The Book of Jonah

A detailed Summary of The Book of Jonah

The book of Jonah is different than the other prophetic books. Jonah is unique among the Minor Prophets in that it is a narrative and it incorporates a psalm (Clarkee 208). This book is in the second section of the Hebrew Old Testament, numbered fifth in the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This book is a story about a prophet, instead of a book of prophecy. In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, it states that the story about Jonah is one of the most familiar and popular in the Bible, yet it contains many puzzles. It is difficult to classify and to date. Its precise message is hard to determine.

This book starts off with the Lord commanding Jonah to go to the great city, Nineveh because "its wickedness has come up before me," says the Lord. Jonah responds to this by running away from the Lord. He goes down to Joppa, where he finds a ship that is on its way toTarshish, which is far away and in the opposite direction of Nineveh, pays his fare, and boards the ship. In response to this, the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and a violent storm arose which threatened the ship to break. The sailors had become terrified and started throwing cargo into the water to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah is completely unawar

Benard W. Anderson et al., The Books of the Bible (Charles Scribner's Sun, 1989)

David Noel Freedman., The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992)

In the Books of the Bible, it is stated that few contemporary scholars argue that the book of Jonah relates historical facts, for events and details in the story strain credulity. However, no single attempt to classify Jonah has commanded universal assent; and the work has been variously identified as folklore, prophetic legend, midrash, allegory, satire, and parable. This lengthy parable can have more than one point or teaching. The Books of the Bible states that central to the Book of Jonah are the concepts of divine freedom and mercy in the face of human repentance. The story is illustrative of the perspective found in a text like Jeremiah 18:7-8. Where the Lord says: "If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it." Jonah knows that "deliverance belongs to Yahweh" He also knows of the divine propensity for showing unmerited mercy. Yet he balks at the notion that Nineveh, capital of Assyria and Israel's bitter foe, should be the recipient of such mercy, despite the very genuine repentance of its inhabitants. Jonah's story refutes any notion that Israel alone deserves divine mercy, whereas the other nations of the world merit only divine justice. Yahweh acted mercifully toward Israel, despite its persistent sinfulness. This story demonstrates the divine freedom to exercise grace, despite human culpability. The Book of Jonah is also filled with affirmations that divine sovereignty and care extends to all of creation. "Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land", controls the world and everything in it--storms and sea creatures, worms and wind--regardless of Jonah's attempt to escape Yahweh's commission by fleeing to Tarshish. Furthermore, the sovereign creator does not restrict concern for humans to Israelites alone. On the contrary, God wills to save all people, even those whom Israel regards with fear and loathing (Anderson 383).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord Jonah, Book Jonah, Jonah Nineveh, Lord Lord, Assyria Israel's, Lord Nineveh, Books Bible, God Heaven, Bible Dictionary, Yahweh God, lord jonah, book jonah, city jonah, told jonah, books bible, dry land, jonah told, lord told jonah, jonah shade, et al, people nineveh, told jonah nineveh, sea dry land, anchor bible dictionary, god heaven sea,

Approximate Word count = 1824
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion