Joe 3.2 has a bug in the php syntax coloring, which can be fixed by editing /etc/joe/syntax/php.jsf. The correction is on row 57, and just needs a period inside the quotes, so it reads: " ;[]=()." idle recolor=-1
The php syntax file has been heavily modified in joe 3.4 (which I've just realised has already been released) which should fix this issue. I'll get a new ebuild out soon. Also instead of modifying the .jsf files in /etc/joe/syntax you should copy them over to ~/.joe/syntax/ and make your changes there.