Book of jonah satire

Whats your opinion of the argument that the book of jonah is satire. Pfeiffer, states, it is fictiona short story with a moral like the book of ruthor the stories about danieljonah is a perfectly good short storywith a beginning, a middle, and an endthe author of jonah. Its more likely some kind of rabbinic parable reflecting on the possible openness of the covenant or more generally gods favor toward gentiles, and how fundamentalist jews like jonah would and should process that. Historically, this topic has not received much attention, but modern scholars generally agree that humor can be found in biblical texts. The book begins with god telling jonah to go to the great city of nineveh. The book of jonah is definitely one of those various ways.

Due to covid19 this fbs meeting was conducted online. One of the more interesting books of the old testament is the book of jonah. Apr 12, 2016 watch our overview video on the book of jonah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. It tells of a hebrew prophet named jonah son of amittai who is sent by god to prophesy the destruction of nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. Is the genre of the book of jonah history or or is it satire. It concludes that the book of jonah is best described as a satirical challenge to theodicy of the exile. Additionally, if the book of jonah is indeed a satire of jewish life and attitudes, then it is likely that the author would have used a contemporary enemy of the jews in his satire. The discussion of humour in the book of jonah points out that many scholars have recognised the use of irony, parody, and satire in the book, leading some to characterise it as satire. Aug 31, 2006 here are some of the red flags that the book of jonah is an exaggerated satire3. It is the story of a man who throws everything away because of visions he develops, and a woman who has everything taken from her, turning her into a shell of a person. Satire is exaggerated reality, but is still based on reality. Whats your opinion of the argument that the book of jonah is. The tiny book of jonah is a great satire on the seer jonah. In the book of jonah, gods message spoken via jonah comprises one half of one verse.

Nevertheless, focus on the whale highlights the genre. Presentation to the fellowship for biblical studies, sydney, friday 27th march 2020. Mainstream bible scholars generally regard the book of jonah as fictional and often at least partially satirical, but the character of jonah may have been based on. And in addition to his books propagandizing for a universalist view of a merciful god with a sense of humor, thats. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonahs character is anything but dovelike. The book is replete with irony, wherein much of its humor lies. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonah s character is anything but dovelike. The discovery of him, and his disobedience, to be the cause of the storm v. Over the centuries many have argued for jonah to be read as ironic, a satire, comedy, and while we are not completely sold on the idea, it is easier to imagine than you may think. Nov 12, 20 the book of jonah tells the story of a chauvinist jerk named jonah. Also, from a satirical perspective, the closer to reality the satire is, the more effective it is, in terms of mannerisms, real people, and real words. Watch our overview video on the book of jonah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. The bible and humor is a topic of biblical criticism concerned with the question of whether parts of the bible were intended to convey humor in any style.

Key personalities include jonah, the captain and the ships crew and the people of nineveh. The book of jonah is narrative history and a prophetic oracle. Background essay for a lay or undergraduate audience introducing or reinforcing the ideas 1 that even the bible might use the usually disreputable mode of satire, and insufficiently appreciated mode of comedy. But he could not understand how god could love even foreign nations who did bad things. Verses 12 this book is a story about god and jonah. Pdf teaching the biblical book of jonah as satire and. So william whedbee,1 yvonne sherwood,2 and most recently mark biddle3 have highlighted some of the very funny images in jonah, such as that of a ship having a nervous breakdown. The pursuit and arrest of him for that disobedience by a storm, in which he was asleep v. It discusses four different prophecies which the author considers to be satire. Jonah and the whale almost serves as a cipher or cliffsnotes kind of summary for the book, despite the facts that 1 the book never calls the animal in question a whale but simply a fish or big fish, and 2 the fish episode is hardly what the book of jonah is primarily about. Through some supernatural events, god convinced him to obey and carry out the lords plan.

The book was not written to entertain but to indict politicians, scientists, philosophers and englishmen in general. The book of jonah gives an account of 1 jonah s divine commission to go to nineveh, his disobedience, and the punishment following 1. Marcus takes the different difficulties of the book running away, big fish, animals in sackcloth, etc and discusses how they are elements of satire. So keeping the rebellious jonah alive in a fish isnt any big challenge for god. The book of jonah recounts real events in the life and ministry of the prophet himself. Ive seen it mentioned a few times that the book of jonah is a satire. The story of jonah as allegory, parable or history. The purpose of this book is to show that god is a merciful and gracious god. While jonah eventually did what he was asked to do, the book closes with showing jonah as a bitter man. Jan 22, 2011 when jonah is read as a satire, with intentionally crafted elements of irony, mockery and dry humor. Jonahassatire is a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine partly because its what the bible actually says and i think its. Irony exists in the gaps, between what we are told and what we are meant to understand.

Swifts political satire in book i and ii of gullivers. Ackerman, all of whom argued for a reading of the book of jonah as satire or parody. Here are some of the red flags that the book of jonah is an exaggerated satire 3. Jonah is the only prophet to ever preach to nonhebrews actually hes not called a prophet in his book, but thats clearly what hes protrayed as. Its a strange book, so different from the other eleven minor prophets all 12 of the minor prophet books were on the same. Humour, tragic laughter, jonah, trauma, satire, comedy a introduction several scholars have identified comedic elements in the book of jonah. In book i, he is primarily concerned with whig politics and politicians, rather than with abstract politicians. Book of jonah is not jewish life but hebrew letters. All of these events are backwards in comparison with other prophetic books. Pdf teaching the biblical book of jonah as satire and comedy. No, the book of jonah cannot be read as history fred clark. Nov 05, 20 is the genre of the book of jonah history or or is it satire.

Instead of finding a godly prophet who represents the lord with faithfulness, we find a wicked prophet who represents the sin of israel. The second school of thought and the majority position in modern scholarship is that the story of jonah is a parable, arguing that the didactic nature of the book stresses the narrowness of nationalism, the universalism of god, or other various ideas that might comply well with a parable format bullock, 52. The arguments ive heard for the book of jonah as history are fourfold. In this fourpart article series, well look at the book of jonah with four techniques in mind. The book of jonah started out entertaining, quickly became disturbing, then got even darker, became kind of boring, and wound up to be quite moving. Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point, only to be swallowed by a great fish and dumped back at this starting point 2. The book of jonah is a subversive story about a rebellious prophet who. Literary characteristics unlike most other prophetic parts of the ot, this book is a narrative account of a single prophetic mission.

The four elements of satire take the following form in the book of jonah. Jonah is identified as a prophet and servant of god during the reign of king jeroboam ii of israel 2 kings 14. When jonah is read as a satire, with intentionally crafted elements of irony, mockery and dry humor. Its a narrative, not a typical prophetic book in form. Gently raise the sacred satire by common consent, a. Jonah, satire and literal interpretation theopolitical. Possible targets of this parody and the books likely audience are discussed, and similarities with other biblical literature of the period are analysed. T he book of jonah is an old testament story which tells about how the prophet jonah refused to follow the lord. Mckenzie has argued that a number of clues in jonah point to its genre and overall purpose as being one of satire. The book was written to show that prophecy has a mission in the world. Pdf teaching the biblical book of jonah as comic satire. This is a satire written by one who lived in the transitional period between the seer and the prophet. I was wondering if this is at all a common interpretation of the book, and if anyone knows the reasoning for saying the book is satire. Our card highlights a moment in the book which has led some scholars to pronounce the book of jonah as an example of biblical humor.

Through satire and compelling storytelling, the book of jonah reveals to readers why god is compassionate to evildoers in the past and present age today. The book of jonah tells the story of a chauvinist jerk named jonah. The point of jonah as a satire is a mockery directly of those jews of the time who reduced god to being a merely tribal deity and indirectly of all who would try to reject gods acceptance of those who do not deserve it. Go to the great city of nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point 1. The book of jonah is a book of the neviim prophets in the hebrew bible. Dive into an intriguing tale of mercy in the book of jonah. In book i and ii, swifts satire is more toward individual targets rather than firing a broadside at abstract concepts.