According to the second book of kings, jonah lived during the reign c. And jonah, in the coming years, will say with tender heart and tears, along with each whom god. Their countenance, but jonah wore with quiet modesty, and bore as if it were a sign of grace, from lip to ear across his face. One of the greatest prophets during the time of jeroboam ii was jonah the son of amitai, who, as a prophet disciple, had anointed jehu and who, therefore, enjoyed the kings benevolence. Jonah 1 reveals these seven interesting life lessons when we run from god. For reasons stated above, the book of jonah contains elements that reveal. Though some modernists argue that the concept of a bodily resurrection of christ from the dead was unknown in old testament times, jesus demonstrated otherwise. T he book of jonah is an old testament story which tells about how the prophet jonah refused to follow the lord.
One teacher of israel says the story of jonah is more about repentance than it is about the fish. In the introduction to the book of jonah in the esv expository commentary. Any worries are with how these topics are handled in the en. Jonah berger is a marketing professor at the wharton school at the university of pennsylvania and internationally bestselling author of contagious, invisible influence, and the catalyst. While some scholars have concentrated their efforts on deciphering the historical context of the book and whether such context is helpful for understanding the text, 1 others have focused on the character of jonah, and have seeing him as an ethnocentric israelite prophet who apparently hates the nations and. He was part of the 15,000mile relay that carried the olympic torch to the one. Due to jonah shirking his divine mission, god sends. According to the opening verse, jonah is the son of amittai.
As early as the 1st century christian theologians have been prominently discussing. It is a mistake to assume that events and actions of the book are. A more recent view is that the book was written long after jonahs time by some anonymous author and that it is a work of fiction with a moral lesson. The theme of repentance nominates it for being read on yom kippur, but it has less to say. Harley sheffield gained celebrity status through an unusual mishap. The incidentals in the book of jonah are the fish, the gourd, the east wind, the boat, and even the city of nineveh.
The book is named after its principal character, whose name means dove. The selfrighteous make the grave mistake of rejoicing only in their own deliverance 2. The book of jonah, written primarily in the third person, does not explicitly name the prophet as the author of his own account, but we have no reason to doubt. The book of jonah includes the famous story of the great fish often erroneously thought of as a whale has led many to dismiss this book as merely a biblical fish story.
List of books and articles about book of jonah online. The lord, the great king, is free to bless, to be gracious, and to be patient with all the nations on earth. Others have pointed out the different types of hebrew and argue that the book has been edited by generations after jonah. Substantive work, while differing through the centuries, has been dedicated to the book of jonah. Because of his sovereign power, the lord is able to rescue and save. While jonah eventually did what he was asked to do, the book closes with showing jonah as a bitter man. Others believe jonah is read on yom kippur with the hope that listeners would learn from jonah s mistakes. 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. The book of jonah is a remarkable story perhaps best known for the stubbornness of a prophet, the great fish that swallows and then regurgitates jonah, the conversion of the whole city of nineveh, and the rapid growth and death of a gourd. Jonah is identified as a prophet and servant of god during the reign of king jeroboam ii of israel 2 kings 14. Hes a worldrenowned expert on social influence, word of mouth, and why products, ideas, and behaviors catch on and has published over 50 papers in toptier academic journals. Jun 17, 2019 the book of jonah tells the narrative of a merciful god who delights when people repent and turn to him for salvation.
The writer of this article has attempted to do this in stades zeitschrift, 1892, pp. The book of jonah challenges gods people not to exalt themselves on others. Yonah is a strange prophet, and sefer yonah the book of jonah a strange book. Some explain that jonah is evidence that no one can escape the presence of god, even while trying to run from the almighty. We need not, however, study the whole book to get this message. Pfeiffer, states, it is fictiona short story with a moral like the book of ruthor the stories about danieljonah is a perfectly good short storywith a beginning, a middle, and an endthe author of jonah. You can read more indepth bible verses from the scripture below and use the articles and videos to understand the meaning behind this teachable event in the bible. This article employs attribution theory to investigate why readers have made such widely varying judgments concerning the character jonah.
The book is also written as a historical narrative. Through some supernatural events, god convinced him to obey and carry out the lords plan. Conservative scholars place the writing of the book of jonah before 745 b. The book of jonah preface those of you who are familiar with the story of jonah and the whale know that jonah hopped a ship heading in the opposite direction when god commanded him to go preach to the ninevites. It tells the story of a prophet called by god to preach repentance to the city of nineveh. In his article, he attacked the book of jonah by stating. Interestingly, the book of jonah consists of only 4 chapters, 48 verses, and just over 1,300 words. The message of the book of jonah christian articles. It is incredible that one could be alive for three days in a fishs belly.
God sends jonah to the notoriously evil city of nineveh jonah 1. Jonah and the whale almost serves as a cipher or cliffsnotes kind of summary for the book, despite the facts that 1 the book never calls the animal in question a whale but simply a fish or big fish, and 2 the fish episode is hardly what the book of jonah is primarily about. Although some consider this book to be an allegory, according to 2 kings 14. Ironically, the book of jonah is filled with irony, parody and exaggeration. Articles sermons topics books podcasts filter resources by. This is a book summary of contagious by jonah berger. On the surface, the story of jonah lends itself to a moralistic interpretation. The discussion of humour in the book of jonah points out that many scholars have recognised the use of irony, parody, and satire in the book, leading some to characterise it as satire. It is one of trei asar the twelve prophets in the tanakh, and in christian tradition as oi dodeka prophetai or ton dodekapropheton, greek for the twelve prophets.
Mar 16, 2018 in a pair of articles on literary structure and the book of jonah, ernst wendland argues for what makes a chiasm valid, with a test case in the book 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. Once he had burned with fire and jealousy, because the word of god and all his laws. The witness of jonah max reich the messianic hope of israel. Passing over the brief prophecy of obadiah, with its veiled reference to the messiah in saviours who will go up on mount zion, under the leadership of the jehovahsaviour, for the kingdom shall be the lords obadiah 1. The book of jonah, containing the wellknown story of jonah in the stomach of a fish for three days, is a narrative about. The book of jonah, written primarily in the third person, does not explicitly name the prophet as the author of his own account, but we have no reason to doubt either the inspiration or the historical veracity of the book. Nevertheless, focus on the whale highlights the genre. The book of jonah is the fifth book in the christian canons and the jewish tanakh. Beautifully balanced, deep and profound jonah s adventure opens a window into the heart of god. Controversies over the book of jonah have apparently all but ceased. Book of jonah overview insight for living ministries. Ingram, virginia 2012 satire and cognitive dissonance in the book of jonah, in light of ellens laws of psychological hermeneutics, in harold ellens, j. Running from god may indicate bitterness or unforgiveness toward another.
An overview of the book of jonah leads one to determine two prominent sections, namely, jonahs abortive voyage to tarshish jon 12 and jonahs journey to nineveh. The book of jonah was likely written between 793 and 758 b. Jonah understands the lords character, his merciful history. It is an important book to both religious traditions christianity and jewish. Professor settle listed several alleged inaccuracies contained in the book. Indeed, the account in the book of jonah depends on that in the book of kings.
Getting into jonah by seeing the books literary structures. Now forty years had passed since he had left gathhepher, near the sea of chinnereth, and then returned, a different man. Apr 04, 2020 an overview of the book of jonah leads one to determine two prominent sections, namely, jonahs abortive voyage to tarshish jon 12 and jonahs journey to nineveh. We sin against the spirit of the book jonah in trying to take it as real history. The book of jonah exposes in a sometimes humorous way the foibles of the faithful in ancient israel. Jan 18, 2016 this is a summary on the biblical account of the jonah and the big fish.
If there are 1,000 steps between you and god, god will take 999 of them and leave the last one for you. Douglas stuart hoseajonah word biblical commentary, 1987. This summary of the book of jonah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of jonah. You can find his reflections on chiasms here they demonstrate how much the biblical authors, in this case jonah or another. The book of jonah presents a beautiful type of the resurrection of christ from the dead. But this small book has a much deeper, more powerful message that has been obscured through the ages. The superscription of the book provides the prophets full name. As our church begins to study jonah, i share the outlines from his second article. Let me share with you seven great lessons from the book of jonah.
This article is part of the christ in all of scripture series delayed obedience. Furthermore, jesus validated jonahs experience in the belly of the fish as factual matt. Book of jonah has created wide gaps, even among likeminded theologians. In recent years, jonah has seen an explosion of critical and favorable attention. God called to jonah one day and told him to go preach to nineveh because the people were very wicked.
In a pair of articles on literary structure and the book of jonah, ernst wendland argues for what makes a chiasm valid, with a test case in the book of jonah. The book is anonymous, and its authorship is in dispute. Book of jonah is about a book, more or less another bio, written about 2500 years ago from a biblical, judeochristian outlook and translated many times. Against the backdrop of human folly shines the brilliance of divine faithfulness. Top 5 commentaries on the book of jonah ligonier ministries. Dec 19, 2015 the book of jonah ends on this note of contrast between jonahs ungracious heart and the kind heart of the lord. The discussion of humour in the book of jonah points out that many scholars have recognised the use of irony, parody, and satire in the book, leading some to characterise it. The traditional view is that the prophet jonah is the author, and his book is a record of his own experiences. 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. As a result, he spent three days in a big fish before god got his attention and jonah decided to obey him. Identified in verse 1 as the son of amittai, jonah came from a town called gathhepher. Jonah is the central character in the book of jonah, in which god commands him to go to the city of nineveh to prophesy against it for their great wickedness is come up before me, but jonah instead attempts to flee from the presence of the lord by going to jaffa and sailing to tarshish. The book of jonah cannot be accepted as history settle, b4. Jonah is portrayed as a recalcitrant prophet who flees from gods summons to prophesy against the wickedness of the city of nineveh.
God wants you back, but you must take a step toward him. What you need to know about the book of jonah digital. This branch of social psychology examines the ways in which we go about judging other people and literary characters, including our tendency to assume that behavior is a function of robust character traits rather than the. More than that, he may show compassion even on the wicked. The essentials here are jehovah and jonahgod and manthat is what the book is all about. List of books and articles about book of jonah online research.
The book of jonah tells the narrative of a merciful god who delights when people repent and turn to him for salvation. He knows the lord has been faithful to the israelites and to him as an individual. You will also remember how god provided jonah with a living submarine to get him back where he belonged. Ones viewpoint on the historicity of the great fish ch. Listen to chuck swindolls overview of jonah in his audio message from the classic series gods masterwork. Unlike other old testament prophetic books, jonah is not a collection of the prophets oracles but primarily a narrative about the man.
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