Abstract:

There is an interdependent relationship between the proclamation of “the Day of the Lord” in Joel 1:15 and the first oracle of judgment against Judah in Joel 1:5-20. On the one hand, the proclamation of “the Day of the Lord” obviously strengthens the description and the urgency of that judgment. On the other hand, rhetorical analysis demonstrates that the progressive movements within the intensified dramatic tensions of the call of communal lamentation in Joel 1:5-14 and the communal lamentation in Joel 1:15-20 play a significant role for the proclamation of “the Day of the Lord” in Joel 1:15. Joel 1:5-14 gradually presents the tensions of the descriptions of catastrophes and the impacts for the secular and religious environments in the land of Judah. The nearness and the coming of “The Day of the Lord” in Joel 1:15 is the highest point of those tensions. “The Day of the Lord” eventually becomes the reason for the prophet and the people of Judah to perform communal lamentation in 1:15-20. The position of Joel 1:5-20 in the beginning of the book of Joel allows the reader to regard this oracle as a trigger that determines the direction and the way of interpretation for the rest of the oracles in the book. Finally, Joel’s concern about calamities, communal lamentation, repentance, and restoration provides a valuable biblical source for the reflection and proclamation of the Church today concerning ecology.

Final Defense:

Board of Examiners: ​Ms. Maricel Ibita, ​​Ph.D. (Principal Examiner), Sr. Helen Graham, ​M.M., ​Ph.D., Fr. ​Felipe Fruto Ramirez, S.J., ​S.T.D., and Fr. Herbert Schneider, S.J., S.T.D.​

Proposal Defense:

Board of Examiners: Sr. Helen Graham, M.M., Ph.D. (Adviser), Fr. Felipe Fruto Ramirez, S.J., S.T.D., and Fr. Herbert Schneider, S.J., S.T.D.