Jonah
A Commentary
Published on 26. November 2024
Book
Hardback
150 pages
978-0-664-25973-0 (ISBN)
Description
In this volume of the Old Testament Library, Juliana Claassens delves into the theological questions posed by the book of Jonah in the context of a community making sense of their harrowing experiences of imperial domination.
Attending to the historical and literary elements of the text, Claassens traces the narrative of Jonah as one that is steeped in the trauma inflicted by successive ancient empires and that urges its original and ongoing readers to grapple with the woundedness of the prophet and of the community that Jonah represents.
Reading Jonah through the lens of trauma hermeneutics and in conversation with feminist, postcolonial, and queer interpreters, this commentary seeks to reveal new layers of theological meaning. In particular, these interpretive strategies aim to take seriously the continuing legacies of trauma, as readers across time have reflected on the book's theological purposes-and their consequences. Opening up how interpreters from various religious and sociocultural locations have engaged with this intriguing and confounding tale, this commentary refers at several points to Jonah's reception in literary and artistic works, featuring illustrations throughout.
The Old Testament Library series provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of William P. Brown, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law, Duke University; and C. L. Crouch, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism, Radboud University.
Attending to the historical and literary elements of the text, Claassens traces the narrative of Jonah as one that is steeped in the trauma inflicted by successive ancient empires and that urges its original and ongoing readers to grapple with the woundedness of the prophet and of the community that Jonah represents.
Reading Jonah through the lens of trauma hermeneutics and in conversation with feminist, postcolonial, and queer interpreters, this commentary seeks to reveal new layers of theological meaning. In particular, these interpretive strategies aim to take seriously the continuing legacies of trauma, as readers across time have reflected on the book's theological purposes-and their consequences. Opening up how interpreters from various religious and sociocultural locations have engaged with this intriguing and confounding tale, this commentary refers at several points to Jonah's reception in literary and artistic works, featuring illustrations throughout.
The Old Testament Library series provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing. The editorial board consists of William P. Brown, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law, Duke University; and C. L. Crouch, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism, Radboud University.
Reviews / Votes
"In her masterful and compelling engagement of Jonah as a symbolic trauma narrative, Juliana Claassens truly has offered us a prophet-and a commentary-for our own time. Both critically sophisticated and grounded in an ethical commitment to the marginalized, this stellar addition to the OTL series is an unflinching yet steady companion for addressing the wounds inflicted by ancient and modern empires."-Julia M. O'Brien, Professor Emerita, Lancaster Theological Seminary and Moravian University
"Claassens reintroduces us to Jonah as a more relatable, flawed, dogged, and frustrating human being. Stripped of the book's mythical edges, this commentary invites readers to engage the numerous issues of contemporary life raised by this ancient text."
-Steed Vernyl Davidson, Executive Director, Society of Biblical Literature
"Claassens's bold, creative, and empathetic readings of Jonah are unparalleled. Her commentary is both a beautiful synthesis of contemporary scholarship and a brilliant work in its own right. She lucidly engages trauma theory, feminism, and queer approaches to bring new life to the prophetic text and its interpretations. A wonderful, necessary companion for all readers of Jonah."
-Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein and Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies, University of Richmond
"Claassens traces the trauma lived out by the book's first readers who navigated the ongoing effects of the Persian Empire in their daily lives. Marginalized readers who continue to be the subjects of the persisting trauma from past and present empires may find the Jonah narrative a helpful and thus needed resource. Claassens's deliberate reading through the lenses of the marginalized lends greater complexity and depth to a narrative that could just be simplified as a story of a wayward prophet and his God who acts out of free will. A must-read for Hebrew Bible scholars, especially in the field of trauma studies, as well as for clergy and religion scholars committed to the continued plight of marginalized readers in our postcolonial and anticolonial contexts."
-Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan'a Mphahlele), Professor Emerita, Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa
"Claassens unravels interpretations that have held Jonah and its interpreters hostage. I highly recommend this commentary for researchers on Jonah, for theologians who have the guts to read against the grain, and for activists who are inspired by the wounds and vulnerabilities of othered individuals and communities."
-Jione Havea, Adjunct Professor of Religious and Cultural Studies, Charles Sturt University (Australia)
"Claassens's contextual reading of Jonah as a symbolic trauma narrative provides a provocative and compassionate understanding of the wounded prophet, his traumatized community, and biblical readers who wrestle with divine truth, justice, mercy, and forgiveness. A timely interpretive tool of trauma hermeneutics applied to Jonah offers an intelligent and gracious interlocutor in the place of our own struggles today."
-Kyong-Jin Lee, Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary
"A superb reading that brings together the fantastical and mundane elements of Jonah as literary and theological engagements with multiple traumas. Claassens shifts the interpretive focus from attempts to resolve the 'troubles' of the prophet-or his community-to theological reflections about meaning-making in the face of ongoing and anticipated imperialism. Through several interpretive methodologies, Claassens demonstrates how Jonah simultaneously signifies how serial imperialism threatens to trap its subjects-human, nonhuman, and divine-in a time warp of trouble, and how readings from marginalized places offer opportunities to create and experience grace, forgiveness, mercy, and justice. Claassens's engagement with Jonah is a welcome and invaluable resource for researchers, clergy, scholars, and activists alike."
-Kenneth N. Ngwa, Donald J. Casper Professor of Hebrew Bible and African Biblical Hermeneutics, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
"In Claassens's hands, Jonah becomes the 'other' who, given a voice, forces us to confront difficult theological and ethical questions. This commentary belongs on the shelf of every Bible reader."
-Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Professor of Old Testament Exegesis, ALT School of Theology, Sweden
"Jonah is one of the deepest, most thought-provoking stories in the Bible. Navigating the text with a trauma-informed hermeneutic, Claassens masterfully plumbs its depths by drawing out the diverse meanings others have argued for and many possibilities for new meanings. Even the reader who owns multiple Jonah commentaries will appreciate what Claassens has to offer here."
-Justin Michael Reed, Associate Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Louisville Seminary
"Claassens's troubled Jonah admirably offers readers a safe confrontation with past traumas and challenges God with questions that modern readers share. Her commentary is a work of art woven with philology, exegetical skill, and a keen sense of the reader."
-Christl M. Maier, Professor of Old Testament, Philipps-Universitaet Marburg
"In this commentary, Claassens brings her considerable knowledge of trauma hermeneutics, along with feminist, queer, and postcolonial biblical interpretation to bear on the book of Jonah, and the result is marvelous. In Claassens's hands, the inherent queerness of Jonah shines forth in theologically exciting and liberating ways. This is not your grandfather's commentary!"
-Amy Erickson, Professor of Hebrew Bible, Iliff School of Theology
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Louisville
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 225 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
362 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-664-25973-0 (9780664259730)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
L. Juliana M. Claassens is Professor in Old Testament and Head of the Gender Unit, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. After obtaining her PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary, she taught at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin; Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia; and Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC; before moving back in 2010 to teach at her alma mater. She is the author of Writing and Reading to Survive: Biblical and Contemporary Trauma Narratives in Conversation; Claiming Her Dignity: Female Resistance in the Old Testament; Mourner, Mother, Midwife: Reimagining God's Delivering Presence in the Old Testament; and The God Who Provides: Biblical Images of Divine Nourishment. Her research and teaching interests include trauma hermeneutics; feminism, postcolonial and queer interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.