2 Kings 14:25, The book of Jonah, Matthew 12:38-41, 16:4; Luke 11:29-32. Jonah’s name appears eighteen times in the book, but nobody else—not even the king of Nineveh – is named. Jonah Origin and Meaning. “The Uncertainty Principle of Repentance in the Books of Jonah and Joel,” in Angel, Revealed Texts, Hidden Meanings: Finding the Religious Significance in Tanakh. (Jersey City, NJ: Ktav-Sephardic Publication Foundation, 2009). The decisions students make about social and political issues are often influenced by what they hear, see, and read in the news. How, then, can you expect to understand God’s attributes? It was asked of prophecy: what is the punishment for a sinner? Thus, God’s prophecy at the outset of the narrative challenged Jonah’s very conception of God. Aside from downplaying the role of the sailors in chapter 1, Uriel Simon sidesteps Jonah’s prayer by contending that it was not an original part of the story. . What follows are ten of his most distinctive cartoons of the era. In the belly of the whale, Jonah repented and cried out to God in prayer. In response, God sent a violent storm, which threatened to break the ship to pieces. L. Rogers, created this cartoon. This time Jonah obeyed God. Also has very good dance moves He is very trustworthy. “I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven, who made both sea and land.” The men were greatly terrified, and they asked him, “What have you done?” And when the men learned that he was fleeing from the service of the Lord – for so he told them . Jonah concluded his prayer with two triumphant verses: They who cling to empty folly forsake their own welfare, but I, with loud thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will perform. Although this approach is more comprehensive than the earlier interpretations, it remains incomplete. The Lord! Abarbanel (followed by Malbim) submits that Jonah feared the future destruction of Israel by Assyria, of which Nineveh was the capital (cf. CHAPTER 2. Critique of Technique. However, you also were willing to die rather than face heat. Of the twelve, Joel is the most difficult to date, and we will discuss him in the fourth chapter on the Twelve Prophets. After all, they could not distinguish their right from their left in the sense that they served false deities. American cartoon, 1938, by Clifford Berryman criticizing President Roosevelt for his New Deal spending policies. They prayed to their deities during the storm, treated Jonah with respect even after he had been selected by the lottery as the cause of their troubles, and went to remarkable lengths to avoid throwing him overboard even after he confessed. One may combine their opinions: the sailors and Ninevites both are central to the book of Jonah, each receiving a chapter of coverage. Please, Lord, take my life, for I would rather die than live.” The Lord replied, “Are you that deeply grieved?” (4:1-4), And when the sun rose, God provided a sultry east wind; the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he became faint. Cf. The story of Jonah is about prophecy, the pinnacle of love of God, and the highest human spiritual achievement. An amazing God fearing man. Enlarge. Jonah was callous to the lives of the Ninevites—he wanted to see them destroyed. 77-78; and see response of Uriel Simon to Henshke, “True Prayer and True Repentance,” (Hebrew), Megadim 31 (2000), pp. For I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment. Although they were pagans, the sailors were superior people. (J.T. God had compassion on them and did not destroy them. But I, in contrast, am not like this; I, with loud thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. Nowhere is there evidence of Jonah’s being upset about his or Israel’s reputation. The captain even uses the same words in 1:6 (kum kera) that God had in commanding Jonah to go to Nineveh in 1:2 (kum lekh…u-kera). Very lovable and sweet. Any girl that gets him is very lucky. 2:9-10). Alternatively, Ben-Menahem (, For further analysis of the interrelationship between Joel, Jonah, and Exodus 34, see Thomas B. Dozeman, “Inner Biblical Interpretation of Y-H-W-H’s Gracious and Compassionate Character,”. Plus, Jonah comes with a ready-made nursery-decorating … He walked through Nineveh proclaiming that in forty days the city would be destroyed. He should have explicitly offered repentance as an option, instead of proclaiming the unqualified doom of the Ninevites. Radak assumes that he did. Reproduction of original drawing. She replied, Misfortune pursues sinners (Prov. It was asked of prophecy: what is the punishment for a sinner? However, there is no indication of repentance in Jonah’s prayer. Abarbanel and Malbim (on 4:1-2) suggest that Jonah was outraged that God spared the Ninevites after their repentance for social crimes, since they remained pagans. 140,304,902 stock photos online. [9] See further critique of Simon in David Henshke, “The Meaning of the Book of Jonah and Its Relationship to Yom Kippur,” (Hebrew) Megadim 29 (1998), pp. Deliverance is the Lord’s! As in chapter 1, Jonah’s contrasting himself with pagans is the climactic theme of his prayer in chapter 2. The terrified crew cast lots, determining that Jonah was responsible for the storm. It's not important whether it was a great fish or a whale that swallowed Jonah. There is a paradoxical recognition that the closer one comes to God, the more one becomes conscious of the chasm separating God’s wisdom from our own. God commanded the whale, and it vomited the reluctant prophet onto dry land. Franklin D. Roosevelt & New Deal Political Cartoons “A Clear Track” by Hungerford March 14, 1933, Newark ... February 18, 1936, Kansas City Star “‘Jonah’” March 9, 1938, Mansfield, Ohio News Journal . Afraid of God, the sailors finally tossed Jonah into the sea, and the water immediately grew calm. Jonah’s spiritual attainments were obviously far superior to those of the sailors or the people of Nineveh – he most certainly could tell his right hand from his left. R. Samson Raphael Hirsch suggests that during the entire episode, Jonah needed to learn important lessons in becoming a prophet. They who cling to empty folly forsake their own welfare, but I, with loud thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will perform. 7-12. He had a vital role to play in allowing God’s mercy to be manifest. The term “Ivri (Hebrew)” often is used when contrasting Israelites with non-Israelites. To paraphrase God’s response: You, Jonah, wanted to die for the highest of ideals. The king of Nineveh even said what one might have expected Jonah to say: “Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty. There is a further challenge in being absolutely committed to God, while still respecting moral people who espouse different beliefs. Jonah still was the Ivri he proclaimed himself to be in 1:9, sharply contrasting himself with the pagans he encountered, and thereby remaining distanced from the God he knew would have compassion on them. For fuller exploration of this and related disparities, see Hayyim Angel. [11] This contrast with the sailors was most important to Jonah; therefore, the narrator placed only these words in his direct quotation. Little he truly knew of God second command: Sephardic Publication Foundation, 2009.! By a great guy to talk to about anything that 's on your mind 43:32. A boys ' name is pronounced JOE-nah.It is of Hebrew origin meaning `` ''! 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