of that prophet simply does not make any sense and therefore cannot be what the book of Joel is at all.  I say this because if his book was considered not to be prophecy it would not be in the canon itself, and in order to be a prophet his words must have seen from God and had to have come true.  

 In Joel we have a few items of concern with not what is expressed in the text but for what is not expressed in the text¹¹.  Examples of this range from the lack of no King being named to the Assyrians not being mentioned. According to the generally accepted opinion, Joel writes in the beginning of the

11.  Farrar’s Theory of things that are not mentioned expanded up by Prinsloo.

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reign of King Joash (836-797 B.C.), and was therefore the oldest prophet to leave a book of prophecies.  This would also make him the author of this day of Yahweh that is expressed.   This theory of an early date of composition was strongly supported by the fact that no mention is made of the Assyrians who in II Kings are a perceived enemy.  However, the lack of mentioning could assume they are no longer a threat placing Joel later than Joash’s reign.   Also support for the theory of a date placing Joel as the earliest writer finds flaw when no King is mentioned.  Now this is countered by the idea that the lack of naming Joash as King is that this period of writing was when Joash was in the minority allowing his High Priest Jehoiada influencing him in every way.   While the prevalence of the priestly influence led to the conclusion that Joash, at the beginning of his reign, was under the influence of the high priest, there would still be the expectation that Joel would mention the High Priests name.  There would be an expectant in the section of the text where Joel calls on the priest by name¹².   However the problem with this evidence is that the lack of mentioning a King could be for the simple reason there being no King to mention.  

Dating Joel in the 7^th Century

With these flaws in hand this of course led some scholars to perceived evidence of a latter dating of Joel and places it considerably later than his neighbors in the biblical canon.  Farrar placed the composition of the book at a much later date, but still in the pre-exilic period; more specifically in the time of King Josiah, or in the period immediately following his regin. The reasons are these: The form of the

12.  J. Linville in his work The Day of Yahweh and the Priest in Joel, states that if there was a message being delivered in a time of a King someone would want to be pointed out just as the authority that can fix the current outcry.  That is to say that if Joel is truly calling for a lamenting the land; he would want to address the person who would be able to initiate the change whether this be the King or the High Priest.  This therefore may conclude there was no King in the time when Joel writes.  By just the mere general calling on the priests Linville argues that Joel is calling out to many seeking a leader to start the lamenting process.

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prophecies is too finished to date from the beginning of the prophetic style of writing; indeed, the linguistic character is that of about the seventh century B.C. Moreover, the contents reflect the time of Josiah, because it was then that the great famine occurred which Jeremiah describes in a similar way to Joel. Finally, the mention of the Egyptians points to the last years of Josiah (or else those immediately following), referring to Josiah's campaign against the Egyptians. The fact that neither the Assyrians nor the Babylonians are alluded to militates against King dating, since all the other pre-exilic prophets, from Amos to Jeremiah, recognize God's judgment, which is to fall on His people precisely in the extension of the Assyrian and, later, of the Babylonian empire.

Another argument for a later dating is found in the second half of the book, after chapter3, This is assumed on the following grounds: Only Judah is expressly mentioned.  Also in the description of the approaching day of judgment for the nations and the glorification of God's people there is no reference to Ephraim.  Finally because the dispersion of God's people, Israel, among the nations, and the division of Israel's land. All of these seem to point to a later dating of the book.

Understanding the Hellenes and the Persians Conflicts

When we look at all this devastation and the fact that most of the horrific events of the Babylonians are over with and Persia is now here on the scene; it begs the question who is the immediate destructor of the land?  Babylonia has fallen, Persia’s take over is for the most part uneventful and Rome will come in as an ally and never leave; why all the warnings of destruction?  The Hellenes of course would be the next victor of the land.  Before we further the argument that Joel is speaking of a 4^th century invasion from the Greeks we have to first understand why these things were

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common practice in the time of Alexander the Great during his campaign in Persia we have it understand the war itself. 

The series of conflicts between the ancient Hellenes and the Persian Empire, the Greco-Persian wars, began in about 499 B.C. and lasted until 448 B.C. These times were marked by Persian incursions into the Greek mainland which were met with varied levels of resistance. Persian tyrants ruled over Greek regions during the 6th century B.C. provoking revolts by the subjugated Greek cities. In 499 B.C. the Ionians rose up against the Persians in a war that lasted till 493 B.C. The Persian invasion was finally defeated at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. The Persians, intent on expanding their empire invaded again in 486 B.C. 

The years of Persian dominance did not diminish until the Hellespont was crossed by Alexander the Great of Macedon's army of Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians, Paionians, and Illyrians. About 40,000 soldiers fought and were victorious against Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus, leading to Alexander's acceptance of the surrender of the Persian provincial capital Sardis. Alexander I successfully waged the first of many sieges, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of

Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates, to withdraw by sea at Halicarnassus. Alexander would eventually route the Persians and with the death of their ruler, Darius, declare the war of vengeance over and release his Greek and other allies from service in the league campaign. He allowed those who wished to, to re-enlist as mercenaries in his imperial army¹³.

13.  Dr. R. Gabreial Ancient Israel

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By the time of Alexander the Great's rule in 336 B.C. Macedonia, thanks to the efforts of his father, was the supreme Greek power with dominance over the other Greek city-states. After his father's death, Alexander had to secure his hold over the region, as his youth made him vulnerable to dissent by the Greek city-states. Nonetheless, he successfully stopped revolts in the larger cities of Athens and Thebes and was able to consolidate enough power to eventually expand his empire into Persia. In 334 B.C., Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont into Persia with 35,000 Macedonians and 7,600 Greeks and began what would be a tremendous expansion of his empire. By 331 B.C. the Persian Empire was defeated, Alexander the Great having conquered lands as far as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and driven the Persian King Darius to his ultimate demise.

4th Century Joel

                In taking the views of all the flaws and what we know about the warfare type of the Hellenes I will begin to layout the argument for a 4^th century dating of Joel.  It is traditional view, as we have read, that Joel is the predecessor to most if not all the prophets; especially the ones known as the twelve in which he is a part of.  The number one issue here is that Joel sees the event known as the exile under the rule of Nebuchadnezzer II as a past event rather than one of the future (Joel 4:1-3).  This event is one of great sorrow in the history of Judah.  With this the Babylonians do not even get mentioned as future aggressors. To further the argument of 4^th century we look at the mention of Jerusalem’s walls.  The prophet refers to looking at the walls of Jerusalem which had been breached and destroyed by the

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Babylonians in there siege on Judah.  They were not rebuilt until 445 BCE under the direction of Nehemiah¹⁴. 

We know from the prophet asking us to look literally on the walls that they had been rebuilt thus placing Joel no earlier than 445BCE.  Up until this point we have evidence supporting a date for Joel somewhere in between 445 and 343 BCE.  However this still puts Joel, at best, eleven years before the invasion of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.  This date also helps to explain why there is no mention of a King (if 9^th Century was correct) there was no King to speak of.  How do we make up for this time textually to place Joel as the prophet with the Hellenistic vision?

                Up until here we have a span of about 100 years.  However the mention in Joel of a well-organized priest hood, the walls, and the order of government and how set up everything is along with the traditions in which Ezra set up are in full swing; Joel seems to be closer to the second half of the time frame putting it somewhere in about the first half of the 4^th century.  Again how do we make the correlation that Joel is the Prophet with the Hellenistic vision?  For this we will look to the overall message of the text.  In Joel we see great destruction being had.  Fields are burning, crops are destroyed, waters are dammed up, and a mighty people have come upon the land.  Now it goes without saying I and others are putting great emphasis on the literal words of Joel.  That is to say that we hold great stock in what he is stating and hold that to be mostly literal.

                 Also here we are seeing the prophet mention a time in which Yahweh has brought back his people to the land of promise, all of this thus eliminating the placement of Joel anywhere before 539 BCE, the year in which Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon.   The statement, "Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore," indicates a city that had been destroyed, a fate that befell Jerusalem only under Nebuchadnezzar.  If this had been done for Joel

14.  This is expanded upon in the Wolff commentary on Joel and Amos 1977.

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already then a date before the exile is not possible. This distancing of Joel form the exile is also seen in passages where Joel refers to a temple.  This language of Temple is hold to the idea that the temple has been rebuilt.    

To further the argument that Joel speaks of an army advancing we look at the locusts¹⁵.  It is indeed most natural to think of an army coming from the north, because locusts in Palestine always come from the south.  Therefore arguing that locusts are not a metaphor for an army does not make sense unless you assume the prophet is speaking of an event (one of a northeasterly wind) carrying the swarm into Judah from the north which rarely happens.   This also would negate the prophet speaking of a human army in Chap. 1:6.  This verse literally mentions a people coming upon the land.  This not only negates the argument made by Farrar that the locusts are locusts; moreover, it furthers the claim why Joel would later use the metaphor of locusts.  In many ancient writings, including other prophetic writings, when the prophet attempts to explain the number of something he often does so in a metaphor.  To further this looking at historical data it is believed the numbering of the army of Alexander the Great was well in the 40,000 range.  This staggering number as well as the way the devoured the land would have been best represented in the metaphor of locusts

Alexander the great and his great campaign to take over the known world would have been the last big time for Judah to suffer.  All these things are to be the everyday occurrences of the Greeks when they invade.  The Greeks under Alexander were known to cut off the water supplies by damning up the rivers upstream from the land they had acquired.  They were known to burn the grasslands and destroy and take the harvest of the conquered.  The weapons in which they used were known to the time of

               

15.  Dramatic Rhetoric, Metaphoric Imagery and Discoure Structure in Joel.  Ernst Wendland.

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their great raid.  The numbers of the Macedonians were great and were described by other conquered peoples as so numerous they blacked out the sun when the crossed over tall hills and great mountains. Looking at the text and it’s mention of fires in the fields and waters being damned, we can look the raid on the Persian capital as a reference of Alexander’s raids when conquering a land.  After invading Persia, Alexander the Great sent the main force of his army to Persepolis in the year 330 BC by the Royal Road. Alexander stormed the Persian Gates, then quickly captured Persepolis. After several months Alexander allowed his troops to loot Persepolis. A fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city. Many historians argue that while Alexander's army celebrated with a symposium they decided to take revenge against Persians. Therefore burning the city prior to leaving, as was done to the city of Athens.  Also in taking the city a scribe of Alexander the Great writes of the water to the city being cut off.  This was common practice to armies in this day.  We see this type of warfare being used in many of the raid on Jerusalem.  Also we know from historical accounts that many times lands who resisted and did not go peacefully to the Hellenes found there lands burned.  Thus leading us to the events described in Joel.

Other Arguments for Later Composition

In sorting through the textual arguments for both the pre- and post-exilic views, an early pre-exilic date seems likely based on textual arguments oftentimes ignored or forgotten by those who take a late post-exilic view. Sometimes forgotten is Joel’s textual relationship with Deuteronomy, an important argument for a post-exilic date for the book. A locust plague was promised as a curse for covenantal disobedience (Deut. 28:42), and moreover as a precursor to the final judgment of exile (Deut. 28:48). Deuteronomy 28-30 is thus seen as a context for the book of Joel, because Joel clearly sees the current situation of the locust plague through a Deuteronomic lens¹⁶. This understanding of Deuteronomy and

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its connection with Joel not only advances weight to a Post- exilic dating of Joel, but it also helps one to understand Joel’s argument, the structure of the book, and its route in liberating history.  The reason this puts Joel as a post-exilic writer is the loosely based theory that Joel was written after much refining to the Deuteronomic text at the star of the faith we know as Judaism under Ezra.  I stress the fallibility here this claim in language and texts.   

Joel also has strong textual tie with the book of Amos  (Joel 3:18 with Amos 9:13; Joel 3:16 with Amos 1:2). The question now becomes, “Who quoted who?” “Amos appears to be quoting from Joel in an effort to show his hearers that he is continuing the work of his predecessor.”¹⁷     Joel 3:16 is obviously prior to Amos 1:2 because in Joel it is the climax of a revelation; whereas Amos starts out with it, taking it, as it were, for his text. Finally, the concept of the Day of the Lord had not yet fallen into misconception and misinterpretation as it did in the days of Amos (5:18) It could be said that Amos prophesied in order to bring Israel back to the true definition of the Day of the Lord defined in Joel. With this it is argues that Joel must precede Amos.  However, the crucial part ignored here is that in ancient writings pieces were not given a “readers digest version in later forms” this is to say that Amos would not have come after Joel and shortened the prophecies as Busenitz suggests.  What happened commonly in ancient writings when one text was referencing another was a long expanded version vice a shortened one.  This is reason is the same on used to place the Gospel of Mark as the first Gospel to be written. Similar prophecies in both passages, when compared, are found to be more contextually appropriate to Joel than to Amos. When Joel is compared with other Old Testament prophets, they

16.  This thought was expanded upon in Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., "Joel," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985), 1412.

17. Irvin Busenitz, Commentary on Joel and Obadiah (Geanies House Fearn Ross-shire Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2003), 33.

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appear to be dependent on, expand upon, or presuppose the work of Either Joel is a patchwork of other prophets or he came first. Based on this knowledge, it makes more sense to place Joel as a pre-exilic book before Amos, narrowing the date down even further. At first glance a pre-exilic view is the constellation of foreign nations mentioned in chapter 3 with the history of Judah. After the reign of Joash Judah was never again faced by this assortment of enemies. Yet Thomas Finley argues that this evidence does not rule out the possibility of a post-exilic date.  Babylon and Assyria may have already fallen by the time of the Persian period, that being the reason they were not mentioned.¹⁸

The absence of the mention of Persia could simply reflect the generally positives relations with that the post-exilic period. However, the books of Haggai and Zechariah refer to Zerubabbel of the royal line (Zechariah 4:6; Haggai 1:1). The non-mentioning in the text of the Kingdom of Judah could be simply argued that the text is post-exilic and there was no Kingdom of Judah. Also, Joel seems to be quoting Obadiah, thus leading many scholars who propose a postexilic date for Obadiah insist that Joel also must be post-exilic.  Again the quoting of Obadiah would make Joel later than Obadiah furthering the argument for a 400 BCE or after dating.

 Although it can be said many armies in the ancient world, based upon the evidence that these things happened after other invasions had been had.  And it can also be said that language and later editing could have happened.  It seems a completely scholarly finding to date Joel in the 4^th Century BCE.  With all the textual examples it becomes clearer that Joel may have had only had one thing meant for his words; for them to be a warning of the Hellenes and the destruction that would come to the land. 

18. Thomas Finley, Joel, Amos, Obadiah : An Exegetical Commentary ([Dallas TX?]: Biblical Studies Press, 2003), 22.

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Maybe, given the way that the Hellenes where wiping out mass civilizations this was seen by Joel as this “Day of Yahweh.” We cannot say with certainty, as I hoped that Joel was speaking of an oncoming invasion by the Hellenes.  However, I do feel it is safe to conclude that a 4^th century dating of Joel is the only logical conclusion based on the facts presented. The words in Joel are to be heard as ones trying to prepare a people for an event so catastrophic that repenting and believing Yahweh would see you through is the only way to get through it.  In Joel’s eyes nothing could save them from this day, however, understanding that this will happen and that Yahweh will still be there sets to stage a theological statement that had never been conceived by the Hebrews.  For before this time when they (the Hebrew people) lost so did Yahweh.  Joel and his radical message help to preserve a culture, a theology, and a faith in Yahweh that will never be broken.  Joel was the last Hebrew prophet to predict the invasion of a foreign army.  He is the Prophet with the Hellenistic vision and can be dated according to that period.

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Bibliography

F. W. Farrar The Minor Prophets, Their Lives and Times, in Men of the Bible series, 1890

W. W. L. Pearson, The Prophecy of Joel: Its Unity, Its Aim, and the Age of Its Composition 1872. William

W. Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination

R.  R. Wilson’s asserted in his work, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel.

Wolf Commentary Joel and Amos 1977

J. Linville in his work The Day of Yahweh and the Priest in Joel, 1970

Gabreial, R. (2003). The military history of ancient Egypt. Westport CT: Praeger

E. Wendland Dramatic Rhetoric, Metaphoric Imagery and Discoure Structure in Joel. 

R. B. Chisholm, Jr., "Joel," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985), 1412

I.  Busenitz, Commentary on Joel and Obadiah (Geanies House Fearn Ross-shire Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2003), 33

T. Finley, Joel, Amos, Obadiah : An Exegetical Commentary ([Dallas TX?]: Biblical Studies Press, 2003), 22.

W. W. L. Pearson, The Prophecy of Joel: Its Unity, Its Aim, and the Age of Its Composition, i. 885;

Grätz, Joel, Breslau, 1872;

Crenshaw Bible Commentary on Joel, 1990

Joel; The Prophet with the Hellenistic Vision

Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Jeremiah those names are infamous in Judaism and Christianity.  Those very names conjure up images of men calling out to crowds proclaiming warnings from God for future sieges that Judah and Israel would face.  Isaiah warns to trust in Yahweh and the Assyrians would not be a threat.  Jeremiah and his warning of the Babylonians invading the kingdom of Judah.  He then calls for repenting and coming back to Yahweh to stop the oncoming slaughter. Second Isaiah and that Prophet, whoever he be, warning the Babylonians that Cyrus the Great of Persia is coming.  Even the prophet Ezekiel and his theological explanation of why the Babylonians were able to conquer Jerusalem his attempt to answer the question; where is Yahweh?

All of these prophets proclaim messages from God that in turn will force the Hebrew people not only to go through hard times; but alter their own understanding of God and theology to explain away the events taking place.  However, there is one event that would have triggered the same response; the Hellenistic invasion of the Fertile Crescent.  Would that not need an explanation?  Where is the reasoning for this?  Where is the new theology that explains the shift change in empirical rule?  All the prophet in the Old Testament have explained away other events, so where is the book for this one?  However, there is another Prophet who foretold of destruction and times of great pearl.  A Prophet that because of the things foretold and the lack of relatable time placers his book is hard to date.  Scholars place this book being written in 9^th century BCE to as late as 100 AD.  That man and the book that bares his name is the prophet Joel, son of Pethuel .

The book of Joel tells of a time in which great famine will plague the land.  A time in which locusts will be so numerous they will black out the sun. (Joel 1:4) A day and time when fire will consume the country side and destroy the fields of harvest causing no food to harvest in the land.  (Joel1:19)   A day and time in which water is no longer in the brooks and the animals have nowhere to drink. (Joel 1:20) A day that will be so devastating that the only reason conceivable for it happening is it is the day of Yahweh.  (Joel 1:15)

With events so troubling and devastating the question has to be asked; what is the day of the Lord as described by Joel?  Is it simply a day of destruction by natural elements and creatures of destruction?  Or is it an apoctoliptic text that describes the future of the world? Or is it as Joel in the first chapter (1:6) hints at and an invasion by an army?  Could Joel be prophesying a vision of the Greeks?  It is here I will begin my analysis of Joel and set out to prove Joel is the prophet with the Hellenistic Vision.  I will set out to demonstrate that we cannot simply play this book of as a simple and mere destruction by natural elements.   I will seek to prove that the book of Joel can be dated and be dated to reflect a time in which Joel and his people will see Alexander and the Greeks invade the home land in this placing Joel in the 4^th Century BCE.  

Why dating is so important!

Whether one labels the prophets in titles of minor and major or former and later, we can all agree in a scholarly sense that the minor or later prophets have, what I have come to call a Theo-Histria understanding.  That is to say given all we know about the history of Judah and the theological implications of invasions, exiles, famine, social issues, ect.  We begin to understand through their messages what the people thought, problems in the kingdom, theological reasoning ect.  It seems to be getting easier to see why dating is so important.  And some texts are easier than other to date. We see those mentioning Kings and great events are easier to date for obvious reasons. 

At the same time Joel is becoming harder to date textually by itself.  There is no mention of Kings by name, or great events that history had recorded.  There are no mention of specific events in which one can look at and say this happened here at this time and place. In fact we know little of what Joel is speaking of, are they simply metaphors, is there a literal famine happing, or is this a warning of a coming invasion. The dating of Joel is to be quintessential for this reason. By dating Joel, which will be no easy task demonstrated by the numerous dates that have been given and no real sense of acceptance for any, we will be able to place the oracles and visions of the prophet Joel to a understanding of the theology that the prophet is conveying for the time in which he was trying to convey it.  And if we do not have any of this about Joel all we have is a book foretelling of prophecy that is in the future; and with this we have a prophet acting outside of how prophets traditionally act in this time.

What is a Prophet?

Everyone in the Ancient world had magicians, physics, spiritual advisers; but only Israel and later Judah had prophets.  It is important to ask what are prophets? What is the role of a prophetic figure; to curse, to heal, to bless, to advise, to make aware, to summon all of this in some form or fashion, or is more than just a message? Moreover, what is a prophetic ministry? Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination takes hold to these questions and help to explain just what a prophet is.   Walter Brueggemann, a Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian walks the reader through this notion of a “royal consciousness” a phrase he uses to describe the issue of numbness in society. It is this need to understand the numbness or complacency factor in a society that Brueggemann makes a critical issue in his work. He argues in order to understand how a Monarchical figure or the people in a society act, think or even view the current situation they are placed and how prophets come about and delivers their message; one must grab hold to the idea set fourth of royal consciousness and replace it with an alternative one. He goes onto explain the need of an atmosphere in a society conducive to the prophetic figure to come about. Brueggemann goes on to speak about the three societal have to’s for a prophet to exist as well as how the prophetic figure operates in the forces around him/her in order to pierce the royal vial by evoking, nurturing, or nourishing the status quo so that the message sent from a deity can penetrate to the heart of the people and the situation.

Through this notion of piercing and breaking the complacency factor that the prophetic figure has to sever Brueggemann reveals factors such as the following to examine the ministry of an intermediary.

1) Central/peripheral intermediaries are the first genre to be explained.  Central intermediaries are ones close to the central government.  These are the ones whose stories tell of them in direct contact with the leaders. Peripheral prophets are ones outside the normal mode of governing.    However, this classification can depend upon the circumstance.  For example so prophets were central in some instances and peripheral.

2) Bringing about an alternative consciousness is the second duty of most of the prophets of the old.  All the Prophets in the Old Testament are making a point.  Whether that point be a social issue, religious, or spiritual advice the prophet is the one to make those proclamations. 

3)Energizing/criticizing techniques are used in every aspect.  Prophets will either criticize to bring the issues to light or energize.  This is to say the words will be one of encouragement or demise.

The way in which the intermediary does this is relied upon the prophet’s prophetic imagination as is pointed out time and time again in this scholarly examination into the prophets of old and a foreshadowing of today’s complacency. It is through this imagination the prophet takes you out of you zone of comfort that the kingdom has invoked and inserts an alternative consciousness of viewing the current situation at hand.

Brueggemann takes the reader through the Hebrew children coming out of Egypt with Moses and the exodus to the rise of the Solominic period in Israel. He then takes the reader through the fall of the United Kingdom of Israel all the way to the life and ministry of Christ, and how he resembles a prophet in his daily life and messages. After much examination it is clear to see that Joel is a criticizing prophet.  However we do not know if he is central of peripheral prophet.  We do not know because we do not have any themes of advice to kings being given.

The Book Of Joel

                The prophecies of the Book of Joel are divided into two parts.  The contents of the first part can be briefly summarized as the prophet at the beginning calls the attention of the elders and of all the inhabitants of the land to a coming event the like of which has never been seen, a terrible visitation by locusts which will be coincident with a famine, and which will together reduce the entire land to the bitterest misery Joel then urges the people to fast and to pray, and to mourn. In this double examination Joel observes the approach of the "day of the Lord",which is to be escorted in by a terrible affliction.  And the only thing that will help them is to repent.  Repent not to save them as in prophets before had taught, but rather to ensure Yahweh would see them through.  This says that Joel see’s the events as things that cannot be avoided.

In the second part it is first related how the people did actually bring about a gracious change in God's plans by obeying the prophet's injunctions; this is followed by God’s answer to the prayer of the people; then there is the promise of relief from famine through abundant rains and through a marvelous fruitfulness, after which the spirit of prophecy is to be poured out over all flesh, and the day of the Lord will draw near, accompanied by terrifying signs in heaven and earth. These terrors, however, are not for the Jews, who will be rescued in the day of the lord because they called on the Lord, but for their enemies. At the time of the change in the fate of Judah and Jerusalem the Lord will gather all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat there to be destroyed through the fulfillment of the divine judgment of wrath, because they have plundered the treasuries of the Lord and have sold the sons of Judah and of Jerusalem to the sons of the Grecians. God will be a refuge for His people; strangers will no longer pass through Jerusalem; the soil of Judah will become exceedingly fruitful, and a fountain will even water the valley of Shittim, whereas Egypt and Edom will be changed into a wilderness on account of the evil they have done to Judah.

Dating Joel 9^th Century

The book of Joel was originally thought to be written in with some of the early prophet, placing it in the 9^th century.  This was mostly based on its place in the canon.  This view was traditionally held until the time of Karl August Credner. (Wollf, 1977)   Credner held to this practice in some form.  His argument for placing Joel earlier than the twelve prophets was not so much to do with its place in the canon, but moreover it was based upon the content of Joel and the books following in actual time.  Credner argues that Joel came before Amos and the others.  He basis for this assumption is based upon the notion that Amos and the other eleven are basing their prophecy off of Joel’s well known proclamations.  This is to say that Joel came before them and sent a message of future destruction.  A message that Credner suggests is picked up on by prophets such as Amos and Hosea.  But this is to go against what scholars such as Bruggermann suggest about the mission of a prophet.    To say the prophet is speaking of an event to happen a century before it does is not the work of a prophet but rather the work of a psychic.  We know based on modern explorations of the texts of the prophets that they in fact do not do this.  Prophets in their original meaning of their words are predicting the near and concise events set to take place within that generation or the next, not ones so far away that the prophet could not be held accountable.  Accountability of the words of the prophet is exactly how the Hebrew people know who is and is not a real prophet. (Deut 18:22).   So not to have that accountability with in the immediate passing of that prophet simply does not make any sense and therefore cannot be what the book of Joel is at all.  I say this because if his book was considered not to be prophecy it would not be in the canon itself, and in order to be a prophet his words must have seen from God and had to have come true.  

The real evidence of Joel places it quiet considerably later than his neighbors in the biblical canon.  According to the generally accepted opinion, Joel wrote in the beginning of the reign of King Joash (836-797 B.C.), and was therefore the oldest prophet to leave a book of prophecies. This theory of an early date of composition was, above all, strongly supported by the fact that no mention is made of the Assyrians. The beginning of the reign of Joash was urged in view of the failure of the book to refer to or to name the Damascus Syrians, who, according to II Kings xii. Support of this theory stress was laid on the absence of any reference to the king, which would point to the period of the minority of Joash, while the predominance of the priestly influence led to the conclusion that Joash, at the beginning of his reign, was under the influence of the high priest Jehoiada. Another point of agreement in favor of this date was the hostility shown to the Israelites by the nations, mentioned in Joel  4, 19, which was made to refer to the rebellion of the Edomites under King Jehoram of Judah (849-842 B.C.), on which occasion the Arabs and the Philistines plundered Jerusalem.

 König places the composition of the book at a much later date, but still in the pre-exilic period; namely, in the time of King Josiah, or in the period immediately following. His reasons are these: The form of the prophecies is too finished to date from the beginning of the prophetic style of writing; indeed, the linguistic character is that of about the seventh century B.C. Moreover, the contents reflect the time of Josiah, because it was then that the great famine occurred which Jeremiah describes in a similar way to Joel. Finally, the mention of the Egyptians points to the last years of Josiah (or else those immediately following), referring to Josiah's campaign against the Egyptians. The fact that neither the Assyrians nor the Babylonians are alluded to militates against König's dating, since all the other pre-exilic prophets, from Amos to Jeremiah, recognize God's judgment, which is to fall on His people precisely in the extension of the Assyrian and, later, of the Babylonian empire.

                Taking this view I will begin to layout the argument for a 4^th century dating of Joel.  It is traditional view, along with many older Old testament scholars view, that Joel is the predecessor to most if not all the prophets; especially the ones known as the twelve.  The number one issue here is that Joel sees the event known as the exile under the rule of Nebuchadnezzer II as a past event rather than one of the future (Joel 4:1-3).  This event is one of great sorrow in the history of Judah.  With this the Babylonians do not even get mentioned as future aggressors.  All of this thus eliminating the placement of Joel anywhere before 539 BCE, the year in which Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon.  This distancing of Joel form the exile is also seen in passages where Joel refers to a temple.  This language of Temple is hold to the idea that the temple has been rebuilt.  

                To take us to a time closer to the 4^th century we look at the mention of Jerusalem’s walls.  The prophet refers to looking at the walls of Jerusalem which had been breached and destroyed by the Babylonians in there siege on Judah.  They were not rebuilt until 445 BCE under the direction of Nehemiah.  (Wolff, 1977) We know from the prophet asking us to look literally on the walls that they had been rebuilt thus placing Joel no earlier than 445BCE.  Up until this point we have evidence supporting a date for Joel somewhere in between 445 and 343 BCE.  However this still puts Joel, at best, eleven years before the invasion of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.  This date also helps to explain why there is no mention of a King (if 9^th Century was correct) there was no King to speak of.  How do we make up for this time textually to place Joel as the Hellenistic prophet?

                Up until here we have a span of about 100 years.  However the mention in Joel of a well-organized priest hood, the walls, and the order of government and how set up everything is along with the traditions in which Ezra set up are in full swing; Joel seems to be closer to the second half of the time frame putting it somewhere in about the first half of the 4^th century.

 Again how do we make the correlation that Joel is the Prophet with the Hellenistic vision?  For this we will look to the overall message of the text.  In Joel we see great destruction being had.  Fields are burning, crops are destroyed, waters are dammed up, and a mighty people have come upon the land.  Now it goes without saying I and others are putting great emphasis on the literal words of Joel.  That is to say that we hold great stock in what he is stating and hold that to be mostly literal.  When we look at all this devastation and the fact that most of the horrific events of the Babylonians are over with and Persia is no here on the scene; it begs the question who is the immediate destructor of the land?  Babylonia has fallen, Persia’s take over is for the most part uneventful and Rome will come in as an ally and never leave; why all the warnings of destruction?  The Greeks! However to understand why these things were common practice in the time of Alexander the Great during his campaign in Persia we have it understand the war itself.

The series of conflicts between the ancient Greeks and the Persian Empire, the Greco-Persian wars, began in about 499 B.C. and lasted until 448 B.C. These times were marked by Persian incursions into the Greek mainland which were met with varied levels of resistance. Persian tyrants ruled over Greek regions during the 6th century B.C. provoking revolts by the subjugated Greek cities. In 499 B.C. the Ionians rose up against the Persians in a war that lasted till 493 B.C. The Persian invasion was finally defeated at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. The Persians, intent on expanding their empire invaded again in 486 B.C. 

The years of Persian dominance did not diminish until the Hellespont was crossed by Alexander the Great of Macedon's army of Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians, Paionians, and Illyrians. About 40,000 soldiers fought and were victorious against Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus, leading to Alexander's acceptance of the surrender of the Persian provincial capital Sardis. Alexander I successfully waged the first of many sieges, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates, to withdraw by sea at Halicarnassus. Alexander would eventually route the Persians and with the death of their ruler, Darius, declare the war of vengeance over and release his Greek and other allies from service in the league campaign. He allowed those who wished to, to re-enlist as mercenaries in his imperial army. 

The Peloponnesian War was between Athens and other states of the Peloponnesian Confederacy (Sparta, Thebes, Corinth and others) between the years 431 and 403 B.C. Athens as a strong maritime city was poised against the forces of the agricultural mainland cities. After decades of war, Athens finally capitulated to Sparta and its allies and lost its empire. 

By the time of Alexander the Great's rule in 336 B.C. Macedonia, thanks to the efforts of his father, was the supreme Greek power with dominance over the other Greek city-states. After his father's death, Alexander had to secure his hold over the region, as his youth made him vulnerable to dissent by the Greek city-states. Nonetheless, he successfully stopped revolts in the larger cities of Athens and Thebes and was able to consolidate enough power to eventually expand his empire into Persia. In 334 B.C., Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont into Persia with 35,000 Macedonians and 7,600 Greeks and began what would be a tremendous expansion of his empire. By 331 B.C. the Persian Empire was defeated, Alexander the Great having conquered lands as far as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and driven the Persian King Darius to his ultimate demise.

Alexander the great and his great campaign to take over the known world would have been the last big time for Judah to suffer.  We know from Greek accounts of the raids that all the items in Joel mentioned such as;

Fire burning the grass lands

A multitude of forces so great the black out the sun

Water being damned up

Crops destroyed

Teeth (or weapons) like lion’s teeth

All these things are to be the everyday occurrences of the Greeks when they invade.  The Greeks under Alexander were known to cut off the water supplies by damning up the rivers upstream from the land they had acquired.  They were known to burn the grasslands and destroy and take the harvest of the conquered.  The weapons in which they used were known to the time of their great raid.  The numbers of the Macedonians were great and were described by other conquered peoples as so numerous they blacked out the sun when the crossed over tall hills and great mountains. 

                With all these textual examples it becomes too clear that Joel only had one thing meant for his words; for them to be a warning of the Greeks and the destruction that would come to the land.  The words in Joel are to be heard as ones trying to prepare a people for an event so catastrophic that repenting and believing Yahweh would see you through is the only way to get through it.  In Joel’s eyes nothing could save them from this day, however, understanding that this will happen and that Yahweh will still be there sets to stage a theological statement that had never been conceived by the Hebrews.  For before this time when they (the Hebrew people) lost so did Yahweh.  Joel and his radical message help to preserve a culture, a theology, and a faith in Yahweh that will never be broken.  Joel was the last Hebrew prophet to predict the invasion of a foreign army.  He is the Prophet with the Hellenistic vision.

Exodus From a Military View

The book of Exodus, a great theological book is historically quite false. (Gabreial, 2003)The Book of Exodus!  A book that tells the pinnacle struggle that the nation of Israel would wrestle with all throughout their mere existence of leaving Egypt never to return.  However, despite inanimate objects coming to life and a series of plague’s haunting Egypt the deliverance from the land of Egypt is not the mysterious part of the story.  No the mysterious part in this book is why they are there in the first place? And with this one question brings to light other concerns such as who are the Hebrew people?  Why are they in Egypt? Why is the Pharaoh so concerned with them?  Were they just mere slaves? And how did a nation of slaves escape Pharaoh’s great military and begin a conquest that resulted in nothing but victories of humble beginnings?  Are they the ancient people mentioned in the Amarna letters and other ancient texts known as the Habiru?

Seeking to prove the Hebrew and the Habiru people are one in the same.  We will look at what the Hebrew text states and with close reading between the lines see what exactly is going on here historically.  It is also crucial to understand that this essay will pull away from mere scripture and look at the events portrayed as ones of historical fact and attempt to put together a scholarly view on what is taking place.

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob…..

Exodus 1:1

                Now to understand where this is headed it needs to be understood who the Hebrew people are according to their own story.  We cannot move forward without there being a brief background to the narrative and have that background serve us later.  According to the Hebrew narrative a few generations before this mass exiting from Egypt the Hebrew people came in to Egypt because of a great famine that had hit the land known as Canaan and all the lands. 

And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. Genesis41:54

                Now all the lands were affected by the shortage of food.  However it was because of Egypt’s preparedness that they had grain.  Now the narrative offers a reason for this as well and that of Joseph.  Joseph was the son of Jacob that was sold into slavery and now sits in power in Egypt.  This will become more relevant very soon.  However, because of his (Joseph) interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams Egypt was able to store grain for this famine.  So according to the scripture Jacob sends his ten sons into Egypt to buy grain (Genesis 42:2). 

After much of the narrative depicting Joseph (this Governor in Egypt) having a little inside family fun filled revenge with the brothers who sold him into slavery; the story gets to the point where we pick it up and that of Jacob and all of his sons coming into Egypt to reside.   This consequently and one-sidedly answering the question why the Hebrew people were in Egypt in the first place. The answer is clear; there is food in Egypt and the one who gives the food is kin to us (the Hebrew people.)  And according to the story they multiplied quiet well and their numbers increased.

As in any scholarly work I must reveal a slight flaw and that is it is crucial to know the only ancient source we have giving a reason for the presence of Hebrew people in Egypt is the Hebrew Scriptures.  A little biased admitted.  However, this can be overcome by a close analysis of the text.  That is to say it will not take away from the overall point made here to use only the one source because after all we know from Egyptian logs that the Hebrew people were in Egypt.

 The Habiru

Before we go further it is a must we know who the Habiru are in order to compare them to the Hebrew people. The earliest known reference to the Habiru are from Sumer and date from the Third Dynasty of Ur, about the year 1760 (2000 BCE.) (Rainey 2008) A characteristic of this period was the expansion of Semitic peoples; mainly native Acadian speaking groups. Concurrent with this influx of Semites the terms Habiru/Habiri begin to appear in Sumerian documents. The documents show that the Habiru/Habiri was a new element in society, that they were attempting to establish themselves, and that the judicial system was having difficulty defining their legal status. (Muffs, 1982) All the Sumerian records show that the Habiru were active in service roles in the community, as well as the Israelites did in Egypt, and later in the court of Babylon. (Rainey 2008)

  
Excavations at Kultepe and Alishar in ancient Anatolia, uncovered several hoards of letters and legal and economic texts, belonging to Assyrian trading stations of the old Acadian period. Among these documents was a letter from one Assyrian merchant to another requesting that he seek the release of Habiru men who were in custody at the palace of Shalahshuwe, an unidentified neighbor, possibly north of Alishar. This land is near the residence of Abraham’s family after they left Ur. The recipient of his letter is uncertain of the cost he however is reminded that the Habiru themselves have money and could use it for their own release. In any case, the author of the letter wants to make sure they are released. He held them in high regard.   Remember Abraham and his descendants were also wealthy. (Rainey 2008)
An Amorite kingdom dominated Mesopotamia in Abraham’s times, from Babylon in the south to Haran in the north, and across to the Mediterranean.  This is also the lands Abraham seen in his travels from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran and Canaan. This period in the city of Mari, that included some minor states among which appear some Habiru rulers. One document states that Yapah Adad had remodeled the town of Zallul on the banks of the Euphrates and, with 2000 Habiru soldiers, was then located in that town. In another document Izinabu, chief, had 30 Habiru men march in his charge. In another letter in which the destination and sender has lost "3000 asses of the Habiru" are mentioned. (Rainey 2008)  If you recall in the Hebrew Scriptures the use of asses.   In other letters the Habiru men went by night and seized the town of Yahmumam, attempted to seize other towns, and raided Luhaya.  Note here this is the same way in which Abraham recued Lot and that of a night raid.  The Habiru were a familiar part of the civic population. (Gabreial, 2003) The Habiru are mentioned in many documents of the Hurrian state of Nuzi, where they have been an important part of society. (Rainey 2008)  What is strangely interesting is that the ancient peoples ascribe to the Habiru a mysterious relationship with the Divinity. In Hittite documents long lists of gods are invoked to protect the treaties. They include deities from many different regions and people. The curious nature of this invocation is illustrated by a treaty with Egypt. This list concludes with the following words: "and so on to... and the Habiru God,...". Significantly the Hapiru/Habiru Elohim had special mention, and although they are not identified by Name, they also could not be forgotten. (Rainey 2008) The same particularity has been found in Assyrian temples, in which the Habiru are mentioned among the deities. This mention of the Habiru among a list of deities shows explicitly that they were considered as having divine origins. (Gabreial, 2003)They were different from ordinary people, including rulers and magistrates. Several Assyrian omen texts were discovered in which it appears that the Habiru were associated with ominous celestial phenomena and with some unknown afflictions. They were thought to carry divine powers. 

In Egypt the Apir/Habiru name appears a number of places combined with a divine name; the titles suggest specific identification as Apir deities. From Anatolia, to the Mesopotamian Basin, to Egypt, the Habiru were regarded with special social and religious status. Based on the historic evidence, an association of the Habiru with divinity cannot be avoided. While the exact significance of each of these references is unknown, it would not have been possible for the people who lived, worked, and travelled with Habiri to ignore the divine association. That factor must have been present in the mind of everyone; it was universally recognized and accepted. They were of special genetic stock, a "Chosen People". (Gabreial, 2003)

Egyptian texts dated to be from 1450’s BCE called the Amarna Letters, written in cunaho form, mention a nomadic people known as the Habiru or Apiru.  These people were not an ethnic group they were a wondering people. (Gabreial, 2003) The people are thought to be like mercenaries working for the Egyptian Kingdom in these texts; however a s a whole they are a people who have no land.  The Habiru are a people practiced in the art of war.  They are a people that specialize in war and making war. When putting this group called the Habiru with the people we know as the Hebrew children the story of Exodus and ones former and latter begin to come together. (Muffs, 1982)

                Going back into time 1450 BCE, the date of the Amarna letters, is also the time in which Abraham is thought to be settled in Canaan.  Looking at the victory he pulled off with the rescue of Lot it seems to make sense that he had to have had so kind of military training.  Some Egyptian monuments mention an enigmatic people: the "Apiru". In one of these was carved on the stone walls a scene depicting men working at a wine press. Beneath the picture was a title which ran: "Straining out wine by the Apiru". The date of the monument is believed to be during the reign of queen Hatshepshut and Tutmose III, about the year 2290 (1470 BCE.). Scholars immediately recognized the similarity of the word "Apiru" to "Hebrew", with a scene depicting manual labor, as described in Exodus for Hebrew people under bondage in Egypt.  However this depiction of labor might not be one of slave work but what happened in the down time of the Habiru not at war for Egypt. (Gabreial, 2003)

These references to the Habiru in Egyptian documents and on monuments show their presence in Egypt, and their social importance, for more than three centuries. The same people are called elsewhere "Habiru" or "Habiri". Er-Heba, the Egyptian ruler in Jerusalem, wrote a series of letters to the king in whom he complained about the "Habiru". The Habiru were plundering the lands of the king. Er-Heba wanted to know why the king was leaving them behave in this way; why was he not sending archers to protect his, the king's, properties. If he did not send military help the whole land would be given to the Habiru.  This is right around the same time Joshua would have been conquering the land of Canaan. (Rainey 2008)

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.

Exodus 1:8

                The Hebrew People were not Slaves.  Now of course this view of the Hebrews not being slaves contradicts Judea-Christian beliefs but it does not contradict history. The Hebrew word for worker is ebid (עבד.)  (Kellie 2008) However, this this word has many meanings and rarely means slave in the form we as westerns think it to mean.  In fact it is safe to conclude that the Hebrew people were not slaves at all in Egypt. Now this is a hard statement to make because outside of the bible there is no definitive text saying they were slaves.  But why would Pharaoh be worried of slave people and how could they possibly defeat the Egyptian army.   However, we do have Egyptian medical records showing the well treatment of the Hebrew people. So here we are the Hebrew people are in Egypt and a Pharaoh that knows nothing about Joseph comes to power.  Now this comes to serve more than one function in the narrative.  It gives a reason why the Egyptians “increase the work” for the Hebrews but it also serves to later give a reason to leave.  The Hebrew people see it as they no longer remember our kin who sat second to Pharaoh and now we are not appreciated.  However we have reached the reason for this paper.  What were the Hebrews doing in Egypt all this time?  In Exodus 1:9-10 we see Pharaoh for some unexplained reason worried about the Hebrews betraying the Egyptian people.  Why?  Where the logic in thinking a people of mere slaves is could revolt against one of the greatest super powers in the region at this time?  And why would he be worried that they join forces with any other peoples?  Unless they were not slaves at all. (Gabreial, 2003)

Given the nature of the treaty that Egypt had with the Habiru it would make sense that if the Hebrew people were the Habiru their numbers increasing would be troublesome for Egyptians.  For example they would know not only Egyptian tactics and weaponry.  Not to mention they would have similar if not the same weaponry.  Also since the work in the Kingdom has gotten more rigorous this could possibly upset a people.  So the Hebrews being the Habiru helps to historically make sense of why Pharaoh would be concerned. Now the Hebrew people or the Habiru are in the land of Goshen.  We know this from Egyptian texts as well as scripture.  Military historians believe this would be because they were serving as the first line of defense for the Egyptian nation from invaders from the North.  Now given what we know about the Habiru they are mercenaries fighting for the interest that best serves them.  And according to Egyptian documents at this time Egypt was their best interest.  But why put them to labor?  Well if they are growing too large for control and they are you first line of defense and we know that they protect a major line of invasion where they are home to now; controlling their numbers and setting them to labor voce using them military makes more sense.  Now this would not be slavery because they would be free to go and the physical owing of persons was not practiced yet. (Kellie 2008)   They wanted to leave simply because they were just demoted from warrior to laborer.

                Also we have yet another textual problem that can be solved with the correlation between the Hebrew people and them being the Habiru.

But God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 13:18

This statement here alerts us that the Hebrew people were not mere slaves for how did they leave armed.  For slaves rarely march out of anywhere armed. (Kellie 2008)   But then another textual problem arises Pharaoh changes his mind.  Now Hebrew scripture says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  However, this to makes more sense when you consider a later verse and make the connection that these people are the Habiru.  Exodus 12:35 says they stripped the Egyptians of silver and Gold.  It is to no surprise that Pharaoh would be a little mad that his people were stripped of possessions upon the exiting of a clan that was at one time an ally.  In turn Pharaoh sends out his army to avenge the wrong that had been done. (Gabreial, 2003)

                Now upon being chased out of Egypt with the Egyptian’s close behind Moses confuses Pharaoh.  How would a nation of slaves diverge the Egyptian army?  Now the scripture gives the reason that Pharaoh misunderstands the light leading the Israelites as to think that they are advance straight into is army.  However, as the story goes it is a trick and Moses is actually leading them away.  That saying the flame is behind the Israelites not in front of them.  This indeed proves a military connection with the Hebrew people pushing the theory of the Habiru. 

                In this time there were not NVGs or night vision goggles, armies used fire to lead them through the night advancements.  This is especially true for the Egyptians who are thought to have authored night advancements. (Kellie 2008)  The Habiru would have had known this working with the Egyptians army and it seems here the Hebrew did as well.

                Now we come to the crossing of the reed seas or swap.  Moses knew the tide was out and therefore in this swap they would have been able to cross.  However, the mud would have prevented the chariots of the Egyptian army from crossing.  Hence putting the Hebrews further from the Egyptians.  If the Egyptians would have wanted to still follow suit they would had to of traveled north to a crossing by the delta; at the same time putting way to much distance between them and the Hebrews/Habiru. (Gabreial, 2003)

                After close analysis of the Exodus experience alone it becomes quiet cleat that the Habiru and the Hebrew people are one in the same.  The tactics, the history and the unanswered questions left by scripture all come to revelation when the Habiru are placed in as the Hebrew people.  Why were the Hebrew people there in Egypt to begin with? Assuming the famine did not last as long as many generations I would assert it is because they are the nomadic people called the Habiru.   Why are they in Egypt? As a mercenary group paid to protect the Egyptian Kingdom from invaders from the north they had it pretty good in Egypt and only left because of the demotion to labor from warrior. (Gabreial, 2003) Why is the Pharaoh so concerned with them and their rising numbers?  The best thing about an ally that knows you all too well is one that is not strong enough to conquer you.  With the rising numbers mentioned in Exodus of the Hebrew people and their perceived identity of being the Habiru; great numbers of warriors is not a good idea to have on you main route into the kingdom.  Were they just mere slaves? After a reading of the text and the fact that the word used in exodus does not mean slave; I assert no they were not.  And how did a nation of slaves escape Pharaoh’s great military and begin a conquest that resulted in nothing but victories of humble beginnings?  Because they were the nation of the Habiru.

Gabreial, R. (2003). The military history of ancient Egypt. Westport CT: Praeger

Kelle, B., Ames, F., & Niditch, S. (2008). Writing and reading war: rhetoric, gender, and ethics in biblical and modern contexts. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. 

Rainey, A. (2008). Shasu or Habiru: who were the early Israelites?. Biblical Archaeology Review, 34(6), 51-55. 

Good, R. M. (1985). The just war in ancient Israel. Journal Of Biblical Literature, 104(3), 385-400. 

Muffs, Y. (1982). Abraham the noble warrior : patriarchal politics and laws of war in ancient Israel. Journal Of Jewish Studies, 33(1-2), 81-107. 

Guillaume, A. (1946). The Habiru, the Hebrews, and the Arabs. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 7864-85.

A Dialogue Between Humanity and God and the Reason for the Cross.

 Humanity:

God, you know I've fallen apart without you.  I don't know how you do what you do. Because all that doesn't make sense about me makes sense when I am with you!  However, since my fall from the Garden I feel something has come between us and it seems impossible to ever get back to the original relationship I once had with you.  And what is even worse of all it does not seem I am even wanted by you for my return.   

God:

Children, like everything green needs the rain I need you. But it is for more than mere worship or glorifying my name.  Put aside all the math, logic, and thoughts of immortality and sin. For I want you, but you have to know you're wanted too.  For I want wrap you up I want to kiss your lips I just want to make you feel wanted. I want call you mine and I want to hold your hand forever and never let you forget it.  I want to do this all for you just to show you that you are wanted.

(Jesus comes to earth to pave the way for humanity to feel wanted.)

Jesus:

Anyone can tell you you're pretty, smart, or a decent person and here on Earth you get that all the time. But your beauty's deeper than the makeup.  You have a higher calling and that is to love the Lord with all of you and love your neighbor as yourself.

(As Jesus is lead to the cross God proclaims these words to humanity.)

God:

I want show you what I see today in you!

(With Jesus’ hands nailed to the cross and stretched out…)

When I want wrap you up and when I want to kiss your lips. Remember I just want to make you feel wanted. From now on I can call you mine and I can hold your hand forever and never let you forget it.  I want to do this all for you just to show you that you are wanted.  You are wanted!

Inspired by Hunter Hayes “Wanted”.