11 1495

and the flood surrounded me.

JONA H 3:7

All your waves, your billows, liPs 42:7

washed over me.
If And 1 said : 1 am cast out Ps 31:22
from you r sight.
How sha ll 1 ever look again Ps 5:7
on you r holy Temple ?
In The waters surrounded me right to my throat, Ps 69:1

the abyss was all around me. z

1/ The seaweed was wrapped round my head
0
-,

111 1 at the roots of the mountains.'

1 went down into the count ries underneath the eart h,
JONAH to the peoples of the past. d
But you lifted my life from the pit, Ps 30:3 :.16:
10
~
::;;

Yahweh, my Go d.
Jonah rebels against his mission While my soul was fainting within me, :J:
«
Z
I remembered Yahweh ,
The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah son of Amittai: ·'Up!' he said 1
II
4:2
1 'Go to Nineveh, the great city, and inform them that their wickedness has
become known to me.' -Jonah decided to run away from Yahweh, and to go to
and my prayer came before you
into you r holy Temple.
lD
I Those who serve worthless idols «
Tarshish.s He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish; he :I:
forfeit the grace that was theirs.
Irn Ps 107:23·30
paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, to get away from
Yahweh. -But Yahweh unleashed a violent wind on the sea, and there was such 4 10 'But I, with a song of praise,
will sacrifice to you.
a great storm at sea that the ship threatened to break up.•The sailors took ' e,
W
i:' Ac27:18
fright, and each of them called on his own god, b and to lighten the ship they The vow I have made, 1 will fulfil. Ps 22:25; .·N

Irn
116:18
threw the cargo overboa rd. Jonah, however, had gone below and lain down in Salvation comes from Yahweh.' liPs 3:8
M'8:24-25p
the hold and fallen fast asleep. -The boatswain came upon him and said, 'What 6 o
11 Yahweh spoke to the fish, which then vomited Jo nah on to the shore . «
do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps he will spare us :I:
a thought, and not leave us to die.' -Then they said to each other , 'Come on, The conversion of Nineveh and God's pardon Ezk 3:6
/M '12:41
11f t let us draw lots to find out who is responsible for bringing this evil on us'. ' / L k 11:30.
The word of Yahweh was addressed a second time to Jonah: . 'Up !' he said
So they cast lots, and the lot feU to Jonah. -Th en they said to him, 'Tell US,d
what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your count ry? What
3 'Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.' -Jo nah
32

Ac 27:23
is your nationality?' -He replied, 'I am a Hebrew, and 1 worship Yahweh, the 9
4 was a city great beyond compa re:> it took three days to cross it. -Jo nah went
God of heaven, who made the sea and the land '. -The sailors were seized with 10
terror at this and said, 'What have you done?' They knew that he was trying to
escape from Yahweh, because he had told them so. -They then said, 'What are 11
we to do with you, to make the sea grow calm for us?' For the sea was growing
rougher and rougher. -He replied, 'Take me and throw me into the sea, and 12
then it will grow calm for you. For I can see it is my fault this violent storm has
happened to you.' -The sailors rowed hard in an effort to reach the shore, but 13
Ps 107:28
Jr 26:15 in vain, since the sea grew still rougher for them. ·They then called on Yahweh 14
and said, '0 Yahweh, do not let us perish for taking this man's life; do not hold
us guilty of innocent blood ; for you, Yahweh, have acted as you have though t
right'. -And taking hold of Jonah they threw him into the sea; and the sea grew IS
calm again . ·At this the men were seized with dread of Yahweh ; they offered 16
a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows."
Jonah Is saved
()
w
set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh N
on into the city, making a day's journey. He preached in these words, 'O nly
forty days more> and Nineveh is going to be destr oyed'. -And the people of ..J
«
Nineveh believed in God;c they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the ::;;
Ezk 26:16
greatest to the least. -The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose fro m his
Ezk 27:30-31
throne, took off his rob e, put on sackcloth and sat down in as hes.s ·A procla-
1 a. For th e Hebrews . "T ar s hlsh', cr. 1 K 10:1 +: ...,
expre ssion s of thi s son g which enable Jesu s, Mt 12:40 :
Ps 48:7 +. represented the end of the wor ld : Jonah goes Lk 11:30, to use the epis od e of Jo na h as a figure of his
as far as he can to escape his du ty. own thr ee-d ays' sta y ' in the hear t of the earth ' (Sheo l
b. Th e sailors are from differen t countries: each has rath er th an the tom b. cf. J on 2:2· 3) ; the king dom of
his own god but believes in the powe r of oth er gods as de ath is depict ed as a greedy mon ster tha t ca nnot hold
well . .Christ bu t m ust let him go (t he resurrec tion) . T he
c. The belief tha t a shi p is endangered by havin g a na logy be tween Christ ian b apti sm and the resurrection
a guilty man on board is found elsewhere am on g th e of C hris t has led to the use of the figu re of Jo nah in
Ancients. bapt ism al typoloWY.
d. Hebr. Insert s 'who is responsible for brin ging th is
evil on us'. a gloss from v. 7 ; G reek om its. c. Proba bly the sea bed: thi s was tho ught to be the
e. Th e author emphasises the pie ty of the pagan fo unda tio n on which t he earth res ted.
saUors: they are scandalised tha t Jonah should disobey d . T ext o bscure. Others tran slate 'I went do wn to

2and
Yahweh, v. 10, fea r to offend Yahweh by sacrificin g
YahWeh had arranged tha t a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; " Jonah. v: 14, and offer worship to Jonah' s God whos e
,MtI2:40
Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. pow er they recogni se.
From the belly of the fish he prayed to Yahweh, his God; he saidr> 2 2 a. On this fish and the other prodigies, of which the
author is fond. see Intro duction to the Prophets.
~J~ I ; 'Ou t of my distress I cried to Yahweh b. T his song is a mosaic of Psalm -texts an d is
cons tr ucted on the conv entional pattern of thanksgiving
and he answered me; osalms: description of sufferings undergone, account of
Pa 116:3 deli verance from them . For t he psalmists, gra ve da nger
Lm3:55 from the belly of Sheol I cried, is a 'death' and deliverance a 'res urre ction ' ; cf here
and you have heard my voice. vv. 6,7,8. The sea . God's primordial 'enemy', cf. Jb 7:
12+ . is seen either as the kingdom of death itself or a t
You cast me into the abyss, into the heart of the sea, 4
least as the way that leads to it. Hence the dramatic
a lan d who se bars closed o n me for ever' .
3 a. Lit. 'great befo re G od', the stro ngest for m of the
super lative in Hebr .: the re is a simil a r hyp erbole in the
'it took thre e days to cro ss it', to evoke the fa buJous size
of Nineveh .
b. T he ' fo rty days' suggest the 40 days of the F lood
or the 40 year s or Israel in the deser t : cf. also 1 K 19:8.
The G reek has 'O nly th ree day s more' , cr. 2:1.
c. Th e sa me contrast is draw n in the gospels
betw een the conv er sion of the N inevites and the ina
cred ulity of the Jews.
d . T his whole description of repentance and con-
version is the an tJthesis of Jr 36, cr. Introduction to the
 3:8 JONAH /496
mat ion was then pr omu lgated thro ughout Ni neveh, by decre e of the king and
Jd ' 4:10
his ministers, as follows: ' Men and beast s, herds and flocks , are to tast e nothing ;
they must no t eat, they must not drink water. -A ll: are to put o n sackclo th a nd 8
call o n God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil behavio ur
J1 2:14
A m 5: 15 and the wicked things he has done.• Who kno ws if Go d will no t change his 9
mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burn ing wrath , so that we do not
G n 6:6 +
Jr 26:3 perish?'. God saw their efforts to reno unce the ir evil behav iour. And God relented: 10
he did not inflict on them the disa ster which he had threatened.
The grievance of the proph et a nd God's an swer
Lk 15:28

4 anJo dnahsaidwas, 'Avery

!
indi gnant at thi s ; he fell into a rage.• He prayed to Ya hwe h
h Yahweh, is not thi s just as I said woul d happen when I was
1:3 still at home? T hat was why I went a nd fled to Tarshish: I knew th at yo u were
~~ 1~~6i<~i\i a God of tend erness and co mpass ion, slow to anger, rich in gracio usness, relenting
MICA H ~
:;;

I K 19:4 from evil. -So now Ya hweh, please tak e away my life, for I might as well be dead 3
T b 3:6
as go on living.' •Ya hweh replied , 'A re yo u right to be angry ?' -Jo na h then 1 in the time
1TofHisheJotvisions
word of Yahweh that was addressed to Micah of Moresheth Is 1:1 J:
<l:
went out of the city and sat down to t he east of the city. T here he mad e himself ha m, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kin gs of Judah . . z
a shelter and sat under it in th e shade, to see what would happen to th e city. of Samaria and Jeru salem.
The n Ya hweh Go d arra nged th at a casto r-oil plant should grow up over Jonah 6
IXl
to give shade for his hea d a nd soot he his ill-humour ; Jonah was delighted with <l:
the castor-oil plant. -But at dawn the next day, God arranged that a worm 7 I. ISR AE L O N TRIAL J:

should attack the castor-o il plant -and it withered . •Next, when the sun rose , 8
G od arranged that there sho uld be a sco rching east wind; t he sun bea t down THR E AT AN D CO NDEM NATION
1 K 19:4 0-
so hard o n Jo na h's head th at he was overco me a nd begged fo r dea th, sayi ng, W
.N
Is 28:1-4
'I might as well be dead as go on living'. ·God sa id to Jo nah , 'Arc yo u r ight 9 The judgement of Samaria a
to be a ngry about the castor-oil pla nt?' He replied, 'I have every righ t to be Ps49:1
Listen, you peo ples, all of you. Is 1:2
a ngry, to the po int of deat h' . •Ya hweh rep lied, 'You are on ly upse t about 10 Attend, earth, and everything in it. C)

a castor-oi l pla nt which cost you no labour, which you did not ma ke grow , Ya hweh" is goi ng to give evidence against you, ~
which spro uted in a night a nd has per ished in a night. •And am I no t to feel II the Lord, as he sets out from his sacred pala ce.
so rr y for Ni neveh, the great city, in which t here are more than a hund red and Is 26:21
For loo k, Ya hwe h sets out from his holy place, Am 4;13
twenty thousand people who cannot tell their r ight hand fro m their left, to say he comes down, he treads t he height s of earth. o
not hing of all the animals'i'« The mountai ns melt as he goes, ze 14:4 W
N
t he valleys are torn apart,
like wax befor e t he fire, Ps 97:5

like wate r po ur ed out o n a steep place. -'

<l:
:;;
All this is becau se of th e crime or Jacob,
th e sin of the Ho use of Israel.
What is t he cr ime of Jacob ?
Is it not Sa ma ria? ,-<l:
What is the sin of the House of Judah?"
Is it not Jerusa lem?
I mean to ma ke Samaria a ru in in the o pen cou ntry, 3: 12

a place where vines will be pla nted.

I will set her stones ro lling into the valley ,
I will lay her foundations bare.
All her images are going to be shattered, Ezk 6:6
all her earnings" co nsumed by fire,
all her idols broken in pieces,
for th ey have been collected' with prostit utes' earnings
and pros titu tes' earnings they will be again.
I a , T his or acle a gain st Sa maria, u ttered before the d. The wages of the sacred pros titu tes in the rel igion
Prophe ts : it is furt hermo re full of phrases c haracteristic h is se lf-pity ; and no w, 4: 10· 1 J. he exp la ins with ge nt le [:111 of t he ci ty in 721, ha s been su bseq uen tly a pp lied of Sa maria. A m 2:7-8: Ho 4:14. cf . Dt 23:19 + . To
of Jeremi ah. irony how he is though tful even for the b ru te creation. to Jer usalem. Micah t he who le of Samaria is a pros titute as Is rael
e. Hebr. adds 'and beasts'. st ill more for men a nd little ch ild ren . 'who ca n ne r te ll b. ' Ya hweh ' some Gree k MSS ; 'T he Lord Yahweh ' is for Hosea , Jeremiah and Ezek iel , cf H o 1:2 + .
4 a. T h is fin al chap ter ends wi t h the note of God's t heir rig h t hand from thei r left' , Th e who le book thu s IIc b r. e, ' th ey hav e bee n co llect ed ' Targ.• Syr .• v ura.:
mercy on all his crea tures. He has mercy on Jonah in prepares the way for the re ve latio n o f the gospel: Go d c. ' the sin of t he House o f Ju dah ' Greek, Tara.: 's he h as co llect ed' Hebr.
the sea , 2:7 . o n repentant Nineveh . on th e prophet in is love; cr; Introduction to the Prophets. ' t he h igh places of J u da h' Hebr.