Jonah, 2nd ed. (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament | ZECOT)
Overview
Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament brings together commentary features rarely gathered together in one volume. With careful discourse analysis and interpretation of the Hebrew text, the authors trace the flow of argument in each Old Testament book, showing that how a biblical author says something is just as important as what they say.
Each volume offers a set of distinctive features, including: the main idea of the passage, its literary context, the author's original translation and exegetical outline with Hebrew layout, its structure and literary form, an explanation of the text, and its canonical and practical significance. The diagram of each passage enables readers to grasp quickly and accurately the main idea of the text, its development, and supporting ideas; and allows them to understand how the commentator arrived at this depiction and interpretation of the passage. The commentary places a special emphasis on identifying and discussing the main thrust of each passage and showing how it contributes to the development of the whole composition. Readers will find help in drawing out the meaning of the Hebrew for interpretation. While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Hebrew, all who strive to understand the Old Testament and better convey its meaning will find these books beneficial. Each unit concludes with a discussion of the canonical and practical significance of the passage, synthesizing its theology and message for readers today. There are many exegetical commentaries, but none accomplish what this series has achieved.
- Provides a diagram of each passage enabling readers to grasp the main idea of the text
- Examines how each section contributes to the development of the whole composition
- Discusses the canonical and practical significance of each passage
Top Highlights
“The book of Jonah focuses on two questions that preoccupied all of the prophets: (1) How do divine mercy and divine justice interact without canceling each other out? (2) How do God’s universal sovereignty and his particular covenant with Israel interact without canceling each other out?” (Pages 28–29)
“Two problems intersect in the book of Jonah that prevent the prophet from fully enjoying and freely sharing divine mercy. The first is Jonah’s inability to reconcile YHWH’s concern for nations hostile to Israel with YHWH’s election of Israel. The second is Jonah’s inability to reconcile YHWH’s justice with YHWH’s mercy. The narrative’s conclusion reveals that the deeper problem is a distorted understanding of both divine election and divine justice, which precludes joyful participation in YHWH’s mercy.” (Page 37)
“Jonah’s emphasis is misplaced. The salient point is not that he remembered YHWH, but that YHWH remembered him.” (Page 115)
“Thus, Jonah may be characterized as a gentle parody of the traditional prophetic account designed to challenge Judah’s distorted notions of traditional prophetic themes such as divine justice and Israel’s election.” (Page 37)
“First, it moves the reason for Jonah’s initial flight to the book’s second peak episode, ensuring that this information receives particular emphasis as critical to the book’s message. Second, it encourages readers to speculate regarding Jonah’s reasons for fleeing, potentially exposing to readers their own objections to divine mercy and their complicity in Jonah’s sinful disposition toward Nineveh and YHWH.” (Page 42)
- Title: Jonah
- Author: Kevin J. Youngblood
- Editor: Daniel I. Block
- Edition: 2nd
- Series: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (ZECOT)
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 208
- Resource Type: Commentary
- Topic: Jonah
Reviews
1 rating
Marco Ceccarelli
3/27/2023
Apart from the replacement of the Hebrew words from the transliteration to the words in Hebrew characters, and the addition of a subtitle, the rest is perfectly the same as the first edition of only 6 years earlier
