Although often classified with the prophets, the book of jonah is not a prophetic book. Suppose you hear a political candidate give a terribly long speech, one that rambles on and on without end. Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point 1. Fifth in the canonical order of the minor prophets. In this fourpart article series, well look at the book of jonah with four techniques in mind. He was the earliest of the prophets and close behind elisha in his place in the old testament. Is it not then a fitting ending to leave jonah continuing with this struggle. The book of jonah is a story full of irony, a characteristic that marks both the person of the prophet and his career. For my nearly my entire life, i like many of you, have listened to or dozed off to the reading of the book of jonah on yom kippur afternoon. The book is replete with irony, wherein much of its humor lies. Jonah cares more for a plant than he does for human life. When we combine gods use of irony with the prophetic events and foreshadows of the old testament, it becomes unmistakably clear that god is truly at work.
Jonah was the son of amittai, who came from gathhepher in zebulun called gittahhepher in joshua 19. 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. When jonah is read as a satire, with intentionally crafted elements of irony, mockery and dry humor. In it, rabbi fohrman argues that jonah and yom kippur itself, the day on which the book of jonah is read is about something much deeper than just teshuvah repentance. Kings 172 kings 5 which are further examples of prophetic literature see petersen 2002. Has this not been his struggle throughout the entire book. Unlike other old testament prophetic books, jonah is not a collection of the prophets oracles but primarily a narrative about the man. Its ironic that the pagan, nonchristian sailors told jonah to pray, when jonah was running away from god.
To laugh at jonah i think is to miss the point that god is the main character of jonah. 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. Irony in the book of job and three modern adaptations. All of the people on the tapes except for clay a stop sign fell backward in front of your headlights. Chapter 2 the book of jonah lake erie bible church. It differs from them in that while they for the most part contain prophetic discourses, with a minimum of narrative material, the book of jonah is mainly occupied with a narrative, and the prophetic message in it is almost incidental. There are plenty of examples of hyperbole in the book of jonah.
Its ironic that jonah ran away from god only to find god chasing him. Explication of a text is always more than mere plot summary. Jonahs story is told in the short just 48 verses but powerful book of jonah. O n the incisiveness and inclusiveness of irony in jonah digital. In four chapters, there are at least four chiasms that organize the book, and on the whole, jonah is. There is tons of irony and humor in book, but i dont think the point of the book is to laugh at jonah and think he is an idiot in a satirical way. Jonah, satire and literal interpretation theopolitical. The book is prophetic in that it speaks a word of judgment and grace to a specific audience, evoking amendment of thought and life. Irony exists in the gaps, between what we are told and what we are meant to understand. Through wordplay and irony, the reader of jonah is invited to consider the meaning of forgiveness and evil. France, the gospel of matthew, the new international commentary on the new testament grand rapids. The book of jonah the book of jonah is one of the old testament books of the minor profits. Irony in this sense may be found, for example, all throughout the daily show with jon stewart. God continues to use irony today just like he did in the old testament, during the life of christ, and in the lives of many men and women in the new testament.
The book of jonah is a book of the neviim prophets in the hebrew bible. No other new testament book invokes the jonah story as. 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. Jonah typology is inarguably present in the gospel. Mckenzie has argued that a number of clues in jonah point to its genre and overall purpose as being one of satire. The overwhelming opening irony of jonah 1 the publicans. Written by the prophet jonah, son of amittai, around 785760 b.
The video below presents the essential questions regarding the book of jonah, which is in the prophets section of the bible. Leonard greenspoon says like jonah, the book of esther is filled with a number of plots and subplots, the humor of which is not always immediately evident. Pdf the literary genre of the book of jonah researchgate. What is an example of irony in the book the giver answers. Commentators who have interpreted the book as an historical narrative identify jonah with the 8thcent. Jay asher jonah hager period 2 characterization irony theme citations conflict protagonist. The following structure is based on a careful analysis of the content of jonah in the hebrew text. Lets look at examples of verbal, situational, and dramatic irony in this story. Parable or didactic fiction although the classification parable remains pop. Commanded by the lord to preach repentance to the ninevites, he proceeds in the opposite direction, boarding a ship at the port of joppa, headed to tarshish cadiz at the other end of the mediterranean sea. Jonah, ruth, and esther cliffsnotes study guides book. 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.
No other new testament book invokes the jonah story as 1 r. Second, not only does this ending fit with the overall message of the book of jonah, but it highlights or heightens this message. Literary analysis of jonah chiasmus in jonah has been noted by numerous biblical scholars. Thirteen reasons why book project by jonah hager on prezi. In this second installment, well look at another technique.
An example of irony in the book the giver would be the fact that jonass good friend fiona, towards whom he is starting to develop feelings, is the one who ultimately stands for everything that he. However, to my knowledge this is the first attempt to present an overall literary analysis of the book as a whole. Ironically, the book of jonah is filled with irony, parody and exaggeration that are often overlooked by many interpreters. What techniques do authors use to get their point across. Elsewhere in the hebrew scriptures, this means the god, par excellence. An age of irony it is sometimes said that we live in an age of irony. Jonah, the book of irony yom kippur morning 5772 jonah, the book of irony.
Its ironic that jonah ran away from god only to find god chasing him down. The great example is the distinction drawn between rebellious jo ahs. I think the overwhelming theme of this opening chapter is irony. It parallels jonahs relationship with god spiritually as previously separated from him exemplified by his distress initiated by his sin in the life bringing about dd and restoration of fellowship as that necessary for his deliverance from death. Jonah was called by god to take a message to nineveh modern mosul in iraq but ran away instead. The point of jonah as a satire is a mockery directly of those jews of the time who reduced god to being a merely tribal deity and indirectly of all who would try to reject gods acceptance of those who do not deserve it. Focus on jonah written by leading scholars, the focus on essays are designed to stimulate thought and to explore in depth topics of interest in the field of biblical studies. 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. 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.
The twins release when the main character, jonas, reacts to the news that his father will soon be releasing a twin. Its ironic that the pagan, nonchristian sailors told jonah to. This study explores the functionality of the literary device, irony, in two episodes of the gospel of john, namely the nicodemus episode john 3 and the samaritan woman episode john 4. Thus most recent writers prefer to classify jonah as either parable or didactic fiction. Whats your opinion of the argument that the book of jonah. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonahs character is anything but dovelike.
Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point, only to be swallowed by a great fish and dumped back at this starting point 2. One other obvious hyperbolic element in the book is the repentance of animals together with the ninevites, which influenced a number of scholars to challenge the historical level of the book. Mark zusak shows the irony in liesels book stealing by making her not able to read, not actually stealing books, and making her hunger for books more than anything else, to enhance the complexity of the protagonist. New essays on specific themes, with links to related content within the site for further reading, are published throughout the year. For being only four chapters and 48 verses, the book of jonah demands a lot from its readers. For being only four chapters long, the book of jonah packs quite a punch. Nevertheless, to uncover the tragic qualities in the book of jonah, especially in light of the various genres attached to it, an explication close to plot summary is necessary. The proud haman is unaware of his comic nature, but the reader knows the very real irony that everything. The book of jonah was likely written between 793 and 758 b. The study begins with an etymological survey of the uses of. Among the books of minor profits, the book of jonah is very unique because jonah was the only prophet who is recorded as having run away from god. In the original language, it becomes clear how wellcrafted the book is. These are thought provoking issues and are much more important than making the book of jonah into a battleground for zoological debate. He thought he could escape on a boat bound for tarshish, which was about a thousand.