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Jonah Jonah This article was written by Stephen Butterfass for Religious Living on the Web
Mention the Book of Jonah and virtually everyone will know about the "whale" they once heard of or read about somewhere or other. Yet the story of Jonah son of Amittai is more than just a parable or fable among the many found in the Hebrew Bible. It has been called the repository of one of the most sublime revelations of truth to be found among the holy writings. For centuries, it has been a rich source of commentary and interpretation, from traditional exegesis to modern psychoanalytic musings. It is also an outstanding example of the teaching to "pray as if everything depended on God, and act as if everything depended on us": that the combined action of God and human is necessary for deliverance and for 'Tikkun Olam', the repair of the world. Why did the ancient rabbis insert the reading of the Book of Jonah into the afternoon service on Yom Kippur? Perhaps they did it to reinforce the belief that a community, reacting to its own moral failings, could achieve 'Teshuvah' and avert divine punishment. Surely if God could pardon Nineveh, capitol of one of Israel's most savage enemies, there was hope for us all. The Book of Jonah is to be found among the writings known as the Twelve (or Minor) Prophets, the term "minor" referring to the relative brevity of each book. It is not known for certain when the book was composed. Though a prophet of the same name was active during the reign of Jeroboam II (early 8th century B.C.E.and the greatest of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel), many scholars believe the book is a much later work. Jonah is a play in four acts. Its major themes are divine anger, human repentance, and divine forgiveness. Its message is that God, the creator, being merciful, absolves sin, and that mercy extends to all people, not only Israel. The dynamic of the book is the prickly relationship between the two major characters, itself a sub-plot: God is portrayed as the omnipotent master of natural forces and human fate, alternatively controlling and manipulative, then showing compassion for the frail humans threatened by forces beyond their knowledge or control. Jonah is God's reluctant messenger, fleeing a mission he does not want to undertake. He is used by God to make points about humility, ego, and indifference to the fate of others. JONAH, AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION CHAPTER 1 The word of Adonai came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 'Go at once to that great city Nineveh, and pronounce judgment upon it; for their evil has come before Me'. But the Eternal hurled a mighty wind at the sea, causing a violent storm, so that the ship thought it would break up. In their fright, the sailors cried aloud, each man to his own god. They flung the cargo overboard, to make the vessel lighter. Jonah had gone into the ship's hold, and there fell asleep. The ship's master approached and cried to him: 'Why are you sleeping? Get up and call upon your god! Perhaps that god will intercede for us, and we will not perish!' The sailors said to one another: 'Let us cast lots and determine who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us'. They cast lots and the lot pointed to Jonah. So they said to him: 'Tell us, you who have caused this misfortune which is now upon us: what is your trade? where do you come from? what is your country, and of what people are you?' 'I am a Hebrew,' he told them. 'I worship Adonai, the God of Heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.' The men became even more terrified and asked him: 'What have you done?' For now they knew that he was fleeing from God's presence, because he had told them. They said to him: 'What shall we do to you, to calm the sea around us?' For the sea was a raging storm. He told them: 'Heave me overboard into the sea, and the sea shall become calm, for I know that this terrible storm has come upon you because of me.' The men rowed hard to return to dry land, but could not, for the sea raged against them. They then cried out to the Eternal, saying, 'Please, Adonai, do not let us perish for this man's life, nor blame us for innocent blood. For You, Adonai, have done what You willed.' So they heaved Jonah overboard into the sea, which ceased its raging. The men were in great fear of Adonai then; they offered a sacrifice to the Eternal One and made vows. CHAPTER 2 The Eternal assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah remained inside the bowels of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah offered a prayer of thanksgiving to Adonai his God, from the bowels of the fish: 'I called out to Adonai in my distress, CHAPTER 3 So the word of Adonai came to Jonah a second time: 'Go at once to that great city Nineveh, and cry out to it the challenge I tell you.' Jonah went at once to Nineveh, in accordance with the Eternal's command. Nineveh was a huge metropolis, a three days walk to traverse. Jonah made his way into the city, a day's journey, proclaiming, 'Forty more days and then Nineveh shall be overturned!' The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for fasting and dressed in sackcloth, mighty and humble alike. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, put aside his robes, and covered himself with sackcloth, then sat in ashes. He had it proclaimed throughout Nineveh:'By decree of the king and his nobles, neither human nor beast, herd nor flock, shall taste anything! They shall not graze or drink water! Both human and animal are to be covered with sackcloth and shall call to God with fervor. Let all turn from their evil ways, from the violence of their deeds. Who knows? God may turn and relent, turning away from fierce anger, so that we do not perish!' God saw their actions, that they turned from their evil ways. Regretting the punishment planned for them, God did not carry it out. CHAPTER 4 This caused Jonah great displeasure, and he was aggrieved. He prayed to Adonai, saying: 'Eternal One, isn't this just what I said while I was still in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish. I know You are a gracious and compassionate God, endlessly patient, filled with love, renouncing punishment. Take my life from me; it is better that I die than live.' Adonai replied: 'Are you utterly grieved?' Then Jonah left the city, stopping at a place east of it. There he built a shelter and sat under it in the shade, until he saw what would become of Nineveh. God provided a leafy vine, which grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head, shielding him from the sun. Jonah was delighted with this plant. But the next day, at dawn, God provided a worm, which attacked the plant so that it withered. As the sun rose, God sent a scorching east wind; the sun beat down on Jonah's head and he fainted. He willed himself to die, saying 'It is better for me to die than to live.' Then God asked Jonah: 'Are you so deeply dejected because of the plant?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'so deeply that I want to die!' And Adonai said: 'You took pity on the plant, yet you did not cultivate it nor tend to its growth; it appeared overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion for Nineveh, that great city, in which dwell more than one hundred twenty thousand people, who do not know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well?'
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