JONAH, BOOK OF

Written in clear, simple language, this difficult and profound little book has long been the subject of lively discussion. This article covers the structure and content; authorship, sources, and date; and literary genre and theological purpose.

Structure and Content. Although traditionally listed among those of the minor prophets, the book is not, strictly speaking, a prophetical book but a story of late date concerning a particular mission of Jonah (Hebrew: yōnâ, "dove"). The book falls into two parts (ch. 1–2 and ch. 3–4), each part consisting of two scenes.

Part I. The first part prepares the reader for the impact of the second. God commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach repentance, but Jonah rebelled— presumably against the idea of preaching salvation to non-Israelites—and sailed toward Spain. God sent a storm that was about to destroy the ship. When the mariners discovered that Jonah had occasioned their danger by his disobedience, they threw him into the sea, which immediately became calm. A "large fish" swallowed Jonah. After three days God commanded the fish to vomit him safely on dry land.

Part II. At the second order to preach, Jonah obeyed. The Ninevites heard him, repented, and were pardoned, but Jonah was angry because of Nineveh's good fortune. The story ends in a confrontation of God and Jonah. Having lost the shade from the plant that God had miraculously provided for him, Jonah was indignant enough to die. God forced Jonah to see reason by a rhetorical question: If you are so upset about losing so small a thing, which you did nothing to procure, is there not much greater reason for my being concerned over Nineveh and all its inhabitants who are also objects of my loving care?

Author, Sources, and Date. This anonymous writing exhibits dependence on earlier Biblical books. The pseudonym of the hero alludes to the historical Jonah, son of Amittai, an 8th-century Galilean prophet from Gathhepher (modern Khirbet ez-Zurrâ’) in Zebulun (2 Kgs 14.25). The storm recalls Ez 26–28, especially ch. 27, where the technique is reversed: In Ezekiel, God hurls a storm against His enemies but in Jonah, against His own prophet. In Ezekiel, ship and crew sink; but in Jonah, pagan mariners and their ship survive while Jonah is cast into the sea. The author of the Book of Jonah develops

Jeremiah's theology of divine pardon for repentant sinners (cf. Jon 3.10b and Jer 18.7–8; 26.3), and God's universal love (cf. Jon 1.2 and Jer 1.5). Ancient commentators generally considered the 8th-century prophet Jonah both hero and author of the book. However, the literary and theological dependence already noted, in addition to considerations of language, of history, and of mentality, indicate a post-Exilic period as the time of composition. Philological examination reveals late Hebrew and Aramaisms but probably no Greek influence. The author speaks of Nineveh (destroyed 612 b.c.) as no longer existing except in popular imagination. Moreover, in the people's minds it had become a colossal city (Jon3.3), whereas archeologists have shown ancient Nineveh to have been only three miles wide. Finally, the author's liberal attitude toward pagans seems to be a reaction against a too-nationalistic view of God's providence. These data drawn from the story itself point to a post-Exilic writer probably of the Ezra-Nehemiah period (middle of the 5th century). He probably wrote before the Greek period, certainly before Sirach (cf. Sir 49). Because the canticle (Jon 2.3–10) is probably without Aramaisms and any apparent connection with the context, it is generally considered an insertion. Some judge it a mosaic of psalm pieces, some of which may be as late as the 3rd century b.c.; others consider it an original and unified composition.

Literary Genre and Theological Purpose. Scholars today do not consider Jonah a historical narrative but an edifying story. The unknown writer artfully, ironically compounds familiar scriptural material, with perhaps some folklorish elements, to make a didactic fiction, a midrash. The "sign of Jonah" mentioned in the Gospels (Mt 12.38–41; Lk 11.29–32), if correctly transmitted, is no argument for the historicity of Jonah. Neither Jesus nor the Gospel writers were treating of literary or historical criticism, but were citing a familiar example somewhat as people today allude to Cinderella or the Prodigal Son. The author's purpose is to warn his Jewish contemporaries against their extreme nationalism. He accomplishes this by a satire in which every narrow-minded Israelite of the day would see himself reflected in the person of Jonah. In the first part of the book Jonah is a recalcitrant prophet; in the last chapter, the incarnation of the particularist spirit. Criticizing this spirit furthers the author's purpose. When Jonah was the beneficiary of divine mercy, he prayed; but when Ninevites were objects of the same mercy, he was angry enough to die. Theologically broad-minded, the author teaches that God rules the world, that His providence extends to all men. Tension between the spirit of particularism and universalism should be resolved in favor of the latter because the mercy of God waits for all who repent no matter what their nation.

Bibliography: a. robert and a. tricot, Guide to the Bible, tr. e. p. arbez and m. p. mcguire, 2 v. (Tournai-New York 1951–55; v. 1, rev. and enl. 1960) 1:345–346. l. dennefeld, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique 8.2:1497–1504. h. g. mitchell, et al., Aggai, Zachariah, Malachi, and Jonah (New York 1912). e. sellin, Das Zwölfprophetenbuch (Leipzig 1929). t. h. robinson and f. horst, Die zwölf Kleinen Propheten (Handbuch zum Alten Testament 14; 2d ed. 1954). a. r. johnson, "Jonah II. 3–10: A Study in Cultic Phantasy," Studies in Old Testament Prophecy, ed. h. h. rowley (Edinburgh 1950) 82–102. s. h. blank, "'Doest Thou Well to Be Angry?' A Study in Self-Pity," Hebrew Union College Annual 26 (1955) 29–41. j. howton, "The Sign of Jonah," Scottish Journal of Theology 15 (1962) 288–304. s. r. driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (11th ed. rev. and enl. New York 1905) 321–25. a. feuillet, Le Livre de Jonas (2d ed. Paris 1957). Popular presentation. a. jones, Unless Some Man Show Me (New York 1951) 48–68.

[j. m. lane]