An innovative translation and commentary on the book of Jonah by a trio of award-winning scholars   The book of Jonah, which tells the outlandish story of a disobedient prophet swallowed by a great fish, is one of the Bible’s best-known narratives. This tale has fascinated readers for millennia and has inspired countless interpretations.   This commentary features a new translation of Jonah as well as an introduction outlining the major interpretive issues in the text. The introduction traces the composition history of the book, paying special attention to the psalm in the second chapter; and the authors explore new theories surrounding the time and place where Jonah delivers his message to Nineveh, as well as the city’s act of repentance. In addition to these features, this volume draws on a variety of critical approaches to biblical literature—including affect theory, animal studies, performance criticism, postcolonial criticism, psychological criticism, spatial theory, and trauma theory—to reveal the book’s many interpretive possibilities. An updated treatment of Jonah’s reception history includes analyses of the story in religious traditions, art and literature, and popular culture.

The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries provide compact, criticalcommentaries on the books of the Old Testament for the use of theological studentsand pastors. The commentaries are also useful for upper-level college or universitystudents and for those responsible for teaching in congregational settings. Inaddition to providing basic information and insights into the Old Testamentwritings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of carefulinterpretation, all to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informedand critical engagement with the biblical texts themselves.

Thepresent volume gives an up-to-date, readable commentary on the books of First andSecond Chronicles. The commentary covers critical issues section by section whileemphasizing the larger theological and literary issues in Chronicles andillustrating its relevance for modern readers.

More people read the Bible than any other book. Indeed, many try to live their lives according to its words. The question is, do they understand what they're reading? As Steven McKenzie shows in this provocative book, quite often the answer is, "No." McKenzie argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves-what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short, we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. McKenzie examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah, for example, offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire, not a straight-faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise, McKenzie explains that the very names "Adam" and "Eve" tell us that these are not historical characters, but figures who symbolize human origins ("Adam" means man, "Eve" is related to the word for life). Similarly, the authors of apocalyptic texts-including the Book of Revelation-were writing allegories of events that were happening in their own time. Not for a moment could they imagine that centuries afterwards, readers would be poring over their works for clues to the date of the Second Coming of Christ, or when and how the world would end. For anyone who takes reading the Bible seriously and who wants to get it right, this book will be both heartening and enlightening.

The first biography of David from a purely historical perspective reveals not a hero but a holy terrorist and a ruthless despot.

The first biography of David from a purely historical perspective reveals not a hero but a holy terrorist and a ruthless despot.