Orienting the Event: Register and the Day of YHWH in the Prophetic Book of Joel

Abstract

<p> This dissertation brings the insights of linguistic discourse analysis, and particularly of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), to bear on the prophetic book of Joel in order to clarify the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in the book. The concepts of register and genre as defined by SFL, along with the related concepts of context of situation, context of culture, and context of text (or co-text), provide helpful tools that both dovetail with the problems and goals of other kinds of synchronic analysis and give new and valuable insights. By applying register analysis to the various passages that deal with the Day of YHWH in the book of Joel, the dissertation identifies the registers of the four sections of the book and compares and contrasts the various registers of each of these sections, making use of this analysis to shed light on the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in each section. Following this is a description of the linguistic register, the context of situation, and the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in the book of Joel as an entire text.</p> <p> The Day of YHWH in the book of Joel is a future moment of theophanic intervention, an inevitable day of destruction and salvation. Key to the theology of the Day of YHWH in Joel is the relational orientation of the readers/hearers of the book to YHWH. The book of Joel is thus a communicative act that calls for repentance grounded in worship of YHWH and that promises deliverance from the Day and a glorious eschatological future for those who heed the book's call to proper orientation toward YHWH.</p>