Use of irony in the book, nonetheless, is acknowledged. Jonah is identified as a prophet and servant of god during the reign of king jeroboam ii of israel 2 kings 14. The book of jonah is the fifth book in the christian canons and the jewish tanakh. It is an important book to both religious traditions christianity and jewish. An interpretation of the book of jonah, bull, geoffrey t on. The book of jonah is narrative history and a prophetic oracle. The book of jonah is one of the most analyzed biblical texts in history. Still, the book gives significant clues about how it was meant to be read. Set in the reign of jeroboam ii 786746 bc, it was probably written in the postexilic period, some time between the late 5th to early 4th century bc.
An overview of the book of jonah leads one to determine two prominent sections, namely, jonahs abortive voyage to tarshish jon 12 and jonahs journey to nineveh. While the following discussion does not purport to be a comprehensive. Journal of the evangelical theological society 23 1980. Full text in english of the book of jonah my jewish learning. Our previous treatment of jonah illustrates the importance of the discernment of genre for interpretation of the bible. The man jonah was the main character of the book, he was the son of amittai jonah 1. As we have seen, jonah, like many literary works, does not identify its genre but leaves it to the reader to discern. The story, about a prophet named jonah, was written to criticize and rebuke the narrow spirit of nationalism that jonah observed among so many of the jewish people. The foundational source for the book was likely jonahs own telling of the story after his return from nineveh. The analysis of the various imaginative genre classifications of the book of jonah shows that scholars have viewed the book as an allegory, parable, mashal, prophetic legend, midrash, novella, or. The story is presented much like that of elijah and elisha. It would be presumptuous to think that one could, in a brief article, speak the final word on the questions in debate. The audience of the book of jonah was the people of israel and all future readers of the bible and, typically, prophets issued warnings or gave instructions to the people of israel. The book is anonymous, and there are no indicators elsewhere in scripture to identify the author.
Jonah, the book of definition and meaning bible dictionary. The title of the book is the name of the main character, jonah. Jul 18, 2012 jonah has awakened, and, in the metaphorical sense, the dry ground represents the solid truth of the higher conscious state. Jonah s survival pales in comparison to the repentance of an entire city. When god calls abraham to offer his son isaac as a sacrifice, abraham gets up early in the morning and goes, but when god calls jonah, jonah runs away.
The final position is that the story of jonah is to be taken as literal history, but some problems with dating the events and the miracles described in the book have been taken by some critics as an argument against a literal interpretation bullock 5357. In conclusion, i encourage you to read jonahs prayer again while he is in the belly of the whale. Nineveh was an enormously large city a three days walk across. Certainly, it was impressive and extraordinary for a man to survive multiple days inside a large sea creature. This summary of the book of jonah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of jonah. Summary of the book of jonah the story of the bible. Yonah is a strange prophet, and sefer yonah the book of jonah a strange book. Reading the book of jonah as a satirical challenge to theodicy of the exile. The purpose of this book is to show that god is a merciful and gracious god. Analysis of the book of jonah essay 2162 words bartleby.
This meant according to the understanding of jonah that nineveh would be destroyed. Josephus has transformed what bickerman has called a morality play, which, in the bible, focuses upon the sinful people of nineveh, their genuine repentance, and their forgiveness by god, into a historical episode centering upon the historical figure of jonah, who, as a prophet, is closely. It is one of trei asar the twelve prophets in the tanakh, and in christian tradition as oi dodeka prophetai or ton dodekapropheton, greek for the twelve prophets. This little roll of four short chapters has given rise to almost as much discussion and difference of opinion as the first four chapters of genesis. The prayer is clearly about jonahs soul, and it is a great read when your lower nature seems to be ruling your life.
The book of jonah was likely written between 793 and 758 b. Key personalities include jonah, the captain and the ships crew and the people of nineveh. Therefore, my interpretation of what jonah is saying is that the belly of the fish was his grave, and grave is a place for the deadyou do not put a live man in a grave. I welcome your feedback and insights into these important books of the bible. Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one days walk, and proclaimed.
Psychology and the interpretation of the book of jonah stuart lasine journal for the study of the old testament 2017 41. The story of jonah as allegory, parable or history. God wasnt finished with supernatural events in the book of jonah. Book of jonah, the fifth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, embraced in a single book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. Full text in english of the book of jonah my jewish. I am drawn to the book of jonah not only because i. Date since jonah prophesied during the reign of jeroboam ii 782753. The book of jonah demonstrates the sovereignty of the almighty as he employs his creation to accomplish the divine plan. The book is named after its principal character, whose name means dove.
The book is replete with irony, wherein much of its humor lies. The psalm prayer, for one, is a strong argument against the interpretation of this work as a total satire. The catholic church is silent on the proper interpretation of many biblical passages, readers being allowed to accept one of several understandings. Unlike other old testament prophetic books, jonah is not a collection of the prophets oracles but primarily a narrative about the man. Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point 1. It tells of a hebrew prophet named jonah son of amittai who is sent by god to prophesy the destruction of nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. Though the book contains no direct prophecy, the experience of jonah is itself a reflection of the message of god. Although the book is written in the third person, the traditional view is that jonah is the author of the book, and there is no persuasive reason to theorize about an unknown author. Consequently, scholars must consider linguistic and historical factors to approximate such information. Written by the prophet jonah, son of amittai, around 785760 b. In the book of jonah, jonah the prophet is instructed to go to a pagan city nineveh to preach to the ninevites, hoping that they will repent for their sins. Jonah or jonas, in the hebrew bible tanakhold testament, is a prophet of the northern kingdom of israel in about the 8th century bce. Due to jonah shirking his divine mission, god sends. In catholicism and fundamentalism, karl keating writes.
Perhaps the third quarter of the eighth century is the most likely date for the book, after the public ministries of amos and hosea and before the fall of samaria to assyria in 722721. But he could not understand how god could love even foreign nations who did bad things. The book of jonah relates how god told jonah to go to the major assyrian city of nineveh and there prophecy that after 40 days it would be overturned. The book of jonah is about an event that jesus said took place in history. Although often classified with the prophets, the book of jonah is not a prophetic book. This post continues some of my work sharing the significance and application of specific books of the bible.
The book begins with god telling jonah to go to the great city of nineveh. Intro to jonah biblica the international bible society. The book makes no direct claim regarding authorship. The book of jonah is different from the other minor prophets, for it is the personal experience of the prophet himself. While jonah eventually did what he was asked to do, the book closes with showing jonah as a bitter man. Josephus interpretation of jonah volume 17 issue 1 louis h. The book of jonah is an example that will be used to determine if this particular story describes an accurate recount of history, or if it teaches the readers a lesson. The book of jonah, written primarily in the third person, does not explicitly name the prophet as the author of his own account, but we have no reason to doubt either the inspiration or the historical veracity of the book. Jonah went at once to nineveh in accordance with the lords command. Josephus has transformed what bickerman has called a morality play, which, in the bible, focuses upon the sinful people of nineveh, their genuine repentance, and their forgiveness by god, into a historical episode centering upon the historical figure of jonah, who, as a prophet, is closely akin to the historian, and upon. Apr 04, 2020 an overview of the book of jonah leads one to determine two prominent sections, namely, jonahs abortive voyage to tarshish jon 12 and jonahs journey to nineveh. The writer of this article has attempted to do this in stades zeitschrift, 1892, pp.
Book of jonah overview insight for living ministries. Through some supernatural events, god convinced him to obey and carry out the lords plan. The theme of repentance nominates it for being read on yom kippur, but it has less to say. The book of jonah is, in many ways, unique among the minor prophets and arguably the rest of scripture. Bible in general and in jonah in particular to determine if the use of these literary devices should also guide our interpretation of the final lines of jonah. Jonah has awakened, and, in the metaphorical sense, the dry ground represents the solid truth of the higher conscious state. Throughout the book, jonah is repeatedly referred to in the third person, causing. Determining date and authorship of jonah remains problematic, as explicit references do not exist within the narrative. The book of jonah is a book of the neviim prophets in the hebrew bible. Jonahs god was a god that desired people to be loyal to him and show love to him. Starting with the early church fathers and continuing to today, views on jonah have resulted in an inordinate amount of written and spoken discourse. The book of jonah is also the only one that isnt a compilation of prophecies condemning the wicked and rewarding the righteous.
Jonahs survival pales in comparison to the repentance of an entire city. The supposed legendary character of some of the events e. Jonah did not want to go on this mission and attempted to flee to tarshish in spain. Aug 23, 2018 god wasnt finished with supernatural events in the book of jonah. Many have questioned whether the book of jonah is historical. This first part offers essentially three parts to the jonah story. Jonah, ruth, and esther cliffsnotes study guides book. Following the lead of the hebrew masoretic text, the title of the book is derived from the principal character, jonah. Our interpretation, however, explains the plot, the characters, and the dialogue as embodying the primordial struggle between justice and mercy. Verses 12 this book is a story about god and jonah. Listen to chuck swindolls overview of jonah in his audio message from the classic series gods masterwork. The significance and application of the book of jonah. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonahs character is anything but dovelike. Catholics are free to understand the story of jonah and the whale as literal history or as didactic fiction.
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