The story of Jonah is well-known to every Sunday School kid. It is, however, sadly neglected in the Church's pulpit. It is not the gospel. Nonetheless, its message of God's compassion for sinners lays the foundation for understanding the heart of God that would eventually bring Jesus Christ to Cross at Calvary. It is not the gospel, but it is an essential part of it.
While the book of Jonah presents few difficulties for understanding it, scholars have long debated how it should be understood as a whole, that is, what kind of literture is it? Was it intended to be understood figurative—whether as an allegory or a parable—or historically? In the past, the disbelief in accepting the possibility of a person being swallowed by a fish had led to liberal Christians to assert a figurative interpretation. Reacting to such unbelief conservative and evangelical Christians have traditionally taken the book to be a historical account and view any other view as near heretical. But the two options are not mutually exclusive, and the opinion that it is to be understood figuratively is not necessarily motivated by unbelief. While the book is set in a solid historical setting, it could (still) have been possible for the author to intend it to be understood figuratively, perhaps as a parody of the prophet who, though in the service of Yahweh, never grasped the true heart of his Master, which, of course, is the heart of the book's message even when read historically. Both options are equally evangelical.
The book opens with a simple introduction, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and . . ." This is the familiar and traditional style of introducing an oracle in the prophetic books. The similarity, however, ends there for the rest of the book deals not with Jonah's oracles per se but with Jonah himself.
The book of Jonah is set against a solid historical background: the 7th Cent BC.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2018