A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
By Jonathan Ahlgren
Today we are looking at a phenomenal resource from Glossa House: Jonah: An Illustrated Hebrew Reader’s Edition. If you are into Hebrew and want to enjoy reading Hebrew in a new way, this resource is for you.
This resource will be a blessing to you if you are a pastor who wants to brush up on your Hebrew, or maybe on the other end of the spectrum as an Old Testament Ph.D. student who just wants to relax a bit and read some Hebrew. If you are looking for a way to be in the Hebrew Bible in way that is engaging, fun, or interactive, this is a great option.
This Reader’s edition of Jonah lays out and illustrates every single verse of Jonah. As you can see by the vide examples, the illustrations are extremely well done. The illustrations have a unique style that draws you into the stories and take on the feel of the Hebrew text. The preface lays out some of the details on the formatting and methodology beyond the layout. Narrative text is depicted in black-and-white illustrations and grey boxes while reported speech is presented with full-color illustrations within speech bubbles and salmon-colored text boxes.
The text at its foundation is a reader’s edition of Jonah. It footnotes non-verbs that occur fewer than 100 times in the Hebrew Bible and verbs with a root that occurs fewer than 100 times. There is also a well laid out Hebrew-English dictionary in the back of the book containing ever word from Jonah.
It is quite difficult to actually categorize exactly what this is. Calling it a resource is quite broad, but it is hard to think of a more specific word that fits. Calling it a workbook is insufficient because it truly feels good in the hands and is beautiful inside, making it inconducive for writing notes. It is hard to simply call it a book as well because it is presenting the Hebrew text in a helpful and enjoyable way. Picture Hebrew which is now simply part of Glossa-house, has truly created an innovative and thrilling way to read the Biblical text.
Further good news here is that they are also working on the next volume of the series:
An Illustrated Hebrew Reader’s Edition of the book of Ruth. In conclusion, if you need some color or motivation in your daily Hebrew reading or learning patters, I highly recommend you pick up this reader’s edition from Glossa House.
Jonathan Ahlgren
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Assistant Editor and Administrative Editor for Books At a Glance
Buy the books
JONAH: AN ILLUSTRATED HEBREW READER'S EDITION, by Jesse Scheumann and Merissa Scheumann