The Book of Yōnah / Jonah / Jonas

God threatens to punish the city of Nineveh with destruction, but Jonah didn't want to preach that message, because he knew it unlikely to happen (Jonah 4:1-2). He attempts to flee. God punishes him at sea with a terrible storm. The men of the boat threw him overboard to save themselves and God makes a monstrous fish eat him and then regurgitate him three days later. The men aboard the boat were forgiven because they feared God and made a sacrifice. The teachings are, of course, that God punishes those who are disobedient and rewards those who are obedient, and if you do something terrible like murder someone at sea then all is well as long as you fear God. Jonah is finally bullied into preaching the message - and God does indeed decide not to destroy the city anyway (Jonah 3:9-10), making Jonah into a false prophet. The final message is that if you are in an unequal relationship, it is best to simply do as you are told, else, things will only end up harder for you. It's not the Bible's finest moment.

Despite those awful morals, this is a popular book and is primarily used by Christians to showcase how forgiving God is for not destroying a city full of people.

Historically, the book lacks legitimacy_1,2. Nineveh was the capital of the great Assyrian empire, a trading hub, and even after its decline, many came to visit it. At no point did the events of Jonah 3:5-10 actually occur - not a single trader, traveller, statesman or historian note that the entire population suddenly gave up its old ways, embraced a new religion, and transformed itself away from its previous behaviours.

1. The 12 Minor Prophets of the Old Testament (Originally from the Trei Asar)
2. Jonah the False Prophet
3. A Book With No History and Little Editing
4. The 4 chapters of Jonah (48 verses)
   1. Jonah 1 (17 verses) - Jonah is too scared to go to Nineveh, God punishes him.
   2. Jonah 2 (10 verses) - The fish regurgitates Jonah.
   3. Jonah 3 (10 verses) - Jonah goes to Nineveh and preaches its destruction, and they all repent en masse.
   4. Jonah 4 (11 verses) - God doesn't destroy Nineveh, which makes Jonah angry.
5. Why Did God Involve Jonah at All?
6. Links

1. The 12 Minor Prophets of the Old Testament (Originally from the Trei Asar)

#12 #bible #christianity #judaism #minor_prophets #old_testament

The 8th part of the Hebrew holy text the Nevi'im is called the Trei Asar (The Twelve), and from it the Christians extracted the 12 books of the Old Testament that are together known as the Minor Prophets, including Jonah. They are not chronological and they are collected together as 'minor' prophets simply because they are shorter than the 'major' prophets₃. The Hebrews wrote a great number of religious texts; the reason that 12 in particular were selected is because religious scribes would create collections of 12 wherever possible, as it was considered a magical number₄.

For more, see:

• "The 12 Minor Prophets of the Old Testament (Originally from the Trei Asar)" by Vexen Crabtree (2018).

2. Jonah the False Prophet₅

#Babylon #Israel

Jonah didn't want to become a false prophet. The Assyrian empire was powerful and influential, and like all other such powerful neighbours, was hated by Israel and the Hebrews. They could do little against Egypt, Assyria nor Babylon, other than spend hundreds of years repeatedly preaching their destruction; the old testament is full of such prophets of doom. Jonah is sent on yet another end-of-Assyrian-city mission, which like all the others before, was unlikely to be fulfilled. It says in Jonah 4:1-2 that he didn't think God was going to destroy Nineveh, and so, he didn't want to go there and preach an untrue message. Jonah knew that a prophet who preaches something that doesn't come true, is a false prophet (Deut.).

This element was mocked by Thomas Paine, who declares: "What a fool do fabulous systems make of man!"₆.

Jonah knew of these many-a-doomsayer, and so, he didn't want to go and become one of them. God forced him to by chasing him with deadly storms and a monstrous fish, until he relented. When he did finally commence the preaching that Nineveh will be destroyed "in forty days" (Jonah 3:4), what happens? God changes his mind, and doesn't do it (Jonah 3:9-10). Jonah is made a laughing-stock, and, according to Deut. 18:22, Jonah was now a false prophet, because, what he said would come to pass, actually didn't. And so in Jonah 4:1-3, he is angry. God justifies himself by saying that he can save the city if he wants to. Which simply doesn't make sense because God, as all-knowing, knew from the very beginning that he was going to save the city, and therefore, knew from the beginning that Jonah was going to be sent on a mission based on false words. The moral is: If you have enough power, you can destroy and save peoples' lives as you see fit, and if you are in an unequal relationship where one side has all of the power, it is best to simply do as you're told.

3. A Book With No History and Little Editing₅

#judaism

It is not clear when Jonah was written₇; most scholars place it after the reign of "Jeroboam II of Israel (782-747)", perhaps in the 6th century BCE₇, and therefore he isn't the same Jonah mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25₈. Some think it was even hundreds of years later than that:

“The lateness of the book and its remoteness from the events it records, are proved in other ways. Its language has the Aramaic flavour of the later books, and such a phrase as "the God of heaven," i. 9, only occurs in post-exilic literature [and] its ideas are most intelligible as the product of post-exilic times. [...] All the conditions point to a date not much, if at all, earlier than 300 [BCE].”

"Introduction to the Old Testament" by John Edgar McFadyen (1905)₁

There is evidence that chapter two, the psalm, was inserted much later by someone else₁, and integrated into the story "with skill"₈. It is a nice addition, but, if you skip it (except the final sentence, where the creature spits Jonah out), the entire story reads just as well. The psalm contains a few references to older Hebrew texts, but doesn't progress the meaning of the story, nor does it contain any real change in Jonah's outlook.

The long and well-documented rise of Nineveh and its status as the capital of the Assyrian empire, and then its decline, sacking and general abandonment, leave no space for a sudden period where the entire city changes religion en masse, changes its behaviour, and transforms from an "utterly sinful" city into something else. As such a well-known and well-referenced place in history, such a miraculous and sudden shift in its entire population would have got mentioned by writers, traders and visitors and created an international stir. But there is not one mention of the epic events of Jonah 3:5-10 by other writers. Because of this, there is no evidence or clear place in history that can pin down when exactly the text was written.

In "Introduction to the Old Testament" by John Edgar McFadyen (1905)₉, even the author who is otherwise strict in his traditional approach to the bible, feels he has to treat very carefully with what he claims about Jonah:

“On the face of it, the narrative is not meant to be strictly historical. [...] Its important lies, not in its facts, but in the truths for which it pleads. Much detail is wanting which we should expect to find were the narrative pure history. [...] Such a wholesale conversion of a foreign city...”

"Introduction to the Old Testament" by John Edgar McFadyen (1905)₁

“A fit story for ridicule, if it was written to be believed.”

"The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine (1807)₂

A copy of Jonah was found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls that is textually largely the same as the traditional copy, meaning, that this short book has not undergone much other editing aside from the insertion of chapter 2. Also, for whatever reason, the Dead Sea Scroll community's writings don't refer to Jonah or its events at all, meaning that they didn't read it, disregarded it, or ignored it.

It's mentioned a few times in the New Testament: Matt. mentions Jonah being in the belly of a great fish, and Luke mentions his preaching in Nineveh, but uses it to condemn Jews who won't convert to Jesus.

4. The 4 chapters of Jonah (48 verses)

Jonah 1 (17 verses) - Jonah is too scared to go to Nineveh, God punishes him.

Jonah 2 (10 verses) - The fish regurgitates Jonah.

Jonah 3 (10 verses) - Jonah goes to Nineveh and preaches its destruction, and they all repent en masse.

Jonah 4 (11 verses) - God doesn't destroy Nineveh, which makes Jonah angry.

5. Why Did God Involve Jonah at All?₅

#god #omniscience

Jonah need not have been through this ordeal at all. At the end, he is bitter and angry, deceived and mistreated, for no purpose at all. The sailors on the ship converted out of fear, as a result of the storm, and the magic of drawing lots to see who was to blame. Rather than permitting the magical lots, God could have sent them a terrible storm and a message - writing on the wall, a voice from heaven - anything at all - to say simply: fear me. Then they would still have made a sacrifice out of fear, just as they did in Jonah 1:16.

Jonah also wasn't required in order for God to save Nineveh. God, as all-knowing, knew that Jonah will run away, and the sin will continue. Apparently, no-one else can save the city other than Jonah, or God would have picked someone else. What's so special about Jonah? All the things that Jonah does - his words to the cityfolk, his accent, his clothes: God could simply have created a simulacrum to do all of those exact things, and therefore, save the city, at any point. He didn't need Jonah to personally come do it.

He didn't need to punish Jonah for being reluctant to spread a lie, and, he could have ended the awful sin of the city earlier. But God didn't do those things, because, the writer of the story of Jonah had limited imagination, and had a way of thinking about God that was small-minded, and uneducated, and therefore, the God of that story was inferior in its methods. A simple story, a fable, written by a simple person: it says more about the author than it does about God. It's hard to see why this story is in the Bible at all.