Introductory Considerations on Jonah

INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS ON JONAH

Virgil Warren, PhD

Two views have been taken of the Book of Jonah: (1) the historical and (2) the literary. Under the former, Jonah gives an account of actual events. In the latter, the work is a short story written to express more general truths about God and man in the world. The significance of the matter along with the procedure for determining the genre is dealt with below.

In the case of Jonah, the literary genre determines (a) the method of interpretation and (b) the truth base.

(1) As to the manner of interpretation, putting the book into the literary category affects what and how much one gets out of the book. The reader will take less out of it since particulars such as place, time, and specific actions are considered only as vehicles for what the story was written to teach; hence, they are not taken as actual, but as typical. Other times, places, and specific actions could have been chosen as well. Indeed, the truth intended did not happen in history; it is simply affirmed by the author. Recurring or characteristic truths rather than discrete events provide the substance of the writer’s intent.

(2) The danger also exists of getting too much out of the book. In literary efforts, events are planted in the story to carry forward the message the author intends. The tendency, then, is to attach significance more frequently to places, numbers, and the like, than would be the case when events simply occur. Selectivity in historical writing is about the closest creativity in literature. History still restricts what a historian can do with what he records, however. As a result, the reader expects to attach significance to elements in the story in keeping with the fact that they have been manufactured for a purpose.

(3) A final interpretation consequence is that wrong may come from putting it in the wrong category. If a historical piece is regarded as a purely literary one, then a historical setting will be sought for it to aid in its interpretation. In the case of Jonah, scholars sometimes propose that the book came from the period of reconstruction in reaction to a hyper-nationalism in Ezra and Nehemiah. Construed that way, Jonah advocates a position opposed to theirs. One of these prophets’ two positions must then be wrong.

Putting a historical book into a literary category also alters the base for its contents. In the historical approach, the fact of occurrence guarantees its truth. In the literary approach, the correctness of the author’s perceptions must guarantee its truth. If the events in Jonah actually happened, their implications are true by virtue of the fact that they happened: God does control the affairs of non-Jews, he does care about the heathen; the principle that human repentance leads to divine forgiveness operates with Gentiles as well (note Acts. 12:18); and so on. If the events in Jonah did not happen, then the correctness of its theological import rests on the writer’s source of insight. Inspiration rather than experience could provide that insight; that is, short story as much as parable could in the theory of things be a legitimate form of communicating a divine message. In practice, however, as far as the Book of Jonah is concerned, considering it short story often combines with setting the book in contrast to the work of another writer in scripture—Ezra the scribe. The truth base being altered, error is more possible.

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