Joel in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

jo'-el (yo'el, popularly interpreted as "Yahweh is God"; but see HPN, 153; BDB, 222a): (1) The firstborn of Samuel (1 Sam 8:2; 1 Ch 6:33 (Hebrew 18), and supplied in the Revised Version (British and American) of 1 Ch 6:28, correctly). (2) A Simeonite prince (1 Ch 4:35). (3) A Reubenite chief (1 Ch 5:4,8). (4) A Gadite chief, perhaps the same as (3) (1 Ch 5:12). He might be the chief of "a family or clan whose members might be reckoned as belonging to either or both of the tribes" (Curtis, Chronicles, 122). (5) A Levite ancestor of Samuel (1 Ch 6:36 (Hebrew 21), called "Shaul" in 6:24 (Hebrew 9)). (6) A chief of Issachar (1 Ch 7:3). (7) One of David's mighty men (1 Ch 11:38), brother of Nathan. 2 Sam 23:36 has "Igal son of Nathan," and the Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus has "son" in 1 Chronicles, a reading which Curtis adopts. See IGAL. (8) A Levite (1 Ch 15:7,11,17), probably the Joel of 1 Ch 23:8 and 26:22. (9) David's tribal chief over half of Manasseh (1 Ch 27:20). (10) A Levite of Hezekiah's time (2 Ch 29:12). (11) One of those who had married foreign wives (Ezr 10:43) = "Juel" of 1 Esdras 9:35. (12) A Benjamite "overseer" in Jerusalem (Neh 11:9). (13) Ioel, the prophet (Joel 1:1; Acts 2:16). See following article. David Francis Roberts