James Limburg, Jonah: A Commentary

Bibliographical details:
Limburg, J. (1993). Jonah: A Commentary. Old Testament Library. London: SCM Press.

Publisher’s information:
‘The Book of Jonah,’ Professor Limburg points out, ‘has never been the exclusive property of theologians or members of religious communities. The incident involving the prophet and the great fish has captured the imagination of poets and novelists, painters and dramatists, sculptors and songwriters, architects and toy makers, to a degree matched by few stories in or out of the Bible. The aim of this commentary is to explain the biblical book of Jonah and to indicate its importance for our own time. In carrying out this assignment, I have learned much from theologians who have written on this book. However, I have also learned from other less traditional interpreters of Jonah.’

The commentary is framed on the one side by an introduction discussing Jonah among the prophetic books; Jonah as a didactic story; its date, composition and theological themes; on the other by studies of Jonah in the apocryphal and deutero-canonical books; Jonah in literature from the first centuries of the Common Era; Jonah in Judaism and Islam; and Jonah in the Reformers.

James Limburg is Professor of Old Testament at Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.

Table of contents:
Preface … 9
Acknowledgments … 11
Abbreviations … 13
Selected Bibliography … 15

Introduction … 19
Jonah Among the Prophetic Books … 19
Jonah as Didactic Story … 22
Date, Composition, and Text … 28
Theological Themes … 33
Approach and Suggestions for Using the Commentary … 36

Commentary … 37

Appendix … 99
1. Jonah in the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books … 99
2. Jonah in the Literature from the First Century A.D. … 100
3. Jonah in Judaism … 104
4. Jonah in Islam … 113
5. Jonah and the Reformers … 118

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