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Home , Amos 3, Book of Haggai, Book of Job, Book of Joel, Book of Malachi, Book of Obadiah

VOLUME 17

new collegeville

the commentary

zechariah

John J. Collins

SERIES EDITOR Durken, O.S.B.

LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota

www.litpress.org Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert Harren, Censor deputatus. Imprimatur:  Most Reverend John F. Kinney, J.C.D., D.D., Bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota, October 12, 2012.

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Cover illustration: Detail of Rejoice! by Hazel Dolby © 2007 The John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from the New of the Bible, Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Collins, John , 1946– Joel, Obadiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi / John J. Collins. p. cm. — (The new Collegeville Bible commentary. Old Testament ; 17) Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8146-2851-5 1. Bible. O.T. Minor —Commentaries. I. Title. BS1560.C65 2012 224'.9077—dc23 2012033893 Contents

Abbreviations 5

THE Introduction 7 Text and Commentary 13 The Plague of Locusts (:2–2:27) 13 The Day of Judgment (:1–4:21) 23

THE Introduction 30 Text and Commentary 33 Oracles against (Obadiah 1:1-14) 33 The Judgment of the Nations (Obadiah 1:15-21) 37

THE Introduction 41 Text and Commentary 47 The First Oracle (:1-14) 47 The Second Oracle (:1-9) 51 The Third Oracle (Haggai 2:10-19) 55 The to (Haggai 2:20-23) 56

THE Introduction 59 Text and Commentary 68 Proto-Zechariah (–8) 68 Deutero-Zechariah (–14) 99 Contents THE Introduction 121 Text and Commentary 125 The First Disputation (:2-5) 125 The Second Disputation: The Critique of the Priesthood (Malachi 1:6–2:9) 127 The Third through Sixth Disputations (:10–3:21) 133 The Epilogues (:22-24) 142

Review Aids and Discussion Topics 145

Index of Citations from the Catechism of the 149

4 Abbreviations

Books of the Bible Acts— 2 Kgs—2 Kings —Amos Lam—Lamentations Bar—Baruch Lev—Leviticus 1 Chr—1 Chronicles Luke—Luke 2 Chr—2 Chronicles 1 Macc— Col—Colossians 2 Macc— 1 Cor—1 Corinthians Mal—Malachi 2 Cor—2 Corinthians Mark—Mark —Daniel Matt—Matthew Deut—Deuteronomy Mic— Eccl (or Qoh)— Nah— Eph—Ephesians Neh— Esth— Num—Numbers Exod—Exodus Obad—Obadiah Ezek— 1 Pet—1 Peter — Pet—2 Peter Gal—Galatians Phil—Philippians Gen—Genesis Phlm—Philemon Hab— Prov—Proverbs Hag—Haggai Ps(s)— Heb— Rev— Hos— Rom—Romans Isa— —Ruth Jas—James 1 Sam—1 Jdt—Judith 2 Sam—2 Samuel Jer— Sir— —Job Song— Joel—Joel 1 Thess—1 Thessalonians John—John 2 Thess—2 Thessalonians 1 John—1 John 1 Tim—1 Timothy 2 John—2 John 2 Tim—2 Timothy 3 John—3 John Titus—Titus —Jonah Tob—Tobit Josh— Wis— Jude—Jude Zech—Zechariah Judg—Judges Zeph— 1 Kgs—1 Kings

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INTRODUCTION

Joel

The book of Joel appears second in the book of the in the , between Hosea and Amos. In the Greek trans- lation of the Bible, called the , it is placed fourth. In general, the arrangement of the book of the Twelve follows a rough chronological order. The eighth-century prophets Hosea and Amos are placed at or near the beginning, while the postexilic prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are at the end. Joel seems to be an exception to this rule, however. While the book provides little specific evidence of its date, it is generally agreed that it is postexilic. Two considerations favor a late date. First, according to Joel 4:6, some Judeans were sold as slaves to . This reference suggests a date after the Babylonian exile, when was weak and contacts with Greece were increasing. (It does not necessarily require a date after the conquests of Alexander the Great in approximately 330 b.c.) Second, the portrayal of and the judgment of the nations resembles the kind of eschatological expectation found in other postexilic texts (e.g., Isa 24–27; Ezek 38–39; Zech 14). There are also several echoes of earlier , which suggest that Joel was a latecomer in the prophetic tradition. A date about 400 b.c. is a reasonable guess. If this is correct, Joel may be the latest of the prophets, except for the . In any case, it is likely to be one of the latest books in the prophetic corpus. The reason for its place in the Hebrew Bible is that it has thematic links with the . Joel 4:16, “The Lord roars from , / and from raises his voice,” corresponds to :2, and the two books also share the theme of the day of the Lord.

Structure and composition The book falls into two quite distinct parts. 1:1–2:17 contains a descrip- tion of a plague of locusts and calls on the to perform penitential rituals. This is followed by a reply and reassurance from God in 2:18-27. The remainder of the book is concerned with a future time when God will pour out his spirit, save a of the people, and judge the nations.

7 Introduction to the Book of Joel The NABRE follows the Hebrew in distinguishing two more chapters, 3 and 4. Other translations, such as the NRSV, absorb the short chapter 3 into chapter 2 (as 2:28-33). The two parts of the book are linked by the motif of the day of the Lord, but it carries different implications in each section. In the first part of the book, it refers to the plague of locusts. In the second, it is the day of judgment and salvation. There is a clear analogy between the two parts of the book, and it may all be the work of a single prophet. Many scholars, however, think that chapters 3 and 4 are later additions.

The plague of locusts Locusts have been an affliction in the Near East down to modern times. They are found in North Africa and the Near East, especially in desert re- gions such as the Sahara and the Arabian peninsula, and also in the Sinai peninsula and the Judean desert. In certain circumstances that are still not fully understood, they swarm and migrate in search of food. The effect of a swarm of locusts is catastrophic. They figure in a vision of Amos (7:1-3), where they eat up all the grass of the land and move the prophet to intercede for the helpless people. Joel gives a particularly vivid account of the plague, comparing the locusts to an invincible army invading the land. We do not know when this particular plague occurred. The account in Joel is remark- able in two respects. First, since the people have no human means of dealing with the locusts, they resort to ritual. The prophet calls on the priests to perform rituals of mourning and cry to the Lord. It is unusual in the Old Testament to find a prophet exhorting priests to perform rituals. More often the prophets were critical of ritual, on the grounds that the true measure of religion was the practice of justice in the marketplace and in social rela- tions. In the postexilic period, the temple cult was of central importance, and we shall see that Haggai and Zechariah were also active in their support of the temple. In face of the plague of locusts, in any case, there was little either or prophet could do but cry to the Lord. It is noteworthy, however, that the ritual does not include any confession of sin. The prophets often view catastrophes, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, as punishment for the sin of the people. In this case, the affliction is certainly viewed as an act of God, but there is little suggestion that it is a punishment for sinful behavior. The only passage that might ground such an interpretation is found in :12-13, where the prophet, speaking in the name of God, calls on the people to “return to me with your whole heart.” The exhortation to “[r]end your hearts, not your garments” recalls the distrust of ritual that is typical of the preexilic prophets. It is not a re- pudiation of all ritual, however. The people are urged to “return” “with

8 Introduction to the Book of Joel fasting, weeping, and mourning” (2:12). Moreover, there is no indictment of the people and no indication of why a “return” is necessary. Presumably, there has been a lack of devotion, and the affliction is an occasion to get the people’s attention and turn them back to the Lord. Joel characterizes the invasion of the locusts as “the day of the Lord.” This expression occurs five times in Joel (1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4; 4:14) and some fourteen times in the other prophets. It always refers to an impending event. The oldest reference is in :18. There it is apparent that people were looking forward to the day of the Lord, most probably because it was the designation of a festival. Amos, however, said that the day of the Lord would be darkness and not light, gloom with no brightness. From Amos forward, the day of the Lord became a technical term for a day of divine judgment, on or on the nations. Accordingly, some scholars under- stand Joel to mean that the locusts are a sign, or forewarning, of a divine intervention that is to come, and that is described in the second part of the book. In chapters 1 and 2, however, the day of the Lord seems to correspond to the invasion of the locusts in itself. So, for example, in 2:2, it is a day of darkness because the locusts spread over the land and block out the light. The day of the Lord was not necessarily the end of the world but simply a day of great catastrophe. It was not necessarily a unique event. There could, in principle, be more than one day of the Lord, although it usually seems to have a definitive character. Joel is the only prophet who applies this language to a natural event. The eschatological associations of the day of the Lord convey vividly the sense of utter catastrophe brought about by the locusts. The invasion of the locusts, by its nature, was short-lived. According to Joel 2:18, the Lord was stirred by the cries of the people and took pity on them. There follows a prophecy of reassurance, promising a time when the people would eat and be filled and never more be put to shame (2:19b-27).

The day of judgment The prophet then proceeds to talk about the day of the Lord in its more usual sense in chapters 3 and 4 as the day of divine judgment. The demon- stration of the destructive power of the Lord in the locust invasion brings the theme of judgment naturally to mind. Even here, however, Joel differs from earlier prophets such as Amos. For Amos, the day of the Lord was primarily a day of judgment on Israel. For Joel, it is a day of judgment on the nations. For Israel, or at least for the righteous remnant, it is a day of salva- tion. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. (The idea that only a remnant of Israel would be saved is typical of postexilic prophecy.)

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Introduction to the Book of Joel The judgment on the nations is in part related to crimes against Judah. In 4:4-8, Tyre, , and all the region of are accused of pillaging Judah and of selling boys and girls as slaves to the Greeks in exchange for wine and prostitutes. The judgment on the nations, however, is not only a matter of revenge on neighboring peoples. It is a universal judgment on “all the neighboring nations” (4:12). This kind of vision of vengeance on all the Gentiles reappears repeatedly in the later prophetic books. Examples can be found in –39 and . It reflects the resentment of a people that was constantly at the mercy of its neighbors. The desire for vengeance is not the most noble of human sentiments, but it is very under- standable. It finds a place in the in the . The sentiment is shared by many people in the developing world in modern times as they look with resentment towards the prosperous and dominant West. Joel’s vision of the future is not only a matter of vengeance, however. After the locust plague, he consoles the people with promises of peace and plenty. In 4:18 he dreams of a day when “the mountains will drip new wine / and the hills flow with milk.” In the context of Joel, the remnants of Israel are the primary beneficiaries of these blessings. The hope they express, however, is a universal human yearning that speaks readily to oppressed people of any time or place. A more specifically Jewish hope is expressed in 4:17: “Jerusalem will be holy, / and strangers will never again travel through her.” If this hope seems isolationist or xenophobic, we should re- member that Gentiles had too often defiled and pillaged Jerusalem in the past and would do so again in the future.

Joel and apocalypticism The book of Joel and other postexilic prophetic writings, such as –27 and Zechariah 9–14, are sometimes referred to as “apocalyptic.” The reason for this designation is that they bring to mind the book of Revelation in the New Testament by their vision of universal judgment. The earlier prophets were primarily concerned with specific historical crises, such as the invasions of the Assyrians or Babylonians. In the postexilic period, however, the concerns have a less specific, more universal quality. The enemy is not just a specific people but Gentiles at large. Conversely, the hope for the future is not just a restoration to a former state but a radical change in the conditions of life. To be sure, the idea of mountains dripping wine is hyperbolic and not to be taken literally, but the hopes expressed in postexilic prophecy have a more utopian character than those of the earlier prophets.

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Michelangelo’s ceiling has this portrait of the prophet Joel. Introduction to the Books of First Samuel There remain, however, profound differences between the book of Joel and later apocalyptic texts such as the books of Daniel and Revelation. On the one hand, there is a difference in form. Joel’s pronouncements take the form of prophetic oracles. They represent “” that came to Joel (1:1) just as it had come to Amos or Jeremiah. Daniel and Revelation are primarily visions and, moreover, have a mysterious character that re- quires interpretation by an . On the other hand, there is also a crucial difference in the future hope. The trademark of apocalyptic hope is the resurrection and judgment of the individual dead. (See, for example, Dan 12:1-3; Rev 20:11-15.) There is no hint of such a hope in Joel. The future expectations still concern the people as a group, even if they only apply to a remnant. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Joel’s vision of the future is also the most famous. Joel 3:1-5a (“I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh”) is quoted in the New Testament, in :17-21, in the context of the first . The gift of tongues at Pentecost is taken as fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel and as proof that the great and terrible day of the Lord is at hand. Further reading Achtemeier, Elizabeth. “The Book of Joel.” New Interpreter’s Bible. Volume 7. Nash- ville: Abingdon Press, 1996. Pp. 301–36.

Barton, John. Joel and Obadiah. Old Testament Library. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. Crenshaw, James. Joel. Anchor Bible Commentary. New York: Doubleday, 1995. Sweeney, Marvin. The Twelve Prophets. Volume 1. Berit Olam. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000. Pp. 147–87. Wolff, Hans Walter. Joel and Amos. Translated by Waldemar Janzen, S. Dean ­McBride, Jr., and Charles A. Muenchow. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977.

12 Text and COMMENTARY

Joel

1The word of the Lord which came Has anything like this ever happened 1 to Joel, the son of Pethuel. in your lifetime, or in the lifetime of your ances- I. Announcement of tors? Unprecedented Disaster 3Report it to your children. 2Listen to this, you elders! Have your children report it to Pay attention, all who dwell in their children, the land! and their children to the next generation.

1:1 Superscription The formulaic statement that the word of the Lord came to Joel is a standard opening of a prophetic book. Unlike other such books, however, this one gives no information about the prophet, except the name of his father. Many prophets are dated to the reigns of specific kings, even of foreign kings in the cases of Haggai and Zechariah. In most cases, these prophets are addressing political issues that were specific to their time (the Assyrian or Babylonian invasions, or the Judean restoration under the Persians). The natural disaster which is the point of departure for Joel’s prophecy was a recurring phenomenon. The name Joel means “Yhwh is God.” It has the same elements as the name but in reverse order. The name appears in several genealogies in Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The only occurrence in a preexilic context is in 1 Samuel 8:2, where it is the name of the firstborn son of Samuel.

PART I: THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS Joel 1:2–2:27

The discussion of the plague of locusts falls into two parts, correspond- ing to the first two chapters of the book.

13 Joel 1:4-8

4What the cutter left, 6For a nation invaded my land, the swarming locust has powerful and past counting, ­devoured; With teeth like a lion’s, What the swarming locust left, fangs like those of a lioness. the hopper has devoured; 7It has stripped bare my vines, What the hopper left, splintered my fig tree, the consuming locust has Shearing off its bark and throwing ­devoured. it away, 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; until its branches turn white. wail, all you wine drinkers, 8Wail like a young woman dressed Over the new wine, in sackcloth taken away from your mouths. for the husband of her youth.

The first cycle of lamentation (1:2-20) 1:2-14 Call to The prophecy begins with a call to the elders to listen. Such calls are common in both prophetic and wisdom speeches. The elders were the leaders of the community in the postexilic period (cf. :8). It may be, however, that the reference here is simply to “old men,” as they are asked whether they remember anything like this in their own days or the days of their fathers. The appeal to the memory of two generations is balanced by a command to pass on the story to the next two generations. Verse 4 uses four different words for locust. Some scholars have argued that these represent four different species of locust, or four stages of its development. It is characteristic of Hebrew poetry, however, to say the same thing in different ways. Most probably the variation here is for rhetorical effect: every imaginable kind of locust descended on the land. In verse 6 they are further described as a people who have invaded the land. Tradi- tional interpreters inferred that the locusts provided an allegory for the invasion of human armies. It was not unusual in the ancient Near East to compare invading armies to locusts. In Joel, however, the primary reference is to the locusts, and the armies provide the analogy. The destruction wrought by the locusts is described in verse 7: stripping the bark off trees and destroying vines. The destruction of the vines gives wine drinkers a specific reason to lament. The call to lament proper begins in verse 5, with the call to the drinkers. There are five imperatives in all, in verses 5, 8, 11, 13, 14. Calls to communal lamentation are found repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings 21:9, 12; Amos 5:16; Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 36:9; :21; 2 Chronicles 20:3.

14 Joel 1:9-12

9Grain offering and libation are cut 11Be appalled, you farmers! off wail, you vinedressers, from the house of the Lord; Over the wheat and the barley, In mourning are the priests, because the harvest in the field the ministers of the Lord. is ruined. 10The field is devastated; 12The vine has dried up, the farmland mourns, the fig tree has withered; Because the grain is devastated, The pomegranate, even the date the wine has dried up, palm and the apple— the oil has failed.

Verse 8 calls on the people to lament as a might lament for a betrothed spouse who died before the marriage was consummated. The priests mourn because the offerings and libations are not available, due to the destruction of the land. Not only were the priests responsible for ­making these offerings, but they also received their food from them. These offerings are prescribed in the priestly strand of the Pentateuch (Exod 29:38-42; Lev 23:13, 18; Num 6:15; 15:24; 28:3-9; 29:11, 16-39), which most probably derives from the postexilic period. Most striking is the statement that “the farmland mourns” (1:10). The earth is often personified in the biblical writings. Compare Isaiah 24:4-5, where the earth mourns and fades and is polluted by the sin of its inhabit- ants. In Joel, the mourning of the earth is not due to human sin but simply to the natural disaster of the plague of locusts. Husbandmen and vinedressers (1:11) also have specific reason to mourn because their livelihood is destroyed. Verse 12 ends with a summary state- ment: “Joy itself has dried up.” Up to this point, the lamentation is simply an acknowledgment of the situation. There is no discussion of cause or responsibility. Lamentation is the only appropriate response to the destruction. The call to the priests in verse 13 asks them to perform a ritual of mourn- ing by putting on sackcloth and even wearing it during the night. Sackcloth, coarse clothing woven from camel or goat hair, was traditionally worn during mourning for the dead. (Compare the mourning for Abner in 2 Sam 3:31.) The imperative in verse 14 to proclaim a solemn fast also pertains to the priests. Fasting and assembly often went hand in hand in ancient Israel. Compare the story of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21, where gives orders to proclaim a fast and then accuses Naboth before the assembled people. Fasting and sackcloth could be signs of repentance. After the murder

15 Joel 1:13-14

every tree in the field has dried For the grain offering and the liba- up. tion Joy itself has dried up are withheld from the house of among the people. your God. 14Proclaim a holy fast! Cry Out to the Lord Call an assembly! 13Gird yourselves and lament, you Gather the elders, priests! all who dwell in the land, wail, ministers of the altar! To the house of the Lord, your Come, spend the night in sackcloth, God, ministers of my God! and cry out to the Lord!

of Naboth, fasts and puts on sackcloth and is granted a reprieve by the Lord because “he humbled himself before me.” Such rituals could also be a way of intensifying a petition by demonstrating the seriousness of the petitioner. Ezra proclaimed a fast before setting out on his journey to Jeru- salem, “that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey” (Ezra 8:21). In the context of Joel, the sackcloth and fasting are primarily gestures of mourning, but they also add force to the petition for mercy by demonstrating the abject condition of the people. Preexilic prophets often looked askance at solemn assemblies and re- lated rituals (see Isa 1:13; Amos 5:21), regarding them as superficial, external gestures that did not necessarily reflect true conversion to justice. Joel, in contrast, has no misgivings about rituals. Some scholars have suggested that he may have been a cult prophet, a person employed by the temple, perhaps even charged with calling solemn assemblies. This is not necessar- ily the case. He may have been called to prophesy, as Amos had been, by the gravity of the situation. It is remarkable, however, that he does not ­attribute the catastrophe to some sin of the people or call for repentance as a precondition of deliverance. It is enough that the people demonstrate their distress and call on the Lord. In some part, the difference between Joel’s attitude to the cult and that of the earlier prophets can be explained by the changed circumstances of the postexilic period. It is probable, how- ever, that Joel’s assumption that prayers and rituals would be effective and that they did not presuppose repentance on every occasion was typical of the cult in all periods. We should also say that Joel was right in not attribut- ing natural disaster to human sin. This is the lesson of the , where the friends are rebuked for assuming that suffering is always a pun- ishment for human actions.

16 Joel 1:15-18

15O! The day! the storehouses are emptied. For near is the day of the Lord, The granaries are broken down, like destruction from the for the grain is dried up. ­Almighty it is coming! 18How the animals groan! 16Before our very eyes The herds of cattle are has not food been cut off? bewildered! And from the house of our God, Because they have no pasture, joy and gladness? even the flocks of sheep are 17The seed lies shriveled beneath starving. clods of dirt;

1:15-18 Lament for the day of the Lord Verses 15-18 give the words of the lamentation that priest and people have been exhorted to make. Accordingly, they speak in the first-person plural. After the initial cry of “O! The day!” most of the passage consists of a recitation of the distress that affects the whole land, from the temple cult to the animals. The most striking feature of this passage is the designation of the affliction as “the day of the Lord” that “like destruction from the Almighty is coming!” (1:15). As we have seen in the Introduction, the “day of the Lord” originally referred to a festival day that was awaited with anticipation (Amos 5:18), but after Amos the expression was taken to refer to a day of judgment, usually a judgment on Israel (Amos 5:18, 20; Ezek 13:5; Zeph 1:7, 14; Mal 3:23) but sometimes on other nations (Isa 13:6; Obad 15). Some scholars understand the reference in Joel 1:15 to mean that the locust plague was a sign that the day of the Lord was at hand. In support of this interpretation, one could argue that the locusts had already arrived, whereas the day of the Lord is near. Nonetheless, it seems more likely that the invasion of locusts is the “destruction from the Almighty” that constitutes the day of the Lord, which has begun but not yet reached its climax. The reasons for seeing the locusts as the actualization of the day of the Lord will become clearer in chapter 2, where the Lord is pictured “at the head of his army” (2:11). There can be no doubt, however, that the destruction wrought by the locusts is regarded as “destruction from the Almighty.” Throughout the Hebrew Bible, bad things as well as good come from the Lord. Compare :6: “Does disaster befall a city / unless the Lord has caused it?” Likewise, Job asks his wife: “We accept good things from God; should we not accept evil?” (Job 2:10). As the book of Job makes clear, this does not necessarily mean that every affliction is a punishment. The Lord’s ways are mysterious, and Joel makes no attempt to explain them.

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