A Commentary On Jonah

While I was in seminary, I was given an assignment to write a commentary on the book of Jonah. This commentary was to be based on a thorough study of the original Hebrew text. To be honest, when I first received this assignment I was not very enthusiastic. I assumed that I already knew the book of Jonah fairly well and that my study would yield only minimal fruit. Thankfully, I was wildly mistaken. Whatever I thought I knew about the book of Jonah proved to be extremely shallow in comparison to the depth of riches that I discovered. In fact, there is no other book of the Bible that I have had the privilege to study in depth that has produced a greater impact upon my heart and life.

Below is a link to a PDF of the commentary that I wrote. I am happy to make it available to the members of Covenant Grace for anyone who may find it to be a helpful aid in their personal study. A few brief comments will enable readers to make the most of the journey.

First, this commentary was written about seven years ago now. While the Word of God does not change and never shall, the Word of God does continue to change us. I would like to think that I have continued to grow in my own understanding of God's Word and in my ability to articulate Christian truth. With this being said, I would ask for a charitable reading wherever my youth and shortcomings as a student of the Bible are apparent.  

Second, some of the requirements for my seminary project are not features of a typical commentary. One example includes the requirement to parse all of the verbs present in the text. While this step is essential to any thorough study of the Bible, this portion of the commentary will, perhaps, not prove very useful to the average reader. It may be best to simply scroll past these portions.

Third, the Table of Contents is hyperlinked for ease of navigation. On the Table of Contents page, you can click to the title of whichever section you desire to navigate to and you will be relocated to that portion of the document.

Fourth, and finally, my hope is that anyone who ventures to read through this commentary will find their heart stirred up to Christ and to his glory. The whole purpose of this work, and of making it available now, is not so that we might grow in knowledge alone. But rather, most of all, that we might grow closer to God and that our own hearts and lives may more and more reflect his perfectly holy and merciful character.

May God be honored by the feeble offerings of his lowly servant,

Rev. Tom Brown