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Commentary on Joel, Chapter One
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COMMENTARY ON JOEL, CHAPTER ONE The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Bethuel (v.1). HE PROPHET says the word of the Lord came to him, his purpose being that we should accord faith to the prophecy in the firm and confident belief that what was foretold would definitely come to pass. The Savior himself also confirms us in this belief by saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (289) Truth is in fact not falsehood, and whatever God says will be utterly reliable, since he is the one “who confirms the word of his servant, and verifies the counsel of his angels.”1 Artfully and wisely, therefore, he requires of the listeners the belief that, unlike some people, he is not telling lies or offering the wishes of his own heart; instead , by speaking in spirit from the mouth of the Lord he is making very clear pronouncements. There was need for son of Bethuel to be added in case some other person than Joel himself be understood; the fact that many people bore such a name was a possibility, or rather even beyond dispute, but not all were sons of Bethuel. So, in my view, it was for the sake of certainty that son of Bethuel was also mentioned.2 Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the earth: have such things happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about them, your children to their children, and their children to the next generation (vv.2–3). He refers the seniors to former times and memories, and bids them consider when or in what circumstances they actually saw calamities similar to those 261 1. Mt 24.35 (the PG edition including only the second clause); Is 44.26. 2. The “clarification” says something of Cyril’s style of commentary: while he does not let the precision pass by, he does not bother himself about the identity of this Bethuel—a name known in the Bible from Rebekah’s father in Gn 22.3, as also in Jos 19.4 and 1 Chr 4.30. 262 CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA inflicted by divine wrath on their fathers or those after them. He goes on to say that there is need to ponder whether the accounts were novel and unfamiliar, and perhaps not known to anyone in the past. Other people also ought properly to realize whether such things happened to them, and the fact that they would be the basis3 of unending recital not for one generation or even two or three, (290) but rather would extend much further. In other words, just as we claim that the highlights of the stories are worthy of hearing by the general run of people, and should give satisfaction to those interested, so the details of calamity and suffering seem likewise to deserve remembering. Such events, in fact, make an impression on the memory, as it were, and by delivering a more forceful impact from their extreme insolence they deserve to be remembered, being contrasted to the glories of pleasant events. While happy events leave memories that are not without benefit, so, too, in my view do unhappy and bitter ones; the former stir the listeners to a longing for virtue, whereas the latter instruct them to avoid the experience of evil before its onset . What brought other people punishment is the means of preventing our desire to be involved in similar pursuits. What was left by the cutting locust the locust consumed, and what was left by the locust the young locust consumed, and what was left by the young locust the blight consumed (v.4). The statement of the holy prophets is generally obscure; they are loath to report the extremely unpleasant details of stories, and by introducing obscurity they allay the emotional response of the listeners, and by fabricating riddles and proverbs they bring considerable benefit. Sometimes the word comes to them in helpful metaphors, like the one occurring in the wise Ezekiel: “The eagle is a large bird with large wings, with a wide wingspan and generous talons. It set its sights on entering Lebanon, (291) took the top of the cedar , snapped off its tender summit, and bore it off to the land of Canaan.”4 He was in fact referring to the ruler of the land of the Babylonians, who cut off the chosen parts of...