Jonah: Old Testament Library [OTL] (Paperback)

In Jonah [OTL], James Limburg examines Jonah with several questions in mind: How did the story originate? What is its place in the Bible? How did the New Testament understand the story? How has the story been understood in Judaism and in Islam? What might it mean for people today? And what does it have to say about God, about the human condition, and even about God and nature? In reviewing the book, Limburg gives special attention to the many contributions of artists, musicians, painters, and sculptors who, he says, may have been the best interpreters of Jonah. He also keeps in mind the literary dimension of the text and takes great care to follow the divisions of the book as they were defined by Jewish scribal tradition.


About the Old Testament Library Series:
The Old Testament Library is one of the most respected commentary series produced in the last 50 years. As with any series that reaches this level of respectability, it is comprehensive in scope while acknowledging that it is not exhaustive. Introductory matters cover historical concerns, cultural issues, the reception of the text, the integrity of the text, and other interpretive issues.

Each commentary provides a verse-by-verse analysis of critical exegetical matters that are then synthesized into a progressively building understanding of the text and interpretation. This includes analysis of problems in history, word meaning, syntactical and grammatical issues, text history, and many other exegetically relevant issues. Nevertheless, despite the breadth of their scope, volumes in teh series remain relatively compact in comparison to series who share its aims and scope.

Key Elements

• Audience: Students, Pastors, and Scholars
• Perspective: Moderate/Liberal (See Author)
• Scripture: Inspired
• General Acceptance of Higher Critical authorship theories, and the reader should be familiar with these type of textual criticism
• Knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary, but a willingness to engage concepts from it will be necessary.