AB 24C: Joel

A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.

Joel's Prophecy has an unexpectedly familiar ring to it. The biblical book of
Joel is relevant to our late-twentieth-century world because it confronts an
age when people tolerated almost anything, did not want someone telling them
how to live their lives, and had difficulty distinguishing right from wrong. It
was at once a time of self-indulgence and a time of spiritual decay. The
economic and political disparity of the day, combined with widespread social
injustice and deviant religious practices, brought about God's judgment on his
chosen people, the judahites. Pleading the litany of sins in Joel is like
reading the newspaper, things have not changed much in 2,500 years.

Leading Scripture scholar James L. Crenshaw's fresh translation of the biblical
prophecy of Joel combines the latest research into Hebrew language and
literature with down-to-earth insights into how Joel's words relate to the
modern world. Drawing upon a thorough analysis of the book's grammar and
philology, literary forms and context, religious and social situation, and
historical setting, Crenshaw offers the most informed and up-to-date commentary
available. For those who want to read and understand Joel, this book is
indispensable.

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible, volume 24C.