Jonah Paper

Jonah Paper

M. Div. / Old Testament Theology

Patrick Vincent C. Tan

August 14, 2007

Paragraph Titles for Jonah

1. “Rose to flee” – 1:1-3
2. “A mighty tempest” – 1:4-6
3. “Whence do you come?” – 1:7-10
4. “Throw me into the sea” – 1:11-16
5. “A great fish” – 1:17
6. “I remembered the Lord” – 2:1-9
7. “Vomited out” – 2:10
8. “The second time” – 3:1-5
9. “Let every one turn” – 3:6-9
10. “God repented” – 3:10
11. “Better for me to die” – 4:1-5
12. “The Lord God appointed” – 4:6-8
13. “Should not I pity Nineveh?” – 4:9-11

Observations

1. God commissioned Jonah by way of “voice” or “word of the Lord” (not through an angel or angel of the Lord), (1:1).
2. Jonah’s father is named Amittai (1:1).
3. It was twice that “the word of the Lord came to Jonah”. First in 1:1 and second in 3:1. Both instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim God’s impending judgment.
4. When the word first came to Jonah, he fled “from the presence of the Lord” (1:3). Three times it was pointed out. Twice in 1:3, and last in 1:10. Instead of going to Nineveh, he boarded a ship in Joppa going to Tarshish. The reason for his disobedience was only made clear in 4:2 when he blamed it on God’s compassion.
5. The book of Jonah has different settings: The sea in chapter 1, in the belly of the fish in chapter 2, in the city of Nineveh in 3, and outside east of the city in chapter 4.
6. It was because of Jonah’s disobedience that the Lord endangered the ship Jonah boarded. This was mentioned 1:3-4, 1:10, 1:12 and 1:15.
7. Throughout the book of Jonah, God is portrayed as the God of all creation. He caused a storm in the sea (1:4) and had the power to stop it (1:15). Four times God “appointed” his creation to “speak” to Jonah through (1) a great fish (2:1), (2) a plant (4:6), (3) a worm (4:7) and a sultry east wind (4:8). His creation obeyed Him, even the people of Nineveh. This contrasted Jonah’s resistance (1:3) and hesitance (4:2) to obey God. He is described by Jonah as “the Lord, God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land” (1:9). The narrator even put Nineveh “man and beast” in equal value as both needing repentance and salvation (3:7, 3:8 and 4:11).
8. There were two contrasting reactions toward God’s storm in 1:5: The ship crew’s panic and diligence to save the ship, and Jonah’s undisturbed slumber in the midst of the storm.
9. The crew threw their wares into the sea to lighten up the ship (1:5) but to no avail. It was only when they threw Jonah into the sea that peace was restored.
10. The captain of the ship did not bother loyalty to his god. He was willing to consult all gods including Jonah’s (1:6). God proves His supremacy when He stills the sea, prompting the crew to “[offer] a sacrifice to the Lord and [make] vows. (1:17).
11. The crew found out who was causing the storm by casting lots (1:7) and later confirmed by Jonah’s own confession (1:9-10).
12. When the lot fell on Jonah, Jonah’s response to the crew’s panic interrogation was that he was a Hebrew (this answered where he came from, his country and his citizenship) and who his God is—the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
13. Picture words “sea” and forms of word “tempest” dominated chapter 1. “For the sea grew more and more tempestuous” mentioned twice (1:11 and 1:13) painting an escalating trouble for the ship.
14. The crew’s only way to save themselves from the storm was to throw Jonah out of the ship (1:12). They were hesitant to do this at first by trying to row back to land (1:13).
15. It was only after nine verses (1:9) that we read Jonah having a dialogue, three verses behind than the ship crew. And it was only in chapter 2 that we read Jonah speaking (praying) to God, four verses behind than the ship crew (1:14).
16. Jonah did not voluntarily jumped out of the ship, instead he still needed to be thrown out, even though he knew that he was the only reason why the storm was endangering the ship and its crew (1:12, 15).
17. The crew felt that throwing Jonah to the sea meant that God will lay on them “innocent blood” even though Jonah was guilty of disobeying God (1:14).
18. Because the storm had ceased miraculously after they threw Jonah into the sea, the crew (1) “feared the Lord exceedingly”, (2) “offered a sacrifice to the Lord”, and (3) “made vows” to the Lord (1:16). A similar pattern can be seen at the restorative closure of Jonah’s poetic prayer in 2:9: (1) “Deliverance belongs to the Lord, (2) “With the voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to thee”, and (3) “what I have vowed I will pay.”
19. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights (1:17). And it is interestingly remarkable that Jonah was not killed by digestion.
20. Jonah’s prayer was in a form of poetry (2:2-9). Verse 1 describes the Lord as “his God” (compare to 1:9).
21. Jonah’s sentiment while he was captive in the belly of the fish was that of the feeling of “distress” (2:2). He likens his surrounding as that of Sheol.
22. In Jonah’s prayer, he mentions the “holy temple” twice but each has a different meaning to the other. In 2:4, Jonah refers to the “thy holy temple” as the actual building of worship (in Jerusalem?); and in 2:7, he metaphorically describe the belly of the fish as “thy holy temple” where he “remembered the Lord.”
23. When Jonah repented, the Lord commanded the fish to vomit him out to land (2:10).
24. The motif of sea can be seen in the first half of the book, while (dry) land can be observed in its second half. Jonah describes God as “the Lord, God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land” (1:9). And he experienced both environments in its harshest (storm and scorching heat).
25. A form of contrasting repetition pattern can be seen between God’s instruction and Jonah’s first and second responses in 1:1-3 and 3:1-3.
26. Nineveh was described a “great city” four times (1:2, 3:2, 3:3, 4:11). Three times spoken by God himself (all except 3:3). The narrator writes that it will take a three days’ journey to walk from the opposite ends of the city’s width (3:3). Jonah took a day’s journey to reach the inner part of the city (central district?), (3:4). The last verse reveals that Nineveh has “more than a hundred and twenty thousand” residents (4:11).
27. The message of the Lord for Nineveh (3:2) is made known to us until 3:4 when Jonah proclaims that after 40 days, if they do not repent (3:10), the city will be overthrown (3:4).
28. It is not mentioned how Nineveh will be overthrown (3:4) if they do not repent.
29. Jonah’s warning was taken seriously by Nineveh and they repented. Four times the form of repentance was stated one after the other: (1) the people repented (1:5), (2) the king repented (1:6), (3) the king decreed the whole city to repent (1:7-8), and (4) God saw their repentance (1:10). The motif of “turning” seemed the recurring action throughout chapter 3 (turn from evil, repent). “Covered” or “put on sackcloth” is mentioned three times (v. 5, 6 & 8). Fasting is mentioned twice (v. 6 & 7). We could assume that they fasted and cried out to God for forty days because judgment did not come after forty days (3:10). This show the sincerity of their repentance.
30. The narrator described God’s forgiveness (3:10) by saying “God repented” and further explained it with a negative parallelism—“the evil which he had said he would do to them” and “he did not do it.”
31. Nineveh’s repentant response merited a positive impression on God (3:10) but gave a negative reaction from Jonah (4:1).
32. 4:2 gives a rich portrait of God’s character through Jonah’s rant—gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and quick to hold back judgment.
33. “I [or we] beseech thee” is found two times in Jonah. In 4:3, Jonah was beseeching the Lord to let him die; while in 1:14, the ship crew were beseeching the Lord to let them live.
34. Twice Jonah asks the Lord to kill him because “it is better for [him] to die than to live” (4:3 & 4:8).
35. Jonah was still anticipated God’s judgment over Nineveh by making an observation booth outside east of the city and waited overnight, even in discomfort, just to see God’s judgment in the city (4:5-7).
36. Jonah is often depicted as stubborn, impulsive and uncompassionate.
37. The word “angry” was mentioned five times in chapter 4 (vv. 1, 4 and three times in 9).
38. God illustrates His compassion for Nineveh where “more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons” lived (4:11) by letting Jonah experience for himself compassion for a withered plant which “came into being in a night, and perished in a night” (4:10). The plant symbolized Nineveh, the worm symbolized judgment, and Jonah’s compassion represented God’s.
39. The book of Jonah is heavy on narrative with almost half of it (46%) are third person narrative. While each character had minimal dialogue: Jonah’s dialogue is found in 6 verses (not including his prayer in chapter 2) and God’s dialogue also 5 verses. And it is until chapter 4 that we will read an actual dialogue between God and Jonah.
40. The book of Jonah ends without an actual closure. It ends with a question (4:11). Nothing is mentioned what had happened to the response of Jonah.

The Literary “Glasses”

The book of Jonah can be subdivided into two main parallel sections: (1) God’s first commission, Jonah’s disobedience, God’s deliverance of Jonah and Jonah’s thanksgiving (1:1-2:10), and God’s second commission, Jonah’s obedience, God’s deliverance of Nineveh and Jonah’s protest (3:1-4:11). This is most evident by the statement “the word of the Lord came to Jonah” at the beginning of both sections. And both are followed by a pattern as such: God’s commission to prophesy against Nineveh and Jonah’s response to God’s commission (1:2-3 and 3:2-3). Both halves tell of Jonah interacting with Gentiles and being delivered by God. In both sections God confronts Jonah because of stubborn behavior.

The book of Jonah is also a book of stark contrasts. Most evident is the contrast between Jonah and God. Jonah in Hebrew literally means “dove.” And common to biblical system of naming wherein names often characterized the person who bears it, Jonah is often depicted as a passive fellow in contrast to more active counterparts such as God and the people around him. Jonah’s initial response to God’s commission was to flee “from the presence of the Lord,” God mightily pursues him to sea. During the storm the ship crew panics to save the ship; Jonah was inside a room fast asleep. Jonah fails in his initial mission; God restores him and gives him the second chance. First two chapters bear the motif of the sea; the last two chapters bear the motif of dry land.

The book of Jonah is heavy on narrative with almost 50% composed of the narrator telling how the story unfolds and the character moves about. Characters have minimal dialogue with dialogue between God and Jonah only found until chapter 4. Except for the poetic thanksgiving of Jonah in chapter 2, the narrative nature of the book of Jonah makes it unique among the prophetic books which are commonly poetic in form.

The Canonical “Glasses”

Even though the book of Jonah documents a prophet’s mission to a Gentile people, the book of Jonah is well-directed to God’s own people Israel. 2 Kings 14:25 mentions “Jonah son of Amittai” as having lived during the time when Jeroboam II was the king of the Northern Kingdom. At this time Israel has reclaimed a number of territories thus enlarging its borders, and Israel was at its heights in military achievements. This might have bred an intense nationalistic pride such that they would think God is on their side when in fact their king led them to sin against God (14:24). The book of Jonah “spoke to their condition” by putting Israel as an “outsider looking-in” God’s dealing with another nation (city), showing them that God wants a “broken spirit and a contrite heart” like Nineveh, who though a Gentile nation readily repented at a prophet’s warning. Thus, God’s chosen people Israel who defiantly reject God at the expense of his many prophets should do the same.

The Salvation-History “Glasses”

In the aspect of Salvation History, the book of Jonah foreshadows the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise in which “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” through him and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3). It foreshadows God’s ultimate deliverance for both Jews and Gentiles through Jesus Christ.

Jonah portrays also God as ultimately the God of all creation both man, beast and the universe and is control of it. Throughout the book of Jonah, God appoints nature and creatures to direct Jonah where God wants him to be (see Observation no. 7). And the narrator portrays a God who is equally concerned for both man and beast in His plan of redemption.

Bibliography

1. “The Book of Jonah”. “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jonah”
2. “An Introduction to the Book of Jonah”. “http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=929”