BOOK OF JONAH: INTRODUCTION

Parallels with the Book of Job

1. There is a great deal of controversy regarding the genre of each book. Although the Book of Jonah is found with the prophetic literature in the Bible, its true nature has been variously described as history, allegory, myth, parable, fictional short story, satire, prophetic narrative, fable, legend, and heroic story. In fact, there are probably elements of all of the above present in this short book, and both books certainly contain discrete blocks of prose and poetry.

2. Similarly, there is some disagreement as to the main point of each book. One aspect that seems to be clearly taught in each, however, is the true nature of God: his mercy as well as his might.

3. Both of these books also contain title characters who refuse to act according to expectation. The wise man Job refuses to admit to the truth of conventional wisdom, and the prophet Jonah refuses to take on a prophetic commission given him by God. What do you think about Jonah?

Structure for the Book of Jonah

Part I: Jonah on the Sea

Introduction: First Call from God (1:1-2)

                                                               A. On the Ship (1:3-16)

B. In the Fish (1:17-2:10)

Part II: Jonah on Land

Introduction: Second Call from God (3:1-2)

                                                                C. In Nineveh (3:3-10)

D. In the Booth (4:1-11)

Both halves start with identical commands from God. The external reaction of Jonah to the second command of God is, however, quite different from his response at the beginning of the story. The question is: is there any change in his inward attitude?

There is also little scholarly opposition to the contention that the events of the first half of the book are paralleled by those of the second half, as shown below:

Parallels Between the Two Sections of Jonah

Commonality                                             Part I              Part II

Jonah in the midst of foreigners                  ch. 1              ch. 3

            Jonah converts heathens accidentally

and reluctantly                                ch. 1              ch. 3

            Jonah alone: prays to                                  ch. 2              ch. 4

“proclaim” linked with repentance              1:2              3:2,4

            Nineveh's wickedness                                 1:2                 3:8

            Fleeing to Tarshish                                     1:3                 4:2-3

            Threat of judgment                                     1:4                  3:4

            Jonah creates a shelter                                1:5b                4:5

            Authoritative pronouncement by

heathen leader                                 1:6                 3:6-9

Heathen voices the possibility that

God will change his mind              1:6                 3:9

            Jonah's request to die                                 1:12                4:3

            Heathens turn to God                                 1:14                3:5

            "I (we) beseech you"                                 1:14                 4:3

            Identical prayer elements                          1:14                4:2-3

            Heathens removed from danger                1:15                 3:10

            Jonah isolated from rest of mankind      1:17-2:9            4:5-8

            "three days"                                              1:17                    3:3

            God “appoints” miraculous shelters         

for Jonah                                       1:17                 4:6

Jonah prays to God                                  2:2-9                  4:2-3

            God replies with his word and nature     2:10                 4:4-11

Unifying Literary Features

“City” serves as an inclusion for the whole book:

Nineveh, that great city (1:2)

city--three times (3:2-4)

                                    city--three times (4:5)

                        Nineveh, that great city (4:11)

The related verbs designating "send/cast forth" and "appoint/prepare" also form an interesting pattern and are tied together by their first and last appearance:

God sent forth a great wind (1:4)

they cast forth the goods (1:5)

                        cast me forth (1:12)

                        they cast him forth (1:15)

God prepared a fish (1:17)

                        God prepared a gourd (4:6)

                        God prepared a worm (4:7)

God prepared a wind (4:8)

There are also patterns with the occurrences of the words “evil” and “great(ly)” in the book. The import of these literary devices is to lend emphasis to certain key words and features of the narrative. For example, the satiric element of the book, defended by diverse commentators, finds confirmation in the exaggerated details of the story highlighted by repetition of the word "great(ly)." The title character is burlesqued most obviously by stressing his stubborn inability to grasp the spiritual importance of the events about him. In contrast to Jonah himself, all the other human and non-human characters in the book from a sea monster to sailors and from the wind to a worm follow God's will as they were "appointed" and "ordained" to do. The only other prophet as spiritually obtuse as Jonah in the Bible is Balaam.

Jonah's three statements of faith toward the start (1:9) and end (4:2b) of the book as well as his psalm in the center are all quite orthodox in wording but hard to take with a straight face in their context. The question is: Does Jonah really believe what he is saying or is he a blatant hypocrite as some have called him? Some commentators see a purposeful contrast between Jonah and Elijah, especially in the opening verse of the book (read I Kings 17:2-3,9; 18:1) and in the final scene where the prophet is alone and depressed. These statements of Jonah also help to "typify" Jonah in the mainstream of Jewish belief much as Jesus used typical authority figures such as judges and Pharisees in his parables to set up his audience. We will discuss this in our concluding lesson on Jonah.