Book of Jonah
Channel: 宇宙のすべての知識 プリンシピア
Date: 26/01/2019

Book of Jonah, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4451 / CC BY SA 3.0

#5th-century_BC_books
#4th-century_BC_books
#Twelve_Minor_Prophets
#Jonah
#Book_of_Jonah
Book of Jonah

The Book of Jonah is a book of the Nevi’im (“Prophets”) in the Hebrew Bible. It tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah son of Amittai who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. Set in the reign of Jeroboam II (786–746 BC), it was probably written in the post-exilic period, some time between the late 5th to early 4th century BC. The story has a long interpretive history and has become well known through popular children's stories. In Judaism it is the Haftarah, read during the afternoon of Yom Kippur to instill reflection on God's willingness to forgive those who repent; it remains a popular story among Christians. It is also retold in the Quran.

Unlike the other Prophets, the book of Jonah is almost entirely narrative, with the exception of the poem in chapter 2. The actual prophetic word against Nineveh is given only in passing through the narrative. As with any good narrative, the story of Jonah has a setting, characters, a plot, and themes. It also relies heavily on such literary devices as irony.


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 (sometimes transliterated as "Joppa" or "Joppe"), and sailing to Tarshish. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they are eventually forced to throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offe...