From a team of more than 50 international scholars comes the Word Biblical Commentary Series.

Its more than 60 volumes offer the best in critical scholarship firmly committed to the authority of Scripture as divine revelation.

The so-called Minor Prophets are 'minor' only in a length, says Dr. Douglas Stuart. In fact, they made a major impact on ancient Israel and continue to figure prominently in modern biblical studies. In the volume, Dr Stuart shows why the first five minor prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah - must be taken seriously.

The unorthodox style and colour of the Old Testament prophet often stereotype him as an individualist, an independent orator who hurled scriptural thunderbolts and those who disagreed with his pronoucements. Dr. Stuart corrects this image: 'The prophets did not create a new message nor a new interpretation of history. Their message was based on the Pentateuch.' Rather than confront the people with a new word from the Lord, the prophets urgently called the people back to the Mosaic covenant. They saw Israel's disobedience as a major affront to God, since the people had known their duty from old.

Several other conventional interpretations are challenged in this carefully researched volume. Hosea's wife, Gomer, was not a prostitute, as popularly believed. The city of Nineveh to which Jonah was called to preach was not a 'three-day journey' - the protocol of the times simply called for Jonah to deliver a certain portion of his message on the third day of his visit....And the 'locust invasion' in Joel was not a literal swarm of insects but an invasion of Babylonians.

Again questioning the extent of individualism in these prophets, Dr. Stuart notes that the word prophet does not even appear in four of these five books. Yet the Spirit of God is poured out, indicating that in these writings we realise the promise inherent in the covenant pledge that 'all of God's people (not just a trained 'prophet') will possess and act via the empowering of the Spirit.'