prophecies of Hosea are repeatedly referred to in the New
Testament as a part of the oracles of God. Matt. 2:15; 9:13; 12:7; Rom.
9:25, 26; and an allusion in 1 Cor. 15:55. The prophet brings his book
to a close with a delightful and refreshing view of the future
prosperity and peace of the true Israel, chap. 14.

II. JOEL.

5. The prophecies of Joel, the son of Pethuel, give no specifications of
place or time. But all the internal indications of the book point to
Judea--probably Jerusalem, with its temple, altar, priesthood, and
solemn assemblies--as the sphere of his labors, and to the date as among
the earliest of those belonging to written prophecy. The coincidences
between Joel and Amos cannot well be regarded as accidental. Compare
Joel 3:16 with Amos 1:2; Joel 3:18 with Amos 9:13; and notice the
striking similarity in the close of the two prophecies. If we may assume
that one of these prophets borrowed expressions from the other, the
priority will naturally be given to Joel, from whose closing address
(3:16) Amos takes the opening words of his prophecies. He must then be
placed as early, at least, as the reign of Uzziah, and perhaps earlier.

From the fact that Joel does not mention as among the enemies of
Judah the Syrians who invaded Judah in the reign of Joash, the
grandfather of Uzziah, some have placed him as early as the
reign of Joash before this Syrian invasion. There is no ground
for placing him after Uzziah; for his writings contain no
allusion to the Assyrian power, which became so formidable soon
after Uzziah's time.

6. The writings of Joel bear the full impress of culture in a prophetic
school. His Hebrew is of the purest kind; his style is easy, flowing,
elegant, and adorned with magnificent imagery; and for vividness and
power of description he is not surpassed by any of the prophets. The
immediate occasion of his prophecies is a double plague of drought and
locusts, which has already invaded the land, and whose desolating
progress he describes in poetic strains of matchless elegance and power.
He summons the people of all classes to repentance, and promises, upon
this condition, not only the restoration of the land to its former
fruitfulness, but also the outpouring of God's Spirit upon all flesh,
the triumph of the covenant people over all their foes, and an era of
universal holiness and peace. In this respect he is a model for all the
prophets that come after