Assessment 1.

Literary Form and Original Message of Jonah

Regina Duggan 202022477

BS8602C Introducing the Bible (2020)

Lecturer Rev Dr Kris Sonek OP

Word count 1802 words (excl. bibliography)

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Introduction

There have been many varied evaluations regarding the literary form and original

message of Jonah. This essay will contend that the Book of Jonah is a didactic

narrative, conveying the original message that God is merciful and compassionate

towards all people. This will be argued initially through a discussion of the literary form,

which contends that the short proclamation of the book, is overshadowed by a much

stronger story using narrative structure and techniques, and is therefore not a prophetic

book nor a midrash as some scholars suggest. An analysis into the story itself, reveals

an importance in the time in history the story is believed to be placed, a setting of

turmoil and discourse between two peoples, but all believed by God to be worthy of

saving. In adapting this text to a Religious Education setting, the teacher needs to

elevate the lesson from a simple telling of the narrative that the student experiences in

the junior years, to encourage deeper discussion and understanding of the text and how

it relates to their own lives and the world around them.

Literary Form

There is much disagreement and discussion in regards to the literary form of the Book

of Jonah. It is not “more akin to parable or folk tale than prophecy” 1 or a “whimsical,

ironic, and amusing fable”2 of which Beavis and Gilmour articulate. Rather, it is more in

the vein of Boda, who states that “Jonah is a prophetic narrative” 3 full of imagination,

which initiates an emotional response from the reader. This is particularly evident in

1
John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014).
2
Renesa M A. Beavis and M J. Gilmour, Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture (Sheffield: Sheffield
Phoenix Press, 2012).
3
Mark J. Boda and J Gordon. McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets (InterVarsity Press,
2012), 465.
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Jonah 1, as the author tells us a tale of defiance, of a debate of morals – “they do not

want to accept the fact that Jonah must die for them [the sailors] to be saved” 4, and the

consuming of Jonah by a large fish, which conjures up images of a whale. The book

also has the structure and techniques of a narrative, such as “irony, humour, [and]

assonance”5. This evaluation of Jonah 1 partially aligns with my thinking, in although I

contend that it is a narrative, I do not believe that the work is prophetic. As Van Der

Woude states, Jonah’s message to the Ninevites was the ”shortest sermon in world

history…an extraordinary event that has left no trace in the Assyrian records” 6. Barton

and Muddiman also proclaim his prophecy to be “the shortest…oracle ever” 7. Rather

than prophetic then, the long narrative arc, paired with the comparatively diminished

length of Jonah’s proclamation, lends itself instead to be described as a didactic

narrative, asking the reader to learn a particular moral message, by revealing to them

through the story that God is all powerful and compassionate. This notion of the

compassionate God will be discussed further.

Original Message

In order to understand the original message of the Book of Jonah, one must consider

the time in history in which it is believed to have been written. Many scholars such as

Freedman suggest, “there are no simple answers and much critical debate” 8 about its

4
Steven M. Bob, Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives: A Verse-by-Verse Contemporary Commentary
(Pennsylvania: The Jewish Publication Society, 2016).
5
John Barton and John Muddiman, The Oxford Bible Commentary (New York: Oxford University Press,
2001), 595.
6
A S. Van Der Woude, In Quest of the Past: Studies on Israelite Religion, Literature and Prophetism
(Netherlands: E J. Brill, 1990), 45.
7
Barton and Muddiman, The Oxford Bible Commentary, 595.
8
David Noel Freedman et al., The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 3 (New York: Doubleday Publishing,
1992), 936.
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origin, but the time in which the book was set, was by many scholarly accounts, no later

than the 6th century and no earlier than the 3rd century, as Coogan puts it in the Second

Temple period. He contends this is signified by the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after

their return from exile9. This is important because although the Jews had been led back

into their own country and the restoration had begun, there was still uneasiness

between the Jews and the Gentiles at the time. This lends itself to the argument that the

original message of the book is that “God wants to show mercy to all”10, Gentile and Jew

alike. God, at every chapter in the story, showed compassion and forgiveness

regardless of religious belief. When the sailors were fighting for their lives and

eventually threw Jonah overboard, God calmed the seas, showing “universal mercy and

love”11. “Jonah fled to the sea to escape him”12 and even though he had disobeyed God,

God delivered a large fish to rescue him. Again, showing compassion, the fish coughed

Jonah up onto dry ground and allowed him the opportunity to deliver the sermon to the

Ninevites. Then God “working in the world by showing [his] care for all peoples” 13 saved

the people of Ninevah from destruction. Jonah believed that the Gentiles were not worth

saving, but God’s message was that he “wants to save and has the freedom to do so” 14.

The Book of Jonah therefore is a moral lesson that “the Lord is the shepherd of all his

sheep”15, giving forgiveness equally to all.

9
Michael D. Coogan et al., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th Edition (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2010), 1301.
10
Boda and McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, 465.
11
James D. Douglas and Norman Hillyer, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Part 2 Goliath-Papyri (Australia:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1980), 808.
12
Michael D. Coogan et al., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 1303.
13
Jerry L. Sumney, The Bible. An Introduction, Second Edition (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014), 465.
14
Katharine J. Dell, “Reinventing the Wheel: The Shaping of the Book of Jonah,” in After the Exile: Essays
in Honour of Rex Mason, ed. John Barton et al. (Mason: Mercer University Press, 1996).
15
Barton and Muddiman, The Oxford Bible Commentary, 595.
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Adapting to a Religious Education Setting

As an educator, it is important to allow children to interpret stories and images in their

own way. To allow them to provoke feelings and understandings of the story aside from

believing only what I teach, which is often biased because of what I was taught and

subsequently, thoughts and feelings I have derived from such teaching. As Hart

explains, “It is through moments of revelation in conversation with children, or observing

children, that adults are able to learn about the spirituality of the child” 16 and in allowing

this, he explains, wondering and wisdom can be developed. In introducing the story of

Jonah or any bible story, I would begin with a biblical image. This evokes wonderings

for a child. Grey and Ron suggest that we need to “encourage [students] to develop

more complex mental pictures, and prepare them for the multivocality of the text” 17,

which enables them to understand the visual before entering into the narrative. I am

teaching year 5 students and it would be important to ask them, while viewing an image,

questions such as, ‘What do I see?’, ‘I think?’, ‘I wonder?’ about this image. In the first

instance, what can a child see in the image that may give them a clue as to where the

story is set, and who the characters are or what the story may be about. In the instance

of year 5 students, it might be beneficial to have them talk about the image using the

questions in small groups. This allows children who may not understand the task to

listen to others and then form opinions based on these shared thoughts and ideas. It is

important to gather these responses to return to at a later time in the teaching of the

text. Asking children to then visualise the story with their eyes closed as it is being read,

allows them to picture it in their minds and bring it to life. If terms arise that they do not

16
Tobin Hart, The Secret Spiritual World of Children (California: New World Library, 2003).
17
Patrick Grey and Mark Roncace, Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the Arts (Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2007).
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understand, you can explain appropriately. In Catholic education students are taught the

story of Jonah and the Whale from Foundation as a simple narrative, but as the

students get older, it is appropriate to teach them more about the origins of the times

and original message of which I have stated above. Ask students to then retell the story

from their gained understanding. They may use images or artwork depicting the story,

or use Godly play or group work where they act out the story using dialogue. You may

further engage them by “supporting them to make connections with self, others, ideas,

faith and cultures”18 asking, ‘how is this relevant to my life today’ and ‘how can I be

compassionate like God?’. It is then important to revisit the wonderings they voiced

when viewing the image, to see if these and any other questions, thoughts or new

wonderings are addressed. To conclude the three or four sessions needed to teach this

text, it is important to read the narrative again to bring the images and student

responses and knowledge together.

Conclusion

In the beginning of this essay, I set out to argue that The Book of Jonah is a didactic

narrative that conveys the message that God is compassionate and forgiving towards all

people, no matter their faith. This contention was argued through exploring the literary

form of the text, which lead to the conclusion that the short proclamation of Jonah to the

Ninevites, is overshadowed by the techniques and structure of the narrative that runs

throughout the book, therefore making it a didactic narrative. In analyzing the context

and background of the book, I came to the argument that it is a story of defiance and

moral judgement, that conveyed the ultimate message of the overall compassion, mercy
18
Catholic Education Melbourne, Foundation Statement: Pedagogy in a Catholic School, (Melbourne:
Catholic Education Melbourne, 2016).
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and forgiveness of God. In relating the story into a religious education setting, I

concluded that it is important to begin with a visual in order to allow students to make

their own opinions through discussion with peers, to finally come to a deeper

understanding of the message of the text and how this relates to their own lived

experience.

Bibliography

Barton, John, and John Muddiman. The Oxford Bible Commentary. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.

Beavis, Renesa M A., and M J. Gilmour. Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture.
Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012.

Bob, Steven M. Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives: A Verse-by-Verse Contemporary
Commentary. Pennsylvania: The Jewish Publication Society, 2016.
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Boda, Mark J., and J. Gordon McConville. Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets.
InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Catholic Education Melbourne. Foundation Statement: Pedagogy in a Catholic School.

Melbourne: Catholic Education Melbourne, 2016.

Collins, John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

Coogan, Michael D., Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newson, and Pheme Perkins. The New
Oxford Annotated Bible. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Dell, Katharine J. “Reinventing the Wheel: The Shaping of the Book of Jonah.” In After
the Exile: Essays in Honour of Rex Mason, edited by John Barton et al. Mason:
Mercer University Press, 1996.

Douglas, James D. and Norman Hillyer. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Part 2 Goliath-
Papyri. Australia: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980.

Freedman, David Noel, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, and John David Pleins. The
Anchor Bible Dictionary. Volume 3. New York: Doubleday Publishing, 1992.

Grey, Patrick and Mark Roncace. Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the
Arts. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

Hart, Tobin. The Secret Spiritual World of Children. California: New World Library, 2003.

Sumney, Jerry L. The Bible: An Introduction. 2nd Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress

Press, 2014.

Van Der Woude, AS. In Quest of the Past: Studies on Israelite Religion, Literature and
Prophetism. Netherlands: E J. Brill, 1990.