Johan Renkema

In spite of its diminutive size, the book of the minor prophet Obadiah has consistently occasioned major literary-critical, exegetical and hermeneutical questions. Jerome's observation 'the shorter, the more difficult' serves as a useful illustration of the complexity of the work. The present commentary seeks to answer some of the questions surrounding the book and its author on the basis of the literary structure of the transmitted text. The volume makes use for the first time of ancient text divisions gleaned from the Masoretic, Syriac and Greek textual traditions, with the help of which the colometry of the book is established and the larger literary units thereof delimited. The exegetical comments are based, among other things, on recent tradition-historical and linguistic research. The result is a contemporary commentary, accessible to students and scholars alike.

Obadiah

Jan Renkema

The Historical Commentary on the Old Testament is an international series of commentaries which devotes explicit attention to the history of interpretation of biblical tradition in all its stages, both within and without the Hebrew canon. The commentary stands in the Christian exegetical tradition. In Lamentations the treatment of every pericope is preceded by a new translation and a section called "Essentials and Perspectives" in which the author summarizes the results of the exegesis in non-technical language. The present commentary on Lamentations distinguishes itself by the fact that it is clearly and explicitly based on the songs understood as an interactive unity, one in which it would appear that the songs provide comment and explanation on one another. The result is a commentary full of exegetical surprises which frequently departs from the traditional.

Johan Renkema

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