OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY PAPER 1

Introduction

Chapter 1 and 2 of the Book of Jonah is an account of how Jonah disobeyed God’s mission to warn Nineveh of the impending destruction. The encounter with God’s power at sea was enough to bring him back to his errors and thus repentance and the subsequent Lord’s mercy. The prayer in chapter two shows a repentant and forgiven Jonah.

Commentary

The first two chapters of the book of Jonah focus on the God calling of Jonah, his disobedience to God, the turn around and forgiveness.  Chapter highlights a captivating narration of Jonah’s encounter with sailors, God’s hurled storm, a huge fish and the Lord. The prophet‘s will seemed to have been locked in a fight with God’s will , whereby God’s will had to emerge victorious since Jonah could not escape the calling [1]. The encounter with a fish illustrates that God can use any of His creatures to accomplish his will. The attitude of YHWH to all of his creatures in the chapter is exemplary, in that all creatures are valuable and can fulfill the intended role in human existence[2]. The view among some scholars that the Book of Jonah was fictional and thus dismissing its historicity seems to be misguided because the story itself, including Jonah and the fish , was believed and highlighted by Christ especially the three days and three nights.  Moreover, the three days and nights in the belly of the fish could be a symbolic representation of Jonah’s journey to the Nineveh.  The motive of the prophet to flee would have been the fear that venturing on to such a dangerous commission to a heathen city would be risky to him[3]. The prophet was required to present the message to a foreign and idolatrous city but was reluctant, which is the case of a prophet who has been charged with a message but hides it.   The failure of the believers to present the message to perishing people does not negate its importance and the Lord use the means He sees necessary to accomplish the mission.

The story of Jonah in chapter 1 resonates through time with believers who fears what seems to them as a burden so heavy to bear. He feared that he could not accomplish the onerous job given to them and thus his follies are believers’ follies too.  The prophet’s enemy is himself since he is aware of what the Lord want him to do but he refuses to do it.  Believers can identify with the prophet’s leaving the work undone. Jonah’s feeling of unfitness in his life is a painful reminder of believers’ daily tussle with meaning. The story therefore shifts from the message that was given to Jonah to his attitude and behavior, as he seems not to understand the urgency and concern of the message as shown by God[4].  Only after God’s disruption of the Jonah’s escape does the prophet realizes the need for the message especially now that he has been forgiven of his rebellion.

 Chapter two involves the prayer as a narrative within the story and the prayer takes an integral part of the general plot of the book. It is a description of true repentance on the prophet’s part and grace on part of the Lord which was extended to him[5].  However, it is not an implication that the prophet became perfect or his character no longer had contradictions or inconsistences as indicated later in the book about his attitude towards God’s forgiveness to the great city. God subjected Jonah to the hardship in the oceans so that to provide him with an opportunity to realize his error.  The sailors in the ship with Jonah seemed afraid even though it can be assumed that they were used to the storm and hence, the threat in this case must have been quite extreme. Every person cried unto their gods but those idols could not save them from destruction. That the prophet was asleep did not necessarily prove that he was innocent and his guilty conscious mad him to shrink from fellow sailors[6]. However, the sleep could also be as a result of carnal and false security.

In Jonah 4:2 God is seen as the subject of casing act. The prophet, after he is thrown overboard by other sailors, is carried deeper by the currents so that he is taken into the furthest reaches of the ocean[7].  It is in the furthest reaches of waters (oceans) that the prophet repents and then recites the prayer[8]. Therefore, it seems that the prophet would only realize his error when in the harshest of conditions so that he could not save himself. Thus, this explains the exclamation by the prophet in the prayer that “Salvation is of the Lord”[9]. Only the Lord would save him first from his follow and then from the stormy sea.

Conclusion

Jonah had to undergo the hardship at the sea in order to realize his mistake and turn back to the Lord. The prophet’s fear of the mission leads to a conflict with God’s will and this resonates with believers who place personal preferences before the Lord’s mission.

 

 

Bibliography

Abasili, Alexander Izuchukwu. "The Role of Non-Human Creatures in the Book of Jonah: The Implications for Eco-Justice." Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 31, no. 2 (2017): 236-253.

Ferreira, Johan. "A Note on Jonah 2.8: Idolatry and Inhumanity in Israel." The Bible Translator 63, no. 1 (2012): 28-38.

Gaines, Janet Howe. Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

Dascalu, Raphael. "Between Intellect and Intoxication: An Exploration of Tanḥum ha-Yerushalmi's Commentary to the Book of Jonah." Jewish Quarterly Review 105, no. 1 (2015): 42-71.

Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2016.

 

 

[1] Gaines, Janet Howe. Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

 

[2] Abasili, Alexander Izuchukwu. "The Role of Non-Human Creatures in the Book of Jonah: The Implications for Eco-Justice." Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 31, no. 2 (2017): 236-253.

 

[3] Gaines, Janet Howe. Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

 

[4] Ferreira, Johan. "A Note on Jonah 2.8: Idolatry and Inhumanity in Israel." The Bible Translator 63, no. 1 (2012): 28-38.

 

[5] Ibid

 

[6] Gaines, Janet Howe. Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah's Dilemma. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

[7] Dascalu, Raphael. "Between Intellect and Intoxication: An Exploration of Tanḥum ha-Yerushalmi's Commentary to the Book of Jonah." Jewish Quarterly Review 105, no. 1 (2015): 42-71.

 

[8] Ibid

[9] Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2016.