Jonah (Hardback)

"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-Universität 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