The Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah
in New International Commentary on the Old Testament
Pages
470
Publisher
Eerdmans
Published
5/31/2023
ISBN-13
978-0-8028-6427-7
Where is the line between God’s mercy and judgment?
In the latest volume of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, James D. Nogalski offers a new translation of and commentary on several of the Minor Prophets—the Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah—that grapple with this theme in radically different ways. This volume includes a robust introduction for each book, delineating its textual transmission, historical context, literary form, and major themes. The introduction also discusses the role of each book within the collection of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets. The commentaries proper explain the texts verse by verse, illuminating each book’s structure and canonical significance, yet always with an eye toward pastoral application. Academically rigorous and accessibly written, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and pastors.
In the latest volume of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, James D. Nogalski offers a new translation of and commentary on several of the Minor Prophets—the Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah—that grapple with this theme in radically different ways. This volume includes a robust introduction for each book, delineating its textual transmission, historical context, literary form, and major themes. The introduction also discusses the role of each book within the collection of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets. The commentaries proper explain the texts verse by verse, illuminating each book’s structure and canonical significance, yet always with an eye toward pastoral application. Academically rigorous and accessibly written, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and pastors.
Collections
This book appears in the following featured collections.
- Top Old Testament Commentaries by Engaging Scripture (Nijay Gupta's Substack)
Reviews
DavidH
August 9, 2026
August 9, 2026
Nogalski’s NICOT volume combines detailed commentary on three individual books with the corpus-level expertise for which he is best known. Its distinctive value is that Joel, Obadiah and Jonah are interpreted simultaneously as coherent works in their own right and as participants in the literary and theological development of the Twelve. The treatment of Joel is particularly useful for understanding its placement and its relationship to Hosea and Amos. As elsewhere in Nogalski’s work, some redactional reconstructions remain hypothetical, and readers should distinguish demonstrable intertextual links from proposed editorial stages. Nevertheless, the commentary’s breadth, originality and careful interaction with current scholarship make it an important resource on all three books.
b.vinnie
January 18, 2025
January 18, 2025
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.
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Must-Buys
JoAnna Hoyt (EEC)
James Bruckner (NIVAC)
Joyce Baldwin (McComiskey Set)
James D. Nogalski (NICOT)
Bryan Estelle (GAOT)
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Almost Must Buys
Leslie Allen (NICOT)
Daniel Timmer (NSBT)
O. Palmer Robertson
O. Palmer Robertson
Douglas Stuart (WBC)
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Potential Must-Buys
Gordon Keddie (WCS)
Kevin Youngblood (ZECOT)
Alexander, Baker, Waltke (TOTC)
Sinclair Ferguson
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