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Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament
Obadiah: A Discourse Analysis of the Hebrew Bible (27)
How a biblical author says something is just as important as what they say. Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, this series carefully analyzes the discourse of each Old Testament book and shows how the main thrust of each passage contributes to the development of the whole composition in the original Hebrew. For each passage, the ZECOT While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Hebrew, Hebrew words are always explained so that anyone who desires to understand the Old Testament and communicate its message will benefit from the depth and accessibility these volumes offer.
- GenresTheology
128 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2015
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Daniel I. Block
69 books27 followersDaniel I. Block (DPhil, University of Liverpool) is Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of several books and numerous essays and has written commentaries on Deuteronomy, Judges-Ruth, and Ezekiel. He has also been involved in the production of the New Living Translation of the Bible and lectures and preaches around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 8, 2021
(Full review at SpoiledMilks, 2/26/16)
For a biblical book that is only 291 words long, Block’s Introduction is 25 pages long! He writes about the historical background to Obadiah’s prophecies, Obadiah’s rhetorical strategy, and Obadiah’s literary structure.
The strength of this series is its focus on rhetoric, which includes grammar and how the Hebrew is structured and used.
Recommended?
This commentary gives the main idea of Obadiah and puts together the smaller pieces of the Obadiah puzzle to show how they add up to the whole text. No text is unimportant, and each text builds and reinforces the message of the other texts. Given that most pastors won’t give a 5-sermon series on Obadiah, I think that potential buyers would find more incentive to purchase this volume if it were combined with another Minor Prophet book/were cheaper. Those who have a good handle on the Hebrew language (pastors, teachers, or students) will benefit greatly from this volume, a knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary.
For a biblical book that is only 291 words long, Block’s Introduction is 25 pages long! He writes about the historical background to Obadiah’s prophecies, Obadiah’s rhetorical strategy, and Obadiah’s literary structure.
The strength of this series is its focus on rhetoric, which includes grammar and how the Hebrew is structured and used.
Recommended?
This commentary gives the main idea of Obadiah and puts together the smaller pieces of the Obadiah puzzle to show how they add up to the whole text. No text is unimportant, and each text builds and reinforces the message of the other texts. Given that most pastors won’t give a 5-sermon series on Obadiah, I think that potential buyers would find more incentive to purchase this volume if it were combined with another Minor Prophet book/were cheaper. Those who have a good handle on the Hebrew language (pastors, teachers, or students) will benefit greatly from this volume, a knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary.
October 9, 2021
Needed some edits, but otherwise lived up to what it claimed. The authors biases regarding the exodus and calvinism came through, assuming conclusions where they weren't assured and then building off of them, but it didn't destroy the main points of the commentary.
January 15, 2024
Too technical for my liking, but I suppose it does what it sets out to do
January 6, 2025
Good on technical detail and rhetorical strategies, but wouldn't be my go-to commentary.
June 7, 2025
Solid and short, like Obie himself. Quality you’d expect of Block.
February 16, 2017
This book is the first in the exciting new Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament series. Likely the short length of Obadiah brought it to press first. It is written by the general editor of the entire series, Daniel Block. Mr. Block has a sterling reputation in producing commentaries on books of the Old Testament. I personally use to great benefit his two-volume set on Ezekiel in NICOT and his volume on Judges and Ruth in NAC. This ZECOT series provides a discourse analysis approach in its commentaries. That means basically that it makes the primary emphasis on following the flow of the narrative. This volume succeeds in that aim.
The Introduction to Obadiah is enlightening. Since there is a greater variety of opinions about the date of Obadiah compared to the other Minor Prophets, all the known options are laid out clearly. I fully agree with his conclusion that Obadiah is best dated 586 BC when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He well surveys the archaeological evidence to support his conclusions as well. In his section on Obadiah’s rhetorical aims and strategy, he surveys the speaker and audience of the book. He describes the message of Obadiah as: a) divine justice will prevail, and b) divine fidelity will prevail. When he discusses the rhetorical strategy, he works through a few of the more unlikely possibilities and argues against them before he draws out what he believes. Personally, like most scholars, I feel he overplays the significance of the similarities between Obadiah and Jeremiah. He ends the Introduction with a fine discussion on the structure of Obadiah including an exceptional chart to help you visualize his conclusions.
The commentary itself is ideal. Every unit is given a main idea of the passage, a discussion of literary context, a discussion of structure and literary form, followed by explanatory commentary. As you read the commentary you will see that you are in the hands of a seasoned commentator. Anywhere you find Hebrew in the commentary you will find English beside it making this commentary accessible to all. Don’t miss the final chapter, which in most books would have been in the Introduction, on the canonical and practical significance.
I’ve had opportunity to do very in-depth study of the book of Obadiah and have read almost all the major commentaries on it. As an exegetical commentary, Mr. Block has surpassed them all with this book. I highly recommend it as the definitive exegetical commentary on Obadiah.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
The Introduction to Obadiah is enlightening. Since there is a greater variety of opinions about the date of Obadiah compared to the other Minor Prophets, all the known options are laid out clearly. I fully agree with his conclusion that Obadiah is best dated 586 BC when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He well surveys the archaeological evidence to support his conclusions as well. In his section on Obadiah’s rhetorical aims and strategy, he surveys the speaker and audience of the book. He describes the message of Obadiah as: a) divine justice will prevail, and b) divine fidelity will prevail. When he discusses the rhetorical strategy, he works through a few of the more unlikely possibilities and argues against them before he draws out what he believes. Personally, like most scholars, I feel he overplays the significance of the similarities between Obadiah and Jeremiah. He ends the Introduction with a fine discussion on the structure of Obadiah including an exceptional chart to help you visualize his conclusions.
The commentary itself is ideal. Every unit is given a main idea of the passage, a discussion of literary context, a discussion of structure and literary form, followed by explanatory commentary. As you read the commentary you will see that you are in the hands of a seasoned commentator. Anywhere you find Hebrew in the commentary you will find English beside it making this commentary accessible to all. Don’t miss the final chapter, which in most books would have been in the Introduction, on the canonical and practical significance.
I’ve had opportunity to do very in-depth study of the book of Obadiah and have read almost all the major commentaries on it. As an exegetical commentary, Mr. Block has surpassed them all with this book. I highly recommend it as the definitive exegetical commentary on Obadiah.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
March 3, 2016
I have been doing a study through the book of Luke for the last 3 months, but decided to take a break while on vacation and study a smaller OT book. Thus why I picked up this smaller commentary on the smallest book in the OT. Overall, I found the commentary enjoyable and informative, but found that Bock's prose and style was a little more technical than I have encountered in other commentaries in this series.
I also found the canonical and NT significance section at the end of the commentary useful, but it also felt a little short on material (then again Bock only has 21 verses to draw from).
If you are going to study the book of Obadiah then you might consider a more reader-friendly commentary (Bible Speaks Today, NIVAC, Tyndale), but if you want more of a challenge and wish to learn from an excellent OT scholar than this one might be good for you.
I also found the canonical and NT significance section at the end of the commentary useful, but it also felt a little short on material (then again Bock only has 21 verses to draw from).
If you are going to study the book of Obadiah then you might consider a more reader-friendly commentary (Bible Speaks Today, NIVAC, Tyndale), but if you want more of a challenge and wish to learn from an excellent OT scholar than this one might be good for you.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews