Jonah (2nd ed.)

Youngblood’s ZECOT volume is probably the strongest detailed evangelical commentary on Jonah. Its distinctive contribution is discourse analysis: he pays close attention to clause relationships, repetition, narrative pacing and structural symmetry, and these technical observations regularly contribute to interpretation rather than merely generating diagrams. His treatment of Jonah’s prayer, the divine names, the plant episode and the relationship with 2 Kings 14 is especially useful. A few proposals can feel slightly over-engineered—for example, some of the more elaborate literary correspondences—but the overall reading remains textually controlled. Simon is more elegant as a literary-theological interpreter; Youngblood supplies considerably more technical machinery. Used together they make an outstanding pair.

I’m a pastor in a non-denominational church and recently preached through Jonah. I had the opportunity to use a number of commentaries, which are listed below. I wanted to take a moment and share my experience with these resources because bestcommentaries.com has been so incredibly helpful for me. I hope my insights can guide you as well! Here are the commentaries, ranked in order of preference (which ones I would recommend purchasing first) and organized into three tiers. I also hope others will follow my example and share their experiences, too. - - - Must-Buys JoAnna Hoyt (EEC) James Bruckner (NIVAC) Joyce Baldwin (McComiskey Set) James D. Nogalski (NICOT) Bryan Estelle (GAOT) - - - Almost Must Buys Leslie Allen (NICOT) Daniel Timmer (NSBT) O. Palmer Robertson Douglas Stuart (WBC) - - - Potential Must-Buys Gordon Keddie (WCS) Kevin Youngblood (ZECOT) Alexander, Baker, Waltke (TOTC) Sinclair Ferguson - - -

Youngblood’s second edition serves pastors and teachers by providing them with a careful analysis and interpretation of Jonah’s Hebrew text. The commentary will help pastors to quickly grasp the big idea of the passage and how it fits in its larger context. [Full Review]