L. Juliana Claassens
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Jonah : A Commentary
$50.00Add to cartIn 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.
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Mourner Mother Midwife
$30.00Add to cartTraditional understandings of God as deliverer depict God as a mighty liberator-warrior and wrathful avenger. Juliana Claassens explores alternative Old Testament metaphors that portray God as mourner, mother, and midwife-images that resist the violence and bloodshed associated with the dominant warrior imagery.
Claassens discusses how metaphors of God as life giver began to develop in the aftermath of the trauma of Israelite exile. She offers compelling examples of how this feminine imagery still has the power to inspire hope amidst violence in today’s world. She demonstrates that God’s delivering presence helps people of faith cope with trauma and suffering on many levels-individual, community, national, and global-while bringing forth new life out of death and destruction.