The Comic Elements and the Revolutionary Messages in Jonah 4:1–11
The Comic Elements and the Revolutionary Messages in Jonah 4:1–11
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54855/csl.26624Keywords:
Jonah; prophet; the boundless mercy of God; the gratuitous love of GodAbstract
The purpose of this article is to explore and to present the singular character of the Book of Jonah, particularly as it emerges in the book's conclusion, Jonah 4:1–11, which is widely regarded as the climax of the work. Among the prophetic books, Jonah stands out as a singular and unusual composition, and this distinctiveness is displayed in a special way in its closing chapter. Here the author concentrates upon a direct dialogue between the prophet Jonah and God, and it is precisely in this exchange that the reader encounters the work's most significant revelation concerning the divine. The details of the passage may at first provoke the reader's amusement, only to leave resounding thereafter the most profound and original messages of the book—messages that were revolutionary for their age. To this end, the article proceeds in three steps. It will first treat briefly the figure of the prophet Jonah, the historical context, the literary genre of the work, and the structure of the text; it will then proceed to an exegesis of the passage; and finally, it will draw out several theological reflections and applications.
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