This is the first major commentary in English on Pesher Habakkuk for forty years. It elucidates the nature of 1QpHab as the earliest commentary on the prophecy of Habakkuk by a detailed study of the biblical quotation and sectarian interpretation. This commentary provides a new edition of the scroll, including new readings, and detailed palaeographical, philological, exegetical and historical notes and discussion. It shows that the pesherist imitates the allusive style of the oracles of Habakkuk and also draws on lexemes, phrases, and themes from other biblical texts and Jewish sources. It shows that the pesherist identified the Kittim with the Romans who conquered Judaea in 63 BCE, and suggests that the scroll refers to several righteous and wicked figures, including the last Hasmonean high priests.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important finds in biblical archaeology, and have profound implications for our understanding of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. Timothy Lim discusses the leading interpretations of the scrolls, and how they have changed the way we understand the emergence of the Old Testament.

This is the first major commentary in English on Pesher Habakkuk for forty years. It elucidates the nature of 1QpHab as the earliest commentary on the prophecy of Habakkuk by a detailed study of the biblical quotation and sectarian interpretation. This commentary provides a new edition of the scroll, including new readings, and detailed palaeographical, philological, exegetical and historical notes and discussion. It shows that the pesherist imitates the allusive style of the oracles of Habakkuk and also draws on lexemes, phrases, and themes from other biblical texts and Jewish sources. It shows that the pesherist identified the Kittim with the Romans who conquered Judaea in 63 BCE, and suggests that the scroll refers to several righteous and wicked figures, including the last Hasmonean high priests.

Robertson's study of the Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah is a contribution to The New International Commentalry on the Old Testament, a commentary which strives to achieve a balance between technical information and homiletic-devotional interpretation. The commentary proper is based on the author's own translation of the Hebrew text.

The book of Habakkuk (one of the twelve Minor Prophets) is an intensely personal testimony played out against a highly political backdrop. Writing as his land and his fellow Israelites were being invaded and plundered by the Chaldeans, Habakkuk questions God's actions with a passion equal to Job's. Habakkuk wonders, how can a God who is just and compassionate allow his people to be slaughtered? In trying to punish the Israelites and right the wrongs of his people, why did God choose the savage, infinitely more wicked Chaldeans as his instrument? The puzzles Habakkuk contemplates will stir the hearts and minds of anyone who has ever wrestled with the evils of existence. Francis I. Andersen, a well-known authority on the Minor Prophets and acclaimed for his pioneering work in the study of biblical Hebrew, examines Habakkuk both as a work of sophisticated theological inquiry and as an artistic creation. The result is a book that illuminates the nuances of the text and brings to life the culture and values of the ancient Israelites through a compelling portrait of one the Bible's most fascinating and most elusive prophets.

Nahum prophecies the destruction of Nineveh. Habakkuk questions the Lord of Israel. Zephaniah warns the last great king of Jerusalem. David W. Baker examines the authorship, composition, structure and historical context of each book and highlights the authors' major themes.

Lim examines scriptural interpretations found in the scrolls excavated from the caves of Qumran, arguably the greatest manuscript discovery in Palestine of the twentieth century. What was the ancient interpreters' attitude to the biblical texts? Did they consider them "sacred" in the sense that the words were the inviolable utterances of God? Or did they modify and adapt them for their own purposes? After fifty years of intensive research it must be asked just how these scrolls shaped the study of Bible interpretation in the Second Temple Period.

The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries provide compact, critical commentaries on the books of the Old Testament for the use of theological students and pastors. The commentaries are also useful for upper-level college or university students and for those responsible for teaching in congregational settings. In addition to providing basic information and insights into the Old Testament writings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of careful interpretation, all to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informed and critical engagement with the biblical texts themselves. The six books found at the close of the Minor Prophets (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) present distinctive understandings of God, humanity, and the future. This commentary engages those understandings, considers what the books may have meant in the past, and describes how they resonate with contemporary readers. With attention to issues of gender, violence, and inclusivity, O'Brien explores the ethical challenges of the books and asks how faithful readers can both acknowledge the problems these biblical books raise and appreciate their value for contemporary theological reflection.

David Pawson presents a unique overview of both the Old and New Testaments.