Septuagint: Joel

By Scriptural Research Institute

The Book of Joel is generally considered one of the older surviving books of the Hebrew Scriptures, with most scholars dating it to before the Torah was written, or at least heavily redacted in the time of King Josiah. Most scholars accept that Joel was written by a prophet called Joel sometime during the ancient kingdoms of Samaria and Judea, although estimates of when he lived vary greatly. The dominant view is that he lived in the 9th-century BC, however, some place his life as late as the 7th-century. His world was very different from the later Kingdom of Judea that emerged in the 2nd-century BC, as the Israelites of his time were still polytheistic, worshiping the Canaanite Elohim, as well as statues of Iaw (Masoretic Yahweh), the God the Jews and Samaritans would later worship.
As it is unclear when exactly Joel lived, it is difficult to place his writing into a historical context, however, he does refer to his temple as being in the Valley of Shittim, which identifies his Lord as Ba'al Hammon (??? ???‎), the Canaanite fertility god. The Temple of Hammon, at the ruins of Tell el-Hammam in Jordan, reportedly sent tribute to Solomon when he was the king, and the town around the city existed from roughly 980 to 332 BC. As Joel mentioned the Valley of Jehoshaphat, it is accepted he lived after the time of King Jehoshaphat, King of Judea between circa 870 and 849 BC. At the time, the region northeast of the Dead Sea, where the Valley of Shittim is located, was under the dominion of the Kingdom of Samaria. Joel also refers to Zion and Jerusalem, which implies a strong connection to the Kingdom of Judah
While the Septuagint's Book of Joel makes a clear division between the 'Temple of your god,' and the 'Temple of the Lord,' the Masoretic Texts do not make this distinction, interchangeably referring to a Temple of God and a Temple of Yahweh. Only a few fragments have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, half of which confirm the Septuagint's translation of 'Temple of your god,' and half of which confirm the Masoretic 'Temple of God.' These fragments date back to the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties, after the Jews had adopted the Assyrian script. As the adoption of the Assyrian script under the Hasmoneans was likely when the name Yahweh was inserted into the Books of the Twelve Prophets, the earlier translation of the Twelve into Greek circa 180 BC likely reflects an older version of the texts.
The differences between the versions of Joel found in the Septuagint and Masoretic Texts indicate a significant redaction to names took place between the time the Septuagint was translated circa 180 BC, and the time the Masorites started copying the text in the 4th century AD. The Greek translation of the Twelve Prophets indicates that several Canaanite gods were still named in the books when it was translated at the library of Alexandria, however, most of these names were changed slightly by the time the Masorites started working with the texts, resulting in strange sentences in the Masoretic versions of the Twelve, which modern translators rectify by adding words to their translations that are not in the Masoretic Texts based on the assumption that the words were lost at some point.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
• Release date: Jul 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989852453

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WHILE EVERY PRECAUTION has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

SEPTUAGINT: JOEL

Digital edition. September 12, 2020.

Copyright © 2020 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1-989852-45-3

The Septuagint was translated into Greek at the Library of Alexandria between 250 and 132 BC.

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2020, primarily from the Codex Vaticanus, although the Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus were also used for reference. Additionally, the Leningrad Codex of the Masoretic Texts, and the Dead Sea Scrolls 4QXIIc, 4QXIIg, and MurXII were used for comparative analysis.

The image used for the cover is ‘Prophet Joel’ by Michelangelo, painted between 1508 and 1512.

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IN THE MID-3RD CENTURY BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The original version, published circa 250 BC, only included the Torah, or in Greek terms, the Pentateuch. The Torah is the five books traditionally credited to Moses, circa 1500 BC: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. According to Jewish tradition, the original Torah was lost when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Solomon and was later rewritten by Ezra the Scribe from memory during the Second Temple period. The life of Ezra the Scribe is estimated to have been between 480 and 440 BC, which is around the time that scholars generally believe the current form of the Torah was written.

Some scholars debate whether the Prophets Section was in the version published in 132 BC, and suggest it may have not been added until the early 1st-century BC, however, the twelve ‘minor’ prophets,