Work dossier · summary and historical context
The Geʿez version of the Book of Joel, transmitted as part of the Ethiopic Octateuch and minor prophets corpus, follows the standard twelve-minor-prophets order with a superscription identifying Joel as son of Pethuel. The translation derives from the Septuagint and is attested in manuscripts from the 14th century onward. The text is used liturgically in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church during the Fast of the Prophets and in homilies on repentance and the Day of the Lord. This edition (betmas:LIT1689Joel) lacks a critical apparatus, so textual fluidity cannot be assessed. The Geʿez text includes expansions and adaptations, such as added crops and penitential practices, reflecting later Ethiopic Christian tradition.
The Geʿez Book of Joel is significant for understanding how biblical texts were adapted and expanded within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It reflects the liturgical use of prophetic books and the development of penitential practices. The text's expansions, such as added crops and communal rituals, illustrate the inculturation of biblical material into Ethiopic Christian tradition. It also provides evidence for the transmission of the Septuagint in Ethiopia and the textual fluidity of biblical manuscripts in the Geʿez tradition.
The original Book of Joel is traditionally dated to the late 9th–8th century BCE, but modern scholarship often places it in the post-exilic period (5th–4th c. BCE). The Geʿez version is a later translation from the Septuagint, likely produced in the Aksumite or early medieval period (c. 5th–14th c.) within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The text is transmitted as part of the broader Ethiopic Octateuch and minor prophets corpus, with manuscript evidence from the 14th century onward. The Geʿez text reflects the liturgical and theological concerns of the Ethiopian church, including expansions that adapt the biblical call to repentance into communal rituals like fasting and ash-spreading. The community that preserved and used this text was the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which read Joel during the season of Tsome Nebiyat (Fast of the Prophets) and cited it in homilies. The language is Geʿez, a classical Ethiopic language used in liturgy and scripture. The genre is prophetic book, but the Geʿez version includes expansions characteristic of the Ethiopic tradition, such as added crops and penitential practices.
Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded
| Coptic | Rendering | Count | First |
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| no glossary terms recorded | |||