The JPS Torah/Bible Commentary series has already produced some exceptional commentaries that have immensely enriched biblical scholarship, and Uriel Simon's Jonah commentary is a worthy addition to this series. He concludes that the Book of Jonah was composed during the Second Temple period, mainly because of the late Hebrew language, but he does not find sufficient grounds to decide between a sixth-, fifth-, or even fourth-century date. Nor does Simon believe that the book offers evidence for reconstructing a particular social-political context that would help to define a special target audience. He concludes that, like the Book of Job, which was also composed in the Second Temple period and which also featured non-Jews among its cast of characters, the Book of Jonah was written during a period in which theodicy was a dominant concern within the Jewish community.