New volume in the TOTC replacement programme

Thirteen contributors explain the shorter Prophetic Books of the Old Testament-Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi-with biblical insight and pastoral wisdom, showing readers the hope that is offered even amidst judgment.

Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament features today's top Old Testament scholars and 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. Commentary on each passage follows a clear structure to help readers grasp the flow and meaning of the text: The Main Idea of the Passage: A one- or two-sentence summary of the key ideas the biblical author seeks to communicate. Literary Context: A brief discussion of the relationship of the specific text to the book as a whole and to its place within the broader argument. Translation and Exegetical Outline: Commentators provide their own translations of each text, formatted to highlight its discourse structure and accompanied by a coherent outline that reflects the flow and argument of the text. Structure and Literary Form: An overview of the literary structure and rhetorical style adopted by the biblical author, highlighting how these features contribute to the communication of the main idea of the passage. Explanation of the Text: A detailed commentary on the passage, paying particular attention to how the biblical authors select and arrange their materials and how they work with words, phrases, and syntax to communicate their messages. Canonical and Practical Significance: The commentary on each unit will conclude by building bridges between the world of the biblical author and other biblical authors and with reflections on the contribution made by this unit to the development of broader issues in biblical theology--particularly on how later Old Testament and New Testament authors have adapted and reused the motifs in question. The discussion also includes brief reflections on the significance of the message of the passage for readers today. The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament series is the go-to resource for pastors and Bible teachers looking for deep but accessible study that equips them to connect the needs of Christians today with the biblical text.

The book of Jonah is arguably just as jarring for us as it was for the ancients. Ninevah's repentance, Jonah's estrangement from God and the book's bracing moral conclusion all pose unsettling questions for today's readers. For biblical theologians, Jonah also raises tough questions regarding mission and religious conversion. Here, Daniel Timmer embarks on a new reading of Jonah in order to secure its ongoing relevance for biblical theology. After an examination of the book's historical backgrounds (in both Israel and Assyria), Timmer discusses the biblical text in detail, paying special attention to redemptive history and its Christocentric orientation. Timmer then explores the relationship between Israel and the nations--including the question of mission--and the nature of religious conversion and spirituality in the Old Testament. This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume concludes with an injunction for scholars and lay readers to approach Jonah as a book written to facilitate spiritual change in the reader. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

This study redresses the dearth of resources dealing with the sabbath in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. While focusing on a key passage in Exodus, it also incorporates comparative data from elsewhere in the ancient Near East and explores inner-biblical and other developments of the study's themes. By giving attention to the diachronic elements that come to expression in the sabbath frame and its context, as well as to the typological relations between these passages and those elsewhere in the canon, this study is able to appreciate the development and dynamism as well as the coherence of both the Exodus material and related biblical passages.