Exegesis: Jonah Essay

curse and the whale is a real best-selling(predicate) childrens story, the classic Sunday school lesson. However, many children g row up with the idea and picture of Geppetto and Pi zero(prenominal)chio being swallowing by the whale and sneezed turn up dorsum onto shore. though we may non want to tell our children every macabre detail close jinx, we bathroom at least get the word correct and say curse and the big or salient slant, the pitsce thither is no evidence that it was a whale in particular.Even though the story of jonah has caused many scholarly argu handsts ab bring out the genre and the type escape from of narrative it is, whether it allegorical, a fable, or a parable, in the prophet jinxs story thither atomic number 18 many lessons to be conditi unmatchabled close to graven image.1 In hex 111-17, we vex beau ideal brings estimable and punish handst from our weaknesses and disobe ease upnce. In this paper there argon several areas that allow be expl ored. First, a content analysis of jinx 111-17, hence a brief history about Nineveh and whammys decision, who the main characters are, hexs riot and the good brought out of that, and finishing impinge on with a practical application. Content AnalysisIn the New transnational Version, Jonah 111-17 reads, 11The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, What should we do to you to return the sea calm down for us? 12 Pick me up and throw me into the sea, he replied, and it pass on become calm. I k outright that it is my switching that this great storm has come upon you. 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to reach. But they could not, for the sea grew tied(p) wilder than before.14 so they cried out to the master copy, Please, Lord, do not allow us die for taking this mans breeding. Do not hold us responsible for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, reach d unmatched as you pleased. 15 indeed they took Jonah and threw him over bill of fare, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly idoli lift upd the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and do vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the venter of the fish ternary geezerhood and three nights.In verse 11, the outlet of the sailors supposeing has turned from them to Jonah and what he has d single to cause such a thing and how he mountain fix it.2 Since they know Jonah is a Hebrew and follows the Hebrew graven image, they commit come to realize and fear his perfection. Since they asked what they needed to do with him in verse 11, Jonahs solvent to them in verse 12 is not pleasing to them. If Jonah would die from being thrown over board then the ancestry of his life is on their hands and on their condemnation. So in verse 13, the sailors peter out their last option of seek their best to row back to shore. antecedent they were throwing the cargo overboard to lighten the broad be adrift, which considering what the Tarshish embarks were celebrated for transporting, luxury items (see section Nineveh and Jonahs Decision, below) the cargo they discarded may drive been of a invaluable loss.The sea growing even wilder is an example of chaos and divinity fudges voluntaryness to upset the order of nature and his creation to draw cosmos closer to him and awareness of his existence. By verse 14, the sailors are crying out to beau ideal and asking for the blood of Jonah to not be held against them because they did not know what he had done. If they were to throw an innocent man overboard the blood of innocence would be worse than facing the storm they were in. later they pleaded to the divinity fudge they now know is the true divinity, they throw Jonah over board and the sea grew calm and the sailors were able to continue on their way. In 16, the incident that the sea grew calm in force(p) as Jonah said it would aft(prenominal) they threw him overboard made them f ear God.They made a sacrifice, which would squander been an wildcat sacrifice offered for the one they fear as act of worship and obedience. forethought in this case denotes an attitude or reverence and honor towards the Lord.3 In verse 17, having a fish arranged to swallow Jonah roll in the hay be seen as somewhatthing of a punishment or a lifesaver. After the last couple events, it is roaring to say the fish is both punishment and a lifesaver. Punishment for streamlet the opposite direction and the fact that God could reserve allowed something a little less severe to save him. Also, the fish was Jonahs earthly lifesaver because sharks, sea urchins, or an an otherwise(prenominal)(prenominal) things could put up led to Jonahs death from being cast into the sea. Nineveh and Jonahs DecisionNineveh was a very in-chief(postnominal) urban center in the Assyrian empire on the brink of destruction.4 It was not until 705 that the metropolis was formally omened the capitol of A ssyria.5 It is a lot noted at the great city. It is often argued what the word, great, means in this context. The Greeks saw Nineveh as a wealthy and powerful city.6 Another earn of great is that it was a big city with a large population, of about 120,000 with estimations rising all the way up to 600,000.7 Great in these ii senses is about the same, and though it seems to be the correct meaning in this context, it is import to note that it could also mean something else in a different context. Later on in Jonah it means that the city is great even in Gods eyes.8 Even though the Hebrews knew the city as being very evil, it was still a great city to God and mattered just as much. I have heard the actions of Nineveh be equated to the Holocaust. The Ninevites followed a pagan path and practiced violence.9 We find in Nahum chapter three, that Nineveh is described as a bally(a) city, full of lies and plunder, and many other evils.This city was known to be evil, so Jonah receiving the call to go advocate regretance to the state instantly made Jonah mad. thither were two things that could happen if Jonah would go, and neither of them were good in his eyes. First, if Jonah were to just prance into Nineveh with the message of repentance against the evil they were practicing the odds werent in his favor if the people rejected his message. Surely this call was an ineluctable call to Jonahs demise. He would be captured and tortured by the Ninevites. This scenario doesnt even seem to be the worst case for Jonah.He is more concerned with the fact that if they do repent from their ways they will no coherenter have what is coming to them. For all the evil and bloody mess they have been a part of and have caused, they deserve to be harshly pronounced and punished Jonah becomes very angry with this call to diplomatic minister and wishes that he would rather be dead. God answers him in a very brief question about his right to be angry.10 This puts Jonah in check with his emotions and settles the point that it isnt Jonah who gets to decide or judge the people. The sins of Nineveh were not necessarily against Jonah.Since neither situation of Jonahs call seemed to fit his idea of fair, he fled the opposite direction of Nineveh. He remunerative to get on a ship that was on its way to Tarshish, which is in general thought to be a part of Spain.11 First of all fleeing to Tarshish from Israel, and absent from Nineveh is interesting because Tarshish isnt clean like the holy land of Israel, alone it isnt unclean like Nineveh.12 It al close to seems like Jonah was trying to cover up or just become part of a land that has no good or bad intensions. Second, there is the fact that is often not read into that Jonah was able to pay to get on the ship. Money handlings was a relatively new aspect to their world and notwithstanding people who were rise up to do would have been able to afford ship fare.13 So it would make since that Jonah could just up and go to Tarshish, because he had the funds to do so.The boat Jonah paid to board was transporting cargo. Ships of Tarshish were famous for carrying large quantities of expensive metals and luxuries such as gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.14 Knowing this, it is safe to affect that Jonah is moving up in the world. He has money to board, and is now on a ship that is believably transporting some items that could be utilitarian in gaining wealth, however, the text of Jonah repeatedly says that he went down.15 He was fleeing from the Lord, so this action of justton down can be considered to have a symbolic meaning of falling or getting hike up from the Lord. However, just as we see in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, we find that there is nowhere you can run to hide from the Lord.Main CharactersGODIn any motif, it is jockful to know who the characters are and a little about their history. The first words in the track record of Jonah are the words from God. He is a v ery important person through with(predicate)out the entire Bible, and in this discussion, he has many correspondences with Jonah. passim the story we see Gods character being strengthen from what one can learn in earlier books of the Bible. God is compassionate, care for people no matter what they have done, and just goes to show his unpredictability. We see Gods compassion and caring nature through the displace of his prophet to them for a chance to repent before legal opinion comes. though our human nature naturally wants bad things and punishment to be bestowed upon the evildoers, God sees this in a different perspective. He wants good things for all his people. curseJonah is the central character in the book of Jonah. God commands him to preach to Nineveh in the first chapter, and refers to Jonah as the son of Amittai.16 Throughout the old(a) Testament we see that anyone who is going to be important has a note i.e. son of. Though Jonah is altogether mentioned as son of one man, this is still subscribeificant. Jonahs name means dove.17 Doves have two meanings attached to them. It is a symbol of love and a sign of peace. Not only are they symbols of love and peace, they also carry the connotation of being a messenger bird. We see this in the Noah and the ark narrative when Noah sends out a dove and it returns, performing as a messenger, with an olive branch, acting as a sign of peace because the chaos of flooding the whole earth had ceased. Next, the meaning of Amittai is truth.18 So Jonah son of Amittai can be translated into peaceful messenger of truth.Also, this name and son of can be cross-referenced in the hoar Testament in 2 Kings during the reign of double-magnum II, giving us a time frame reference for when this book was written or when these events took place.19 Though God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah is never taken into Gods confidence.20 This means Jonah didnt know what Gods intentions were behind this decree. Was God simpl y exemplification the Ninevites about their upcoming judgment day, or was this going to be what made them have a change of heart and accept Jonahs message? This was left up to Jonah to grapple with, just now as we see Jonah heads straight to anger in the fact that God is even considering giving them a chance to repent SAILORSThe sailors on the ship going to Tarshish, were the first to come into physical contact with Jonah. This contact happened to be during Jonahs fleeing from the Lords command. The sailors were Gentiles and having to deal with Tarshish puts them into the category of not being clean or unclean. They had their own gods and deities to which they asked and pleaded too when the sea went chaotic. Though they are not particularly doing anything wrong from what they know, they handle themselves very well from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.21 They are just ignorant besides carry out their duties as best they can.22 They cry out to their gods and cas t lots and when they know it is Jonah, the Hebrew, whom they must(prenominal) throw off the ship, they do everything they can to avoid killing a man and having his blood on their hands. NINEVITESThe people of Nineveh is the evil community whom Jonah has been instructed to preach about the day of judgment coming to them and that they must repent or be punished. Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria, which was overthrown not long after their repentance. Jonahs Rebellion and Gods lenityJonah 111-17 is the after math of Jonahs ascension and what his punishment was, for not obeying the first time God commanded him to go to Nineveh. In the first part of Jonah 1, Jonah is called to go, but out of uncomfortableness towards the idea of Nineveh getting off scot free from their offenses he flees the opposite direction. opinion he can escape from the face of the Lord, God follows wherever he goes and creates chaos to show his anger and disappointment that he disobeyed. Jonah must be thrown o verboard to save the sailors and their ship. However, it is because of Jonahs rebellion that these sailors come to know of the Hebrew Gods power. If it were not for Jonah disobeying, these sailors may never have heard or experienced God in such a powerful way. They turned from their old ways and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and repented to the one true God. Though there is no further evidence, these sailors probably had families, so the rebellion may have led to a half mask effect and impacted their families and friends.Jonahs missionary commission was not revoked just because of his disobedience.23 Gods resistivity to letting Jonah get away with his disobedience act was overflowing to save Jonah by providing a fish to swallow him up and pretty much put him in timeout so he could think and pray about what he had done and what he will have to do. This fish conveniently spits him up on the shore of Nineveh so his pilgrimage there is not as long. Jonah completed what could have b een an easy task when he finished his jaunt through the city of Nineveh. This journey of preaching of the soon upcoming destruction if they dont repent and turn from their ways.In conclusion of Jonahs disobedience, the Jonahs negligence to accept Gods call the first time ended up obstetrical delivery more good than if he would have just gone the first time. A whole ship clump was won over because of the stormy sea and the calming after throwing Jonah overboard. This ship crew would have told their families and friends which might have led to domino effect. Also, the city of Nineveh was won over by Jonahs message. Whether it was because during the days of Jonahs running, God was preparing their hearts to receive the message, or because of Jonahs awful stench from being in the fish for three days and nights, God brought so much good out of Jonahs mistake.ConclusionIn an overall conclusion, the book of Jonah has some very unique and intriguing aspects about God and his divine plan. at that place is also no telling who is going to be used in Gods plan or who will accept His ornament and forgiveness, so as we research the history of the characters in the Bible narratives we find many diversities. Even though those characters may screw up or deliberately disobey, God can bring good out of it, if we are willing to confess and do the write thing. God makes all things make up together for good. He also cares for all of His creation, but He is willing to create some chaos in nature if it means bringing His creation, made in His image, closer to him. Practical ApplicationA materialization woman, named Welma, was recently married to a man named chivvy. All Welma ever treasured to do was to be a stay at home mammy and be a loyal, supporting wife so she never went to college. She met chivvy at a grocery store one night and one thing led to another. Now that they are married harass has been imprint a great deal of passion to work in a prison ministry and felt par ticularly led towards attend toing men, who had sexually abuse or assaulted someone, get over any shame or ill-doing they may have.Though Welma loves and wants to fully support Harry, she was a victim of sexual abuse and she feels as if Harry is betraying her by wanting to help men who have committed such a crime. She feels as if it is an unforgivable sin and they should have to suffer through the guilt and whatever punishment that comes their way. So though she agreed to be supportive in all Harry does, she cant bring herself to come along side him and help in any way. Since this is how she feels she avoids the topics at all possible cost.They have only been married three years, and she doesnt want him to feel like she is abandoning him, even though under the surface that was exactly what she was doing. She was running from the call to help her husband preach the good news of repentance and grace. It is during this time of running that she is forced to face some issues that she has been dealing with since this ministry came back up. While Harry is away at the prisons, she is reading her Bible and meditating on why she feels so hurt by Harrys insistence on dowery such bad people.She spends her time doing this at a local coffee shop and there are a group of young girlfriends, probably in utmost school who have a class break-dance during the time Welma studies at the coffee shop. Since the girls go in there on a regular basis they often see Welma studying. Two of these girls have been raised in the church, but werent living out Gods commands, and the other two girls had no clue what Welma was always intently studying and why should would often just be sitting there with a puzzled look on her face. One morning, while Wilma was just getting through her studies the girls decide to go say hi. Welma is somewhat impress by this because she recalls wanting nothing to do with people her age when she was in high school.The girls ask her what she is always doing there and why she looked puzzled most of the time. Feeling bold, Welma decided to explain to her situation to the girls, and ask what they might do in that place. The two girls who were not raised in the church this instant said they would leave him. Let him do what he wants, if he is going to hurt her like that. However, the other two girls were slower to answer because ample down they had a feeling they knew what was the right thing to do. So one girl spoke up and told Welma to work it out with God and pray for the strength to forgive and move on from that incident.She told her to pray for her husbands ministry and that God could slowly work Welma into helping him with small tasks at first, but gradually be brought in and help out with big things. The girls three friends were shocked at how their friend answered Welmas question. They had never heard her talk like that or heard her talk about God. With this, being such a shock, the girls were instantly intrigued and in awe of th is wisdom and advice, which sounded like there was more behind it. So together Welma and the two girls who had grown up in church were able to minister to the other two girls.Over time Welma was able to jump into helped Harry with what she could, but mostly just supporting him since it was mostly just a mens prison ministry. Welma was able to let go of her past and let God heal her and even better, Welma was able to start a high school ministry with those girls and teens that were in abusive situations.Through Welmas distress and discomfort with the Gospel message being brought to people who had done terrible things, God was able to mend Welmas broken heart, strengthen her marriage, and start a whole other ministry with girls who had been in her same scenario. Bibliography Baker, D.W., T. Desmond Alexander, Bruce K. Waltke. Obadiah, Jonah, Micah An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill. Intervarsity Pr, 1988. Bolin, Thomas M. Should i Not Also Pity Nineveh? Divine Freedom in the discussion of Jonah. daybook for the Study of the Old Testament no. 67 (1995) 109-20. Cary, Phillip. Jonah. pace Rapids, MI Brazos Press, 2008. Ferguson, Paul. Who Was the King of Nineveh in Jonah 3 6.Tyndale Bulletin 42, no. 7 (1996) 301-14. Forti, Tova. Of Ships and Seas, and Fish and Beasts Viewing the Concept of Universal Providence in the Book of Jonah through the Prism of Psalms. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament35, no. 3 (March 1, 2011) 359-374.Sargent James E., Basic Bible Commentary Hosea through Jonah. Graded Press, 1988. Jenson, Philip Peter. Obadiah, Jonah, Micah a Theological Commentary. New York T&T Clark, 2008. Lamb, Christopher. Nineveh Revisited hypothesis and Practice in Interfaith Relations. International Bulletin of Missionary seek (October 1984) 156-58. Limburg, James. Jonah a Commentary. Louisville, KY Westminster John Knox Press, 1993. Sargent, James E. Hosea through Jonah. Graded Press, 1988.Sasson, jak M. Jonah (the Anchor Yale Bible C ommentaries). London Yale University Press, 1995. Timmer, Daniel C. A Gracious and clement God Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah. Westminster Theological Journal (March 1, 2008) 159-75. Wiseman, Donald J. Jonahs Nineveh. The Tyndale Biblical Archaeology Lecture (1997) 29-51.