Joel 1:1
What does Joel 1:1 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 1:1 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 1:1 means
Joel opens by asserting that his message is not self-originated but a revelation from Jehovah. Naming Joel and his father Pethuel sets the prophecy in real history and anchors its authority. The phrase “the word of Jehovah” signals covenant speech: the God who spoke at Sinai now speaks again to His people in their distress. This verse teaches us to read what follows not as mere commentary on a natural disaster, but as divine interpretation of events. The calamity about to be described is under God’s sovereign hand and calls for a spiritual response shaped by His revealed will.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The word of the Lord which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Joel, son of Pethuel:
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752The word of the Lord, that came to Joel, the son of Phatuel.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
Context
This superscription frames the entire book, identifying the prophet and the source of the message. Before Joel recounts devastation or calls to repentance, he establishes divine authorship. The next verses summon the elders and all inhabitants to listen, underscoring the relevance of this word to the whole community. Reading verse 1 as a title prepares us to hear both the description of the locust plague and the moral and spiritual imperatives that flow from it as the Lord’s own address to Judah.
v.1This passage
v.2Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 2 Peter 1:21
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
- Ezekiel 1:3
the word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was there upon him.
- Acts 2:16
but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel:
- Hosea 1:1
The word of Jehovah that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
- Jeremiah 1:2
to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
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