Nothing is known for certainty about the ancestry of Joel, or about him personally. There is even some uncertainty as to the precise time when he prophesied, although the prophecy itself provides a number of clues, as shall be seen.

Literal locusts?

Joel pictures an enormous locust invasion brought by God upon His land, as a punishment and a warning to His people (Joel 1:15; 2:11). The devastation wrought by the locusts brings the inevitable famine, and Joel chronicles the suffering of man and beast alike, in its wake (Joel 1:4,5,9-12,16-18).

Outline