Freedom beyond Forgiveness

The Book of Jonah Re-Examined

Thomas M. Bolin

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 236

Copenhagen International Seminar 3

Copyright © 1997 Sheffield Academic Press

Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd

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19 Kingfield Road

Sheffield S11 9AS

England

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-85075-642-2

In Memoriam—

William O. Bolin

1923–1975

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Chapter 1

Plotting a Course

Pre-Modern Interpretation of the Book of Jonah

Modern Exegesis of Jonah

Concluding Remarks

Chapter 2

Flight and Capture (Jonah 1:1–16)

Jonah the Son of Amittai

Jonah 1:1–16

Sea Storms in Ancient Literature

Conclusion

Chapter 3

Prayer and Deliverance (Jonah 2:1–11)

The Origins of Jonah’s Poem

Background Issues: The Gattung of Jonah’s Poem and its Analysis as Poetry

Jonah 2:1–11

Jonah’s Psalm and the Psalter

The Interpretation of Jonah 2:3–10

Conclusion

Chapter 4

A City’s Fate (Jonah 3:1–10)

Jonah 3:1–10

Nineveh the Great City

The Biblical Context of Divine Repentance

Conclusion

Chapter 5

The Messenger and the Message (Jonah 4:1–11)

Jonah 4:1–11

The Divine Attribute Tradition in the Hebrew Bible

Jonah’s Wish for Death

Conclusion

Chapter 6

Concluding Remarks

Jonah and its Israelite Context

The Theological Perspective of Jonah

Bibliography

Index of References

Index of Authors

Preface

This book is a revision of my doctoral dissertation from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (1995). It questions the interpretative judgments, assumptions and methodologies of much of the modern exegesis of Jonah. It also critiques as inherently flawed the dominant method in biblical studies which uses Israelite history and the Bible to mutually support and explain each other. It analyzes the book of Jonah by means of a combination of the standard historical tools, lacking in many of the newer literary approaches, with the freedom from the failed attempts of traditional biblical scholarship to assign a date or detect a historical background for the book. An interpretation of Jonah is offered independent of any historical speculation derived from hypothetical reconstructions of Israelite history.

This study is broadly arranged along the lines of a commentary. After an overview of the history of scholarship in Jonah, the analysis follows the outline of the book. Each of the four chapters of Jonah receives a separate treatment. Much space is devoted to textual and grammatical analysis, attention being given in particular to ancient translations. In addition, biblical and extra-biblical traditions, motifs and conventions which also appear in Jonah are examined to provide an interpretative context for the book. Through this latter analysis, an opportunity is gained for renewed study of the distinct theological themes of the Hebrew Bible. The implications of this finding are discussed in a concluding chapter. Translations of Jonah are ...