FINAL EXAMS REVIEWER

1. ALLEGORY

• Jonah represents the nation of Israel
• the book assumes the form of a reading of ISrael's history and of its obligations before GOd to the nations of the world.
• Jonah's unwillingness to obey God, represents Israel's deafness to the prophetic word in the days before the exile.
• (Israel presumes that God only cares for Israel)
• Jonah personifies the nation who is only concerned for their own salvation only to found out that God also cared for other nations.
• The meaning of being chosen had to be with MISSION
• Jonah represents a new theological development
• the STORM symbolizes the POLITICAL TURMOIL caused by the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Syria-Palestine
• while Jonah's time in the belly of the great FISH represents the BABYLONIAN EXILE
• The vomiting up of the prophet is emblematic of the JUDEAN RESTORATION and God's 2nd call is to be seen as the renewed opportunities for faith and obedience extended to the post-exilic community
• Jonah's bitterness over the task to which God has summoned him and over the summon of his mnission represents the VARIOUS ATTITUDE of the POST -EXILIC JERUSALEM COMMUNITY towrds other nations.

MISSION TO THE GENTILES ?! - a new theology

2. PARABLE

• some others claim JOnah is a parable, a story with a single important meaning
• according to this view the book of Jonah is
• a reading of the state of the Jerusalem communbity during the year after the return from exile
• a state of mind which one finds expressed in the books of Ezpra and nehemia
• Here is a community fearful and hostile to the outside world with its walls (in both a literal and a spiritual sense) rebuilt and sterngthened

According to this interpretation

• the story was told to contrast the narrowness of outlook within the post-exilic community and
• the historic Jonah was used to reinforce the prophetic character of the book

The underlying theology in the book of Jonah is 2 FOLD:

1. God's compassion extends to all nations of the earth; and
2. Israel is under responsibility to be the vehicle by which that compassion is made known

Jonah is read in the afternoon service of Yom Kippur
As Jews pray for forgiveness and for a year of life,

• they recall that God is the God of all mankind, of all the Ninevehs of the world,
• and humankind, created in God's image, is obliged to embrace and extend that compassion.

3. COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DEUTERO-ISAIAH’S SERVANT SONGS

The four Servant songs as identified by B. Duhm:

First 42:1-4

Second 49:1-6

Third 50:4-9

Fourth 52:13-53:12

Isaiah 49:3

“You are my servant he said to me

ISRAEL through whom I show my glory. “

The Servant is identified as Israel.

The Anonymous Servant and Israel: Thematic Parallelisms:

1) “chosen by Yahweh” (41:8-9; 45:4; 43:10; 44:1; 49:7 vs. 42:1)

2) “formed by Yahweh in the womb” (44:2; 44:21, 24 vs. 49:1,5)

3) “upheld and comforted by Yahweh” (41:10; cf. 42:6 vs. 42:1)

4) “hid in the shadow of Yahweh’s hand” (51:16 vs. 49:2)

5) “endowed with Yahweh’s Spirit” (44:3 vs. 42:1)

Thematic Parallelisms:

6) “honored by Yahweh” (43:4 vs. 49:5)

7) “a light to the nations” (42:6; cf. 51:4 vs. 49:6)

8) “gives Torah to the nations, establishes justice” (51:4-8; cf. 42:21,24 vs. 42:4)

9) “in him Yahweh is glorified” (44:23 vs. 53:10c; cf. 49:3)

Thematic Differences

1) Israel despairs (40:27; 41:8-10; 49:14). The Servant is undiscouraged (42:4; 50:7-9).

2) Israel is rebellious and sinful (48:4; cf. 43:27). The Servant is not rebellious but faithful (50:5; 53:4- 6,12).

3) Israel is characterized as blind and deaf (42:18-25) The Servant is attentive and responsive (50:4-5).

Thematic Differences:

4) Israel suffers unwillingly and seeks vindication (51:21-23). The Servant suffers patiently and willingly (50:6; 53:4-9).

5) Israel suffers for her own sins (42:24-25; 43:22-28; 47:6; 50:1) The Servant suffers innocently for the sins of others (52:13-53:12).

6) Israel is to be redeemed (43:1-7). The Servant’s mission is to redeem Israel (49:5).

CRITIQUE VS. RESTORATIONIST IDEOLOGY

The general tone of Isa. 40-55 (minus the servant songs) is exclusive, restorationist, nationalistic.

Contrast this with Isa. 56-66 whose bias is for a more inclusive, ecumenical, universal worldview.

Isa. 40-55 (minus the Servant songs)

Dream: restored nation

Agent: Cyrus, the Persian emperor

Exile viewed as punishment for sin

Restoration is forgiveness

Isa. 56-66 (along with the Servant songs)

Dream: more than restoration, to be “light to the nations”

Agent: themselves as righteous servant

Exile not viewed as punishment anymore, but as means to save “the many”

Restoration is minimum; global unity through Israel, the maximum.

Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs

Only with Trito-Isaiah in mind, can one make sense of the Servant songs in Deutero-Isaiah.

In him we have a prophet who dares to challenge the wisdom of an exclusively restorationist ideology by supporting the option of some Diaspora communities to stay in foreign lands despite the odds.

Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs

He is not as consumed by a nationalist agenda, as by a more universalistic mission to serve as “light to Gentiles”, as instrument of salvation for the rest of the world (Isa 49:6)

Trito-Isaiah:

student of Dt. Isaiah

balances the restorationist ideology of Dt. Isaiah

responsible for the motifs of universalism, non-violence, redemptive suffering, collective messianism

final redactor of the whole book

Isa. 49:6 Balancing restorationism with universalism

“It is too little (naqel), for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations (‘or goyim) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

How?

Not by force, but by witnessing and instruction

Not by violence but through non-violence

Not by inflicting suffering on others, but by taking it upon oneself (substitute suffering).

JUSTIFICATION

The Gentiles are the sinners and the Servant is Yahweh’s righteous instrument by whose suffering and wisdom they (the Gentiles) are justified. They will see the light and understand, and will thus be led to righteousness.

By means of Servant Israel’s affliction, the rest of the world will be healed.

4. COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DANIEL

maskilim (the “wise”) Dan 11:33,35; 12:3,10

“And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who justify the many like the stars, forever and ever.” 12:3

masdiqe harabbim (“those who justify the many”)
Daniel 12:3 “a Midrashic reuse of Isa 52:13-53:12” (H. L. Ginsberg)

Daniel 7:13-14

“One like a Son of Man” = “the Holy Ones of the Most High”

“the Holy Ones of the Most High” = “the wise”

Mission of “the wise”: to “justify” the “many” by their instruction and self-sacrifice

THE WISE ONES and THE MANY

11:33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many.

12:2-3 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake… But the wise shall shine… and those who have led many to righteousness like the stars forever.

12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested… But the wise shall understand.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

11:32-33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many… By his deceit, he will make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize; But those who know their God shall take strong action.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth... Some shall live forever. Others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested... The wicked shall prove wicked; none of them shall understand. The wise shall understand.

Daniel’s Messiah?

No Davidic Messiah in Daniel

2 Allusions to “anointed ones” in 9:25-26

Zerubbabel (cf. Zech 6:9-15)

Onias III (2 Macc. 4:30-38)

The only agent of Redemption mentioned is the “One like a Son of Man”, who represents the “holy ones”, who in turn are associated with the maskilim.

Conclusion

Both Dt. Isaiah and Daniel looked forward to the coming of the messianic age through the mediation of:
remnant Israel (= the Servant) on the one hand, and the Maskilim (= the Son of Man) on the other hand.

Some Implications for NT Studies

The pre-Christian individual Messianic interpretations had paved the way for the later Christian interpretation of both the SS and the SM.

The Jesus Movement espoused a collective messianic self-awareness inspired by Dt. Isaiah’s SS and Daniel’s SM.

Some Implications for NT Studies

Jesus indeed spoke of the SS and the SM in reference, not to himself but to the movement. They were to serve as an earthly anticipation of the future, heavenly Son of Man.

The shift from the collective back to the individual takes place, when the proclaimer becomes the proclaimed. Jesus is the SM.

Some Implications for NT Studies

As the early Christians move from Christology to Ecclesiology, they find themselves fusing together both individual and collective messianism. The Church becomes the historical representation of her individual Messiah.

Roots of Collective Messianism in the Old Testament

Luke 2:29-32

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Acts 26:22b-23

“…I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Isaiah 49:6b

I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the end of the earth.”

See also 42:6 “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light for the nations.”

Acts 13:46b-47

“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

The Messiah
and the Church are one.

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you Sir? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15)

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt. 18:20)

Objective:

To trace the roots of collective messianism in

the anonymous servant figure of Dt.-Isaiah’s ‘Ebed Yhwh songs.

the humanlike figure represented by the holy ones/ maskilim in Daniel

Princeton Symposium on Messianism, Oct. 1987

James Charlesworth (ed.), The Messiah, Developments in Early Judaism and Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.

Article: From Messianology to Christology, Problems and Prospects, 3-35.

Major conclusions of recent scholarship:

The term mashiah occurs nowhere in the whole Hebrew Bible in the technical sense that this term later acquired as a title for a coming eschatological agent of salvation. (The 39 references to an “Anointed One” denote an actual Israelite king, with the lone exception of Isa 45:1 where the title is applied to the Gentile king Cyrus. In no particular instance is the term used to refer to an eschatological figure.)

Major conclusions:

Some important texts such as Ps 2, 2 Sam 7, Isa 7, 9, and 11, Zech 9 and Dan 9:26 contain passages that may be regarded as implicitly messianic, again, not in the sense of an eschatological messiah. These texts were merely interpreted messianically, at least some 2 centuries before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

JJM Roberts, The OT Contribution to Messianic Expectations, 39-75.

“…the majority of biblical passages given a messianic interpretation by later Jewish and Christian sources do not contain the word mashiah.”

(The most popular of these passages are of course the Servant songs in Isaiah and the Son of Man in Daniel.)

MESSIANISM AND THE CHANGING HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Davidic Royal Messiah

Priestly Messiah

Prophetic Messiah

Gentile Messiah

Heavenly Messiah

Collective Messiah

COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DEUTERO-ISAIAH’S SERVANT SONGS

The four Servant songs as identified by B. Duhm:

First 42:1-4

Second 49:1-6

Third 50:4-9

Fourth 52:13-53:12

Isaiah 49:3

“You are my servant he said to me

ISRAEL through whom I show my glory. “

The Servant is identified as Israel.

The Anonymous Servant and Israel: Thematic Parallelisms:

1) “chosen by Yahweh”

(41:8-9; 45:4; 43:10; 44:1; 49:7 vs. 42:1)

2) “formed by Yahweh in the womb” (44:2; 44:21, 24 vs. 49:1,5)

3) “upheld and comforted by Yahweh” (41:10; cf. 42:6 vs. 42:1)

4) “hid in the shadow of Yahweh’s hand” (51:16 vs.

49:2)

5) “endowed with Yahweh’s Spirit” (44:3 vs. 42:1)

Thematic Parallelisms:

6) “honored by Yahweh”

(43:4 vs. 49:5)

7) “a light to the nations”

(42:6; cf. 51:4 vs. 49:6)

8) “gives Torah to the nations, establishes justice”

(51:4-8; cf. 42:21,24 vs. 42:4)

9) “in him Yahweh is glorified”

(44:23 vs. 53:10c; cf. 49:3)

Thematic Differences

1) Israel despairs (40:27; 41:8-10; 49:14). The Servant is undiscouraged (42:4; 50:7-9).

2) Israel is rebellious and sinful (48:4; cf. 43:27). The Servant is not rebellious but faithful (50:5; 53:4- 6,12).

3) Israel is characterized as blind and deaf (42:18-25) The Servant is attentive and responsive (50:4-5).

Thematic Differences:

4) Israel suffers unwillingly and seeks vindication (51:21-23). The Servant suffers patiently and willingly (50:6; 53:4-9).

5) Israel suffers for her own sins (42:24-25; 43:22-28; 47:6; 50:1) The Servant suffers innocently for the sins of others (52:13-53:12).

6) Israel is to be redeemed (43:1-7). The Servant’s mission is to redeem Israel (49:5).

CRITIQUE VS. RESTORATIONIST IDEOLOGY

The general tone of Isa. 40-55 (minus the servant songs) is exclusive, restorationist, nationalistic.

Contrast this with Isa. 56-66 whose bias is for a more inclusive, ecumenical, universal worldview.

Isa. 40-55 (minus the Servant songs)

Dream: restored nation

Agent: Cyrus, the Persian emperor

Exile viewed as punishment for sin

Restoration is forgiveness

Isa. 56-66 (along with the Servant songs)

Dream: more than restoration, to be “light to the nations”

Agent: themselves as righteous servant

Exile not viewed as punishment anymore, but as means to save “the many”

Restoration is minimum; global unity through Israel, the maximum.

Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs

Only with Trito-Isaiah in mind, can one make sense of the Servant songs in Deutero-Isaiah.

In him we have a prophet who dares to challenge the wisdom of an exclusively restorationist ideology by supporting the option of some Diaspora communities to stay in foreign lands despite the odds.

Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs

He is not as consumed by a nationalist agenda, as by a more universalistic mission to serve as “light to Gentiles”, as instrument of salvation for the rest of the world (Isa 49:6)

Trito-Isaiah:

student of Dt. Isaiah

balances the restorationist ideology of Dt. Isaiah

responsible for the motifs of universalism, non-violence, redemptive suffering, collective messianism

final redactor of the whole book

Isa. 49:6 Balancing restorationism with universalism

“It is too little (naqel), for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations (‘or goyim) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

How?

Not by force, but by witnessing and instruction

Not by violence but through non-violence

Not by inflicting suffering on others, but by taking it upon oneself (substitute suffering).

JUSTIFICATION

The Gentiles are the sinners and the Servant is Yahweh’s righteous instrument by whose suffering and wisdom they (the Gentiles) are justified. They will see the light and understand, and will thus be led to righteousness.

By means of Servant Israel’s affliction, the rest of the world will be healed.

COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DANIEL

maskilim (the “wise”) Dan 11:33,35; 12:3,10

“And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who justify the many like the stars, forever and ever.” 12:3

masdiqe harabbim (“those who justify the many”)
Daniel 12:3 “a Midrashic reuse of Isa 52:13-53:12” (H. L. Ginsberg)

Daniel 7:13-14

“One like a Son of Man” = “the Holy Ones of the Most High”

“the Holy Ones of the Most High” = “the wise”

Mission of “the wise”: to “justify” the “many” by their instruction and self-sacrifice

THE WISE ONES and THE MANY

11:33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many.

12:2-3 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake… But the wise shall shine… and those who have led many to righteousness like the stars forever.

12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested… But the wise shall understand.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

11:32-33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many… By his deceit, he will make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize; But those who know their God shall take strong action.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth... Some shall live forever. Others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED

12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested... The wicked shall prove wicked; none of them shall understand. The wise shall understand.

Daniel’s Messiah?

No Davidic Messiah in Daniel

2 Allusions to “anointed ones” in 9:25-26

Zerubbabel (cf. Zech 6:9-15)

Onias III (2 Macc. 4:30-38)

The only agent of Redemption mentioned is the “One like a Son of Man”, who represents the “holy ones”, who in turn are associated with the maskilim.

Conclusion

Both Dt. Isaiah and Daniel looked forward to the coming of the messianic age through the mediation of:
remnant Israel (= the Servant) on the one hand, and the Maskilim (= the Son of Man) on the other hand.

Some Implications for NT Studies

The pre-Christian individual Messianic interpretations had paved the way for the later Christian interpretation of both the SS and the SM.

The Jesus Movement espoused a collective messianic self-awareness inspired by Dt. Isaiah’s SS and Daniel’s SM.

Some Implications for NT Studies

Jesus indeed spoke of the SS and the SM in reference, not to himself but to the movement. They were to serve as an earthly anticipation of the future, heavenly Son of Man.

The shift from the collective back to the individual takes place, when the proclaimer becomes the proclaimed. Jesus is the SM.

Some Implications for NT Studies

As the early Christians move from Christology to Ecclesiology, they find themselves fusing together both individual and collective messianism. The Church becomes the historical representation of her individual Messiah.

JONAH's LESSON IN DIVINE MERCY by Daniel Simon (A Look at Jewish Exegisis of Jonah)

Many modern scholars agree

That Jonah is intended to be a satire,

given its fondness for exaggerated language and absurd, humorous situations

Central theme?

difficult to identify the central theme that unites all elements of the story into a literary and conceptual whole

4 readings (interpretations):

The broad variety of opinions on this subject‑-from the talmudic sages through modern commentaries‑-

can be summarized into 4:

Each one offers: Its own answer to the 3 interrelated questions:

1. Why was Jonah unwilling to prophesy against Nineveh?

2. What did the Lord teach His prophet by means of the tempest, the fish, and the gourd?

3. What are readers supposed to learn from the book?

#1: Atonement vs. Repentance

That Jonah is designated as the haftarah (prophetic reading) for the afternoon service of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) suggests that

this book depicts the concept of repentance so starkly and completely that

it can motivate hearers to repent of their ways and change their behavior.

The Ninevites' repentance does indeed seem to be an exemplary combination of

fasting,

prayer, and

deeds (abandoning their evil ways),

& its acceptance by God is a guarantee and confirmation that true repentance can reverse a decree of punishment.

Simon’s critique:

only chapter 3 deals with the theme of repentance

Unlike the people of Nineveh, the sailors are not described as sinners repenting from sin.

Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish is not a prayer of contrition.

Jonah’s silence at the end leaves the extent of his change outside the narrative.

The incident of the plant and the Lord's reply to Jonah (4:6‑11) relates to quite a different subject:

God’s mercy is not because of the remorse of Nineveh’s citizens, but rather

because Nineveh is a great city,

full of innocent children,

and animals as well.

#2: Universalism vs. Particularism

Jonah preferred loyalty to his people Israel over his duty to obey the Lord of the universe, his master.

Key: the story is set exclusively among gentiles, who are presented in a positive light!

Why does Jonah refuse to go to Nineveh?

He is afraid that the repentance of the gentile city will put the stiff‑necked Israelites in bad light.

In the modern scholarly version
of this exegesis,

the Jonah narrative is described as a critique against the tendency towards narrow exclusivism prevalent among the Jewish returnees to Zion

after they had suffered from the destruction of the First Temple, the Babylonian exile, and the Persian domination.

Being a “chosen people” meant avoiding aliens and even hating them Jonah is taken as representative of this disdain for gentiles, and his flight is explained as a refusal to show them the way to repentance and salvation.

True meaning of “chosen”

By contrast, that Jonah’s escape is blocked points to the true sense of being a “chosen people”: to serve as agent of faith to the gentiles. (Isa. 49:6!)

To demonstrate that this mission can be realized, the humility & open-heartedness of the gentiles aboard the ship and in Nineveh are contrasted with the arrogance of the prophet who rejects his mission.

Simon’s Critique:

This view can’t be anchored in the text of Jonah, unless one can show that the prophet truly embodies such Israelite exclusivism, and the sailors and the Ninevites are cast as faithful representatives of the gentile world open to the call of faith.

(Then indeed Jonah's anger at God’s pardon for Nineveh could be taken as being indicative of a simple xenophobia on his part.)

Xenophobic Jonah?

But note his conduct during the storm: He prevents them (i.e., the sailors) from being dragged into his quarrel with his God!

There being no evident hatred for gentiles and idolatry in the book, it is hard to interpret Jonah’s running away (4: 2) as a protest against God’s mercy toward the Gentiles.

#3) Prophecy:
Realization vs. Compliance

Focus: Jonah's refusal to prophesy in Nineveh and his anger at its deliverance suggesting that his primary concern is his potential embarrassment as a prophet—i.e., that his credibility would be undermined!

According to this view:

the Jonah story teaches us about the educational purpose of prophecies of doom (see Ezekiel 3: 16‑21 and 33:1‑9)

by criticizing a prophet who viewed announcing future events as his role and full realization of the prophecy as his only test.

Advocates of this view include many earlier Jewish scholars including Saadiah Gaon (Beliefs and Opinions 3,5),

Rashi, David Kimhi (who combined it with the second theme reviewed above), Abravanel, and many other modem Jewish scholars

Why does Jonah run away?

because he cannot resolve two contradictions: between the categorization of unfulfilled prophecies as "false prophecies" (Deut 18:21-22) and God’s mercy for the Ninevites, in response to their repentance; and between the concept of God as unchanging and resolute (Num 23:19) and God as compassionate and forgiving.

Why is God compelling him to prophesy nevertheless?

To teach him the paradoxical nature of true prophets, who "foretell punishment to make it unnecessary" (See St. Jerome’s commentary on Ezekiel 33:1).

Simon’s Critique

There is no real sign in the narrative of the prophet's anguish that his prediction was not fulfilled Hence the author of the midrash quoted above had to assume that Jonah had previously been ridiculed by the people of Jerusalem for an unfulfilled prophecy.

#4) Compassion:
Justice vs. Mercy

Jonah argues on behalf of strict justice -- vs. the merciful God who repents of His sentence (upon the Ninevites).

The advocate of strict justice as it were insists: evil abounds not just because of the of evildoers themselves,

but also because God is not really that strict with them (on account of his mercy)! (Diyos na Kunsintidor! Pusong mamon!)

Jonah must learn that the world can exist only through the paradoxical interplay of justice and mercy, that fear of sin is produced not only by fear of punishment, but also by awe at the sublimity of salvation (Jonah 1: 16 & Kings 17:24) and by fascination with grace and absolution (Psalm 130:41).

Jonah anticipated That the Ninevites would be terrified upon hearing his prophecy & thereby repent & that the merciful God would change his mind once they repented But he was wrong to believe that he would be allowed to escape to Tarshish!

More surprises:

· the fish that saves him from death but imprisons him in its belly until he gives up his flight and begins to pray; and

· the plant that saves him from his distress but soon vanishes so that he can feel the pain of loss

· and open his heart to understand the Creator's love for His creatures.

In short Jonah Must Realize His Own Need for Mercy.

Only when the proponent of strict justice realizes his own humanity

can he understand the fundamental dependence of mortals on human and divine mercy.

In the Jonah Midrash, Jonah is made to expresses this recognition

in body language and words, in the answer he gives to the Lord's rhetorical question that concludes the book:

Then he fell on his face and said: "Conduct Your world according to the attribute of mercy, as it is written: 'To the LORD our God belong mercy and forgiveness' (Daniel 9:9)” (Midrash Jonah).

Simon agrees.

The reservations offered against the 1^st 3 views do not apply to the 4th.

It is the only one that does not focus on just a particular segment of the story; rather, it is compatible with the whole story and encompasses most of its elements.

Most commentators of the book of Jonah still adhere to any of the 1^st 3 readings or some combination thereof

(See David Kimhi on Jonah 1:1)

Simon favors the 4^th.

It explains the plot, the characters, and the dialogue as embodying the primordial struggle between justice and mercy.

ROOTS OF COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN OT Dt. Isaiah's Suffering Servant and Daniels Son of Man

The Prophet Jonah

Niniveh - Capital of Assyria

* Language?
* walk on the street?

is a sign - he is suppose to have led the pagan

What sort of a sign was Jonah to Niniveh?

He led the gentile Niniveh to conversion (& consequently to salvation)
In short: Salvation is possible for Gentiles too

the movement of Jonah = prophetic movement
= prophetic community



YONAH - (Heb) for "dove" - used to be a symbol of peace
* but in view of the com... were of the prophet (4)
* it is not unlikely that the name is derived from the root YANAH
- to mourn, in the sense of dolens or "complaining" (See St. Jerome's Commentary on Jonah 4,1)

Outside the book itself, Jonah is cited only 1x in the OT: 2 Kings 14:25
Here he is refered to as a native of Gat-Hefer (in north of Israel)
*a contemporary of King Jeroboam II of the Kingdom of Israel (& therefore contemporary of Amos and Hosea) - pre-exilic
* the period is that of Assyrian domination of Syria - Palestine, from about 725-625 BCE
* we learn too that he predicted the sucess of Jeroboam's military adventures
* mention is made of Jonah
- Matthew 12:39, and in 16:4
- parallel Lk 11:29, 30,32 - but these add nothing to the ...

OUTLINE (Joh Schutz) with some renovations

1. Jonah's call, and disobedience ch 1
2. (Inside the belly of the fish) Jonah's lament and divine intervention ch 2
3. Jonah's second call, and obedience ch 3
4. (over the destruction of the gourd vine) Jonah's complaint and divine reprimand

CERESKO's OUTLINE (Jonah, NJBC)
1. First Mission (1:1-2:11)
A) Jonah and Sailors (1:1-16)
a) Jonah's Flight (1:1-3)
b) The Storm (1:4:16)
B) Jonah and the Great Fish (2:1-11)
2. Second Mission (3:1-4:11)
A) The Conversion of Nineveh (3:1-10)
a) The Action of the Prophet (3:1-4)
b) The Reactyion of the City (3:5-10)
B) God's Attempt to Convert Jonah (4:1-11)


The well-known book of Jonah, the 5th book of the 12 Minor Prophets, is recited as the prophetic lesson (Naftarah) in the afternoon service of Yom Kippur

Scholars concludes that the book of JOnah is either a parable or an allegory, which borrowed the historical figure of Jonah, son of Amitai as protagonist to drive home a particular theological declaration.

ALLEGORY

• Jonah represents the nation of Israel
• the book assumes the form of a reading of ISrael's history and of its obligations before GOd to the nations of the world.
• Jonah's unwillingness to obey God, represents Israel's deafness to the prophetic word in the days before the exile.
• (Israel presumes that God only cares for Israel)
• Jonah personifies the nation who is only concerned for their own salvation only to found out that God also cared for other nations.
• The meaning of being chosen had to be with MISSION
• Jonah represents a new theological development
• the STORM symbolizes the POLITICAL TURMOIL caused by the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Syria-Palestine
• while Jonah's time in the belly of the great FISH represents the BABYLONIAN EXILE
• The vomiting up of the prophet is emblematic of the JUDEAN RESTORATION and God's 2nd call is to be seen as the renewed opportunities for faith and obedience extended to the post-exilic community
• Jonah's bitterness over the task to which God has summoned him and over the summon of his mnission represents the VARIOUS ATTITUDE of the POST -EXILIC JERUSALEM COMMUNITY towrds other nations.

MISSION TO THE GENTILES ?! - a new theology

PARABLE

• some others claim JOnah is a parable, a story with a single important meaning
• according to this view the book of Jonah is
  
• a reading of the state of the Jerusalem communbity during the year after the return from exile
• a state of mind which one finds expressed in the books of Ezpra and nehemia
• Here is a community fearful and hostile to the outside world with its walls (in both a literal and a spiritual sense) rebuilt and sterngthened

According to this interpretation

• the story was told to contrast the narrowness of outlook within the post-exilic community and
• the historic Jonah was used to reinforce the prophetic character of the book

The underlying theology in the book of Jonah is 2 FOLD:

1. God's compassion extends to all nations of the earth; and
2. Israel is under responsibility to be the vehicle by which that compassion is made known

Jonah is read in the afternoon service of Yom Kippur
As Jews pray for forgiveness and for a year of life,

• they recall that God is the God of all mankind, of all the Ninevehs of the world,
• and humankind, created in God's image, is obliged to embrace and extend that compassion.