JOEL, or the Prophecy of Joel, a canonical book of the Old Testament. Joel was the son of Pethuel, and the second of the twelve lesser prophets. The style of this prophet is bold, figurative, and expressive. He upbraids the Israelites for their idolatry, and foretells the calamities which they should suffer as the punishment of that sin; but he endeavours to support them with the comfort that their miseries would have an end upon their reformation and repentance. Some writers, inferring the order of time in which the minor prophets lived from the order in which they are placed in the Hebrew copies, conclude that Joel prophesied before Amos, who was contemporary with Uzziah, king of Judah. Archbishop Usher draws this inference from Joel's foretelling the drought (chap. iv. 7, 8, 9). But if we consider the main design of Joel's prophecy, we shall be apt to conclude that it was uttered after the captivity of the ten tribes; for he directs his discourse to Judah alone, and speaks distinctly of the sacrifices and oblations which were daily offered in the temple.