Introduction

Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine from the Temple: Joel’s Interpretation of the Epilogue of Amos

“…20 A similar dynamic with David’s Tent appears in Amos 9.11–15, when its restoration is the precursor to fertility. Furthermore, as Aaron Schart (2003: 59) notes, the destruction of the altar that leads to death in Amos 9.1 is paralleled by the restoration of David’s Tent in Amos 9.11 that leads to life, which highlights how the Tent’s restoration leads to the rest of the pleasant changes described in the epilogue. This is the case despite the new oracular formula in Amos 9.13 (even if it belongs to a new redactional layer).…”

“…Alternatively, in favor of the view that Joel was dependent on Amos, Tchavdar S. Hadjiev (2009: 34–35) points to Joel’s general use of other prophets, especially Obadiah. Furthermore, as John Strazicich (2007: 242–243) notes, the conclusion that Joel has used Amos elsewhere, most notably in 4.16, suggests Joel is doing the same in 4.18 (see also Driver 1915: 76; Sweeney 2003: 143, 148–149). If it is the case, as Jörg Jeremias (2012: 77) contends, that Joel is a “learned prophecy” and that “Nearly all the cross references in the book of Joel can be explained by the assumption that Joel learned from older prophets, taking up their ideas, expanding and modifying them,” then I would stress that such seems to be the case in Joel 4.18 as well.…”

“…1993b: 45–46; idem 1996: 105–108). For Nogalski (2003: 207), Amos 9.13 was added “to establish the concluding link to Joel in Amos” (emphasis added). Alternatively, in favor of the view that Joel was dependent on Amos, Tchavdar S. Hadjiev (2009: 34–35) points to Joel’s general use of other prophets, especially Obadiah.…”

“…R. Davies (2009: 60–61, 64–69) and Dunne (2011: 368–372), in our respective ways, have made literary observations about the cultic concerns throughout Amos that anticipate a cultic resolution in the epilogue. 17 Finally, (9) some scholars have made redactional arguments about the dating of the epilogue as a whole (so Harrelson 1964: 355) or its respective layers to a time after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 586 bce ( so Schart 2003: 58–59; P. R. Davies 2009), which suggest that Amos 9.11 would have been understood to refer to the temple.…”

“…Finally, note the international effect on Edom that comes from Yhwh’s renewed presence in the temple in Joel (4.19) and the rebuilding of David’s Tent in Amos (9.12). Joel also mentions Egypt, which likely stems from his reuse of Exodus traditions for the locust plague (so Sweeney 2003: 147), and Amos also includes “all the nations that are called by my name.” Joel’s reference to Edom could be connected to his broader use of Obadiah, which is focused on Edom, but it is noteworthy that Edom does not appear earlier in Joel, and instead comes at the very end, just as Edom also appears in the epilogue of Amos. 22…”