One of the most obscure passages in the book of Isaiah, chapter 21 contains oracles concerning foreign nations. The author deals in depth with the textual and linguistic problems presented by the text; he also considers the historical background of the prophecy, the literary forms concerned and the traditions of interpreatation in ancient medieval and modern times. In studying these traditions, Mr Macintosh makes extensive use of medieval Jewish commentators whose work is not generally available in Enlglish.

For over one hundred years International Critical Commentaries have had a special place among works on the Bible. They bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological - to help the reader understand the meaning of the books of the Old and New Testaments. A.A. Macintosh's volume on Hosea is now made available in paperback for the first time.

Learning Biblical Hebrew can be extremely difficult. Here at last is a book designed to work in conjunction with the many Hebrew Grammars available in order to break this complex language down into bite-size chunks for revision and consolidation of key aspects of grammar, as well as vocabulary. A.A. Macintosh and C.L. Engle combine insights from teaching Hebrew in both the United States and Europe, and between them bring some fifty years of experience of teaching Hebrew to undergraduate students to this clearly structured book.

Here Andrew Macintosh provides a major introduction, followed by translation and verse-by-verse commentary to Hosea. Incorporating up-to-date evidence from archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the insights of more recent major commentaries, he places particular emphasis on the work of the Rabbinic authorities and especially that of Ibn Janah. He reveals important new evidence concerning the meaning of Hosea's dialectical language to provide an indispensable reference for scholars, students and clergy.