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Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament
Jonah, Second Edition: A Discourse Analysis of the Hebrew Bible (28)
How a biblical author says something is just as important as what they say. Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the series carefully analyzes the discourse of each Old Testament book and shows how the main thrust of each passage contributes to the development of the whole composition in the original Hebrew. For each passage, the ZECOT While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Hebrew, Hebrew words are always explained so that anyone who desires to understand the Old Testament and communicate its message will benefit from the depth and accessibility these volumes offer.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 14, 2024
Don’t usually read this type of commentary like I would a normal book, but this commentary was fantastic!! A must read for anyone wanting to understand Jonah. Youngblood brings great insights from the Hebrew.
March 29, 2023
This is an excellent, excellent commentary on the book of Jonah. Two of its greatest strengths are (1) that it utilizes rhetorical and discourse analysis to study the Hebrew text of Jonah and break down its literary macro- and microstructures, and (2) that it offers significant biblical-theological reflections that consider how Jonah fits into its surrounding canonical context. This combination of incisive exegesis and insightful biblical theology is quite rare to find in most commentaries these days.
I'm very excited to dig into some of the other volumes from the ZECOT series in the future. The editorial team—featuring the likes of OT scholars such as Daniel Block, Stephen Dempster, Jason DeRouchie, and Miles Van Pelt—is an all-star crew to be sure.
I'm very excited to dig into some of the other volumes from the ZECOT series in the future. The editorial team—featuring the likes of OT scholars such as Daniel Block, Stephen Dempster, Jason DeRouchie, and Miles Van Pelt—is an all-star crew to be sure.
December 6, 2021
Excellent commentary for pastors and teachers as well as educated laymen. This is a slightly technical commentary, discussing wordplay through the Hebrew text as well as providing some overarching theology and thematic analysis.
March 7, 2019
Outstanding commentary on Jonah, both technical and practical.
December 8, 2021
Full review
This series looks at the flow of the text to discover the author’s “theological agenda� and what they tried to communicate to their audience(9).
Youngblood’s look at the historical context, though brief, is helpful in putting Jonah in his historical place. Youngblood gives a reason for the lack of historical details in Jonah, unlike other OT prophetic books. It’s simply not the author’s purpose. We don’t need to knowÌýwhenÌýthis was,ÌýwhoÌýthe ‘king of Ninevehâ€� was, orÌýwhy/howÌýthe people repented so easily. What the text tells us is that God’s word prevailed. We need to look at what the text says and not what we wish it said.
The look at discourse analysis fills up what has been lacking in many commentaries.
Recommended?
This is an excellent commentary to use for studying Jonah. If a book has the ability to encourage you to read and teach God’s Word, it’s probably worth getting. And this one is.
This series looks at the flow of the text to discover the author’s “theological agenda� and what they tried to communicate to their audience(9).
Youngblood’s look at the historical context, though brief, is helpful in putting Jonah in his historical place. Youngblood gives a reason for the lack of historical details in Jonah, unlike other OT prophetic books. It’s simply not the author’s purpose. We don’t need to knowÌýwhenÌýthis was,ÌýwhoÌýthe ‘king of Ninevehâ€� was, orÌýwhy/howÌýthe people repented so easily. What the text tells us is that God’s word prevailed. We need to look at what the text says and not what we wish it said.
The look at discourse analysis fills up what has been lacking in many commentaries.
Recommended?
This is an excellent commentary to use for studying Jonah. If a book has the ability to encourage you to read and teach God’s Word, it’s probably worth getting. And this one is.
January 16, 2023
I have to bear in mind when reading commentaries on Jonah that me and the author are rarely on the same page vis-Ã -vis interpretation, and therefore whilst I disagree with the core message of this book, that's not a fair metric to judge it by.
According to the standard of this author's interpretation this is a decent work. The discourse analysis and structure proposals are well put together and argued well. The analysis of Joel and Jonah is brilliant and the divisions of the book for comment are well done.
I just wish the author had seen the point they nearly get to so many times: Jonah knows that Nineveh's repentance means Israel's judgement, and thus he runs. All the comparisons to Elijah, Moses, Joel and Paul in Romans 11 would be so much more greatly clarified!
According to the standard of this author's interpretation this is a decent work. The discourse analysis and structure proposals are well put together and argued well. The analysis of Joel and Jonah is brilliant and the divisions of the book for comment are well done.
I just wish the author had seen the point they nearly get to so many times: Jonah knows that Nineveh's repentance means Israel's judgement, and thus he runs. All the comparisons to Elijah, Moses, Joel and Paul in Romans 11 would be so much more greatly clarified!
September 19, 2023
This is one of my favorite commentary series and it continues to deliver with this volume. A helpful resource for those looking to study or teach through the book.
It does get a little more technical than usual. It spends a lot of time with Hebrew wordplay and Discourse Analysis. At times it seemed to forget to make a theological connection with the text. I think it would be less helpful to the layperson than other volumes.
It does get a little more technical than usual. It spends a lot of time with Hebrew wordplay and Discourse Analysis. At times it seemed to forget to make a theological connection with the text. I think it would be less helpful to the layperson than other volumes.
December 20, 2018
I was assigned this book as part of a Hebrew exegesis course, and I have a hard time imagining a better book for looking closely at the book of Jonah, both examining the Hebrew text in detail and connecting dots with the rest of Scripture (e.g. Elijah vs. Jonah, Jonah's storm vs. Jesus' storm, Jonah in Joppa vs. Peter in Joppa).
February 14, 2025
Probably the best commentary for a pastor preaching through Jonah
February 22, 2021
Absolutely fantastic commentary on one of my most favourite ever books of the Bible. The book of Jonah is one that has been a BIG part of my life-journey over the past 10+ yrs, and this commentary only belongs to the past 4 or so yrs. I've taught through the book of Jonah multiple times, and this text has only enhanced those efforts. This is an absolutely fantastic commentary, and I believe the series as a whole will also be top-notch. Currently I am still filling my shelves with these commentaries (ZECOT/ZECNT), but they are still producing them so it may be a while before they are complete.
January 18, 2017
What a commentary! Having read in the past most of the major commentaries on the Book of Jonah, I feel this is a standout volume. This book is the first ZECOT volume that I have used, but if future volumes are of the same caliber, this series will become one of the top choices for Old Testament study.
Don’t let the subtitle “a discourse analysis of the Hebrew Bible� throw you off and assume this is some esoteric angle that would never appeal to a pastor. This discourse analysis approach simply means the story of the entire Book of Jonah and the flow of the narrative are always kept front and center in the verse by verse comments. Frankly, that approach works and is well done.
I loved that the series introduction confessed that all Scripture is God-breathed while the author’s preface declared the Book of Jonah a masterpiece. If you use a lot of commentaries, you will especially appreciate the ones where the author is in love with the book of the Bible on which he or she writes. Mr. Youngblood certainly came across that way to me.
Mr. Youngblood’s introduction to the book of Jonah struck me as being of the perfect length and depth. He discussed the usual suspects � placement in the Canon, historical context, literary context, and an outline � with verve. Much of the information was of the kind that really aids one preaching on Jonah. He beautifully wove in his discourse analysis as well.
The commentary itself is superb. Again, he always keeps us grounded in the context at large. Still, he draws out the needed background, word meanings, and other important detail. At the end of every periscope, there is fine theological reflection.
As an added bonus, this is an attractive volume. The layout is ideal and eye pleasing while the charts and maps really add something helpful. Simply put, this volume is my new favorite exegetical commentary on the Book of Jonah.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Don’t let the subtitle “a discourse analysis of the Hebrew Bible� throw you off and assume this is some esoteric angle that would never appeal to a pastor. This discourse analysis approach simply means the story of the entire Book of Jonah and the flow of the narrative are always kept front and center in the verse by verse comments. Frankly, that approach works and is well done.
I loved that the series introduction confessed that all Scripture is God-breathed while the author’s preface declared the Book of Jonah a masterpiece. If you use a lot of commentaries, you will especially appreciate the ones where the author is in love with the book of the Bible on which he or she writes. Mr. Youngblood certainly came across that way to me.
Mr. Youngblood’s introduction to the book of Jonah struck me as being of the perfect length and depth. He discussed the usual suspects � placement in the Canon, historical context, literary context, and an outline � with verve. Much of the information was of the kind that really aids one preaching on Jonah. He beautifully wove in his discourse analysis as well.
The commentary itself is superb. Again, he always keeps us grounded in the context at large. Still, he draws out the needed background, word meanings, and other important detail. At the end of every periscope, there is fine theological reflection.
As an added bonus, this is an attractive volume. The layout is ideal and eye pleasing while the charts and maps really add something helpful. Simply put, this volume is my new favorite exegetical commentary on the Book of Jonah.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
September 15, 2016
Probably the best commentary I've ever used for preaching. It's 175 pages on the Book of Jonah are jam-packed full of relevant information. The main features (and every book in this awesome commentary set for that matter) are: a break down of each major section, outlining the whole book, a translation personally given by the author, special attention to the Hebrew language, themes throughout, and significant theological applications as well as connecting points between the OT and NT when available.
I learned so much from this little book. Who knew the small story about a wayward prophet had so much to offer? Definitely better than the Sunday School version most of us are taught!
I learned so much from this little book. Who knew the small story about a wayward prophet had so much to offer? Definitely better than the Sunday School version most of us are taught!
April 28, 2017
There are some very good insights in this book that can help a modern audience appreciate the story of Jonah beyond what you hear in Sunday School.
But I also have some gripes. For one, the author clearly bases many opinions for this book out of the belief that, as a book of the Bible, Jonah must be historically accurate and inerrant. This overriding viewpoint, not attested to at any point in the text, leads the author take some really strange stances in an effort to maintain the belief that everything in this book really happened exactly as the book says it did.
One such example is the observation that the author clearly takes effort to remove historical anchors from the text in order to make it more universally accurate. This is a fine point. But the author ruins it by then trying to place the story in a specific historical context. He speculates (somewhat wildly at times) as to the whys and hows that make the story work, which I believe serves to take away from the stronger points of universality.
On the positive side, he does at least acknowledge some of the anachronisms and difficulties with making this a very difficult story to place in a specific historical setting. But where Occam'a razor might suggest that some of the details in this story are parabolic, the author performs an incredible set of mental gymnastics to make everything all fit in to a strictly historical understanding of the text. Which, in my opinion, greatly damages the story.
As I said above, there are a lot of positives in this book. It's worth reading. But many of the observations are obviously more influenced by the author's theology of Scripture than they are by what the text actually says.
But I also have some gripes. For one, the author clearly bases many opinions for this book out of the belief that, as a book of the Bible, Jonah must be historically accurate and inerrant. This overriding viewpoint, not attested to at any point in the text, leads the author take some really strange stances in an effort to maintain the belief that everything in this book really happened exactly as the book says it did.
One such example is the observation that the author clearly takes effort to remove historical anchors from the text in order to make it more universally accurate. This is a fine point. But the author ruins it by then trying to place the story in a specific historical context. He speculates (somewhat wildly at times) as to the whys and hows that make the story work, which I believe serves to take away from the stronger points of universality.
On the positive side, he does at least acknowledge some of the anachronisms and difficulties with making this a very difficult story to place in a specific historical setting. But where Occam'a razor might suggest that some of the details in this story are parabolic, the author performs an incredible set of mental gymnastics to make everything all fit in to a strictly historical understanding of the text. Which, in my opinion, greatly damages the story.
As I said above, there are a lot of positives in this book. It's worth reading. But many of the observations are obviously more influenced by the author's theology of Scripture than they are by what the text actually says.
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