Jonah Through the Centuries E-Book

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Blackwell Bible Commentaries
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 616

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

A meticulous exploration of the reception history of Jonah in all its facets Jonah through the Centuries is a systematic examination of the reception history of the book of Jonah, long-recognized for its numerous theological implications and diverse interpretations. The first book of its kind written in English, this singular volume provides a lucid and coherent commentary on the most influential re-readings of Jonah in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular traditions. Author Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer progresses slowly through the book of Jonah verse-by-verse--even word-by-word through key verses such as Jonah 1:1 and 2:1--to offer readers deep insight into the many and multifaceted interpretations of Jonah from early Jewish readings to modern literary retellings. Structured thematically rather than strictly chronologically, the text begins with the earliest interpretation and follows its trendline all the way through to modern times before turning to the next-oldest interpretation. The commentary covers a broad range of retellings in many languages and in various media including commentaries, sermons, prose, poetry, theatrical drama, art, and music. Throughout the text, the author demonstrates how all these retellings ultimately originate within the biblical text itself and highlights how many of the interpretations are fueled and influenced by the interpreter's religious background, cultural assumptions, and their preconceived notions of what the text should say. * Discusses how retellings of Jonah ultimately originate within the text's theological or literary ambiguities, choice of words, or syntactical construction * Explains how cross-cultural interchanges between Jews, Christians, and Muslims at different points throughout the centuries influenced the reception of Jonah * Highlights how several retellings form clusters according to the interpreters' religious affiliations * Covers various interpretations of both often-cited and lesser-known verses from the book of Jonah * Interacts with an international range of literary retellings of the book of Jonah, offered in English translation Jonah through the Centuries is an invaluable resource for educated clergy, undergraduate and graduate students in both seminaries and universities, scholars and academics, and general readers with interest in the reception of biblical texts in literature, art, and music.

Leseprobe

Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries

Series Editors: Ian Boxall, Andrew Mein, Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Founding Editors: John Sawyer, Christopher Rowland, David M. Gunn

John Through the Centuries

Mark Edwards

Revelation Through the Centuries

Judith Kovacs and Christopher Rowlands

Judges Through the Centuries

David M. Gunn

Exodus Through the Centuries

Scott M. Langston

Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries

Eric S. Christianson

Esther Through the Centuries

Jo Carruthers

Psalms Through the Centuries:

Volume I

Susan Gillingham

Galatians Through the Centuries

John Riches

Pastoral Epistles Through the Centuries

Jay Twomey

1 & 2 Thessalonians Through the Centuries

Anthony C. Thiselton

Six Minor Prophets Through the Centuries

Richard Coggins and Jin H. Han

Lamentations Through the Centuries

Paul M. Joyce and Diana Lipton

James Through the Centuries

David Gowler

The Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries

Heidi J. Hornik and Mikael C. Parsons

Chronicles Through the Centuries

Blaire French

Isaiah Through the Centuries

John F.A Sawyer

Psalms Through the Centuries:

Volume II

Susan Gillingham

Matthew Through the Centuries

Ian Boxall

Jonah Through the Centuries

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Jonah Through the Centuries

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

This edition first published 2022

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tiemeyer, Lena-Sofia, 1969- author. Title: Jonah through the centuries / Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer. Description: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. | Summary: “The reception history of the book of Jonah offers a rich web of interpretations. This brief introduction outlines some of the key interpretative trends in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular readings”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2021021853 (print) | LCCN 2021021854 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118973349 (hardback) | ISBN 9781118973318 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118973325 (epub) | ISBN 9781118973332 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Jonah--Criticism, interpretation, etc. Classification: LCC BS1605.52 .T54 2022 (print) | LCC BS1605.52 (ebook) | DDC 224/.9206--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021853LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021854

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Table of Contents

Cover

Series page

Title Page

Copyright

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Jonah 1

Jonah 2

Jonah 3

Jonah 4

Conclusion

Biography

Bibliography

Index of Biblical Texts

General Index

Index of Authors

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Jonah 1

FIGURE 1 Illustrations of the Jonah narrative in Härkeberga...

FIGURE 2 The Catacomb of Saint Peter and Saint Marcellino...

FIGURE 3 Sarcophagus, The Lateran Museum, Rome...

Jonah 2

FIGURE 4 Illustrations of Hell mouth from Ödeshög church, Sweden...

FIGURE 5 Photo of the Baroque pulpit in the Church of Saints Peter and...

FIGURE 6 Patriarchal Basilica (Friuli Venezia Giulia), Aquileia (Italy)...

FIGURE 7 A fourteenth-century illustration from Jami al-Tavarikh. Jonah and...

FIGURE 8 A Michelangelo’s depiction of Jonah in the Sistine Chapel...

FIGURE 9 Jonah and the fish in Aramaic....

FIGURE 10 ‘Jonah and the Whale’ by Pieter Lastman...

FIGURE 11 Carrow Psalter. Walters Manuscript W.34, fol...

FIGURE 12 Brescia Casket, Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia...

Jonah 3

FIGURE 13 Stained glass windows at Ely Cathedral...

Jonah 4

FIGURE 14 ‘Jonah Under the Gourd Vine’, Cleveland Museum...

FIGURE 15 The Zubdat-al Tawarikh manuscript, Museum of Turkish...

Guide

Cover

Series page

Title Page

Copyright

Table of Contents

Author’s Preface

Begin Reading

Bibliography

Index of Biblical Texts

General Index

Index of Authors

End User License Agreement

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Author’s Preface

It is a gargantuan task to cover the uses and misuses of the Book of Jonah throughout the last two millennia. The present commentary does not set out to do so; rather, it aims to showcase some of the more influential re-readings of the book in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular traditions. My starting point will always be the biblical text itself. I shall show how all the retellings ultimately originate within the text itself: sometimes in its theological or literary ambiguities, sometimes in its choice of words, and sometimes in a syntactical construction. In parallel, retellings are fuelled by the interpreter’s preconceived ideas of what the text ought to say, ideas that are often influenced by the interpreter’s religious background and cultural assumptions. As a result, we shall frequently observe how several retellings form clusters according to the interpreters’ religious affiliations: one set of retellings may be labelled typically mediaeval Jewish, whereas another set may be found nearly exclusively in Patristic circles.

Interpretative clusters, Jewish and Christian alike, should never be understood to exist in a vacuum. Rather, they are influenced by one another. A Christian interpretation often triggered a Jewish counter-interpretation, and vice versa. I shall endeavour to explain the dynamic behind this interchange and highlight what societal and religious factors gave rise to a given interpretation.

Many of the Christian interpretations are strongly anti-Jewish, and some of the Jewish interpretations are, although to a significantly lesser extent, anti-Christian. I neither excuse nor condone these interpretations. It is my hope that the readers of this volume will recognize them for what they are and neither encourage nor propagate their use.

The notion of interpretative clusters also influences the structure of my commentary. I have arranged the interpretations thematically rather than strictly chronologically. In practical terms, I shall begin with the earliest interpretation and follow that line of thought through to modern times before turning to the next-oldest interpretation, and so forth.

My commentary progresses slowly through the Book of Jonah, verse by verse and sometimes even word by word. Some verses have given rise to a plethora of interpretations, whereas others have seldom been cited. The commentary reflects this unevenness, with the result that the discussions of key verses, such as Jonah 1:1, 3, and 2:1, will stretch over many pages. Other verses are treated much more succinctly due to the relative lack of interest shown by exegetes.

The reception of the Book of Jonah interacts not only with the Masoretic text (MT), i.e. the received Hebrew text, but also with a wide range of translations, predominantly the Septuagint (LXX), the Aramaic Targum (TJ), and the Syriac Peshitta (S), among others. Yet, most interpretations, predominantly but not exclusively Jewish ones, have their origin in aspects associated with the Hebrew text. I have therefore opted to open the discussion of each verse with my own very literal translation of the MT into English. I have made limited effort to arrive at an idiomatically pleasing translation; rather, the translation serves to give readers insight into the exact rendering of the Hebrew text. When citing from other passages in the Bible, the translations are from the NIV (unless otherwise stated).

Throughout the commentary, I have avoided, by and large, using Hebrew characters and instead have opted for a simplified form of transliterations. At times, however, I have chosen to include the germane Hebrew words and expressions so that readers familiar with the language can grasp the logic behind a given interpretation. Likewise, when an interpretation stems from the Greek translation of Jonah, I have similarly included the Greek text to enable readers to comprehend the rationale behind the retelling. The same is true for interpretations depending on the Latin text of the Vulgate, etc. In all cases, I provide the original language, accompanied by an English translation.

In addition, I have endeavoured to find English translations of the original sources. This means that the Jewish Sages, the Church Fathers, the Reformers, and so forth, are not cited in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, or German but in the extant English translations. For more details concerning the translations, please see the bibliography. When no translations exist, I have translated the source myself (or asked kind friends for help).

Reception history is truly synchronic insofar as few interpreters prior to the twentieth century interpreted the Book of Jonah on its own. Jonah was considered a book within a larger canon, and interpreters allowed the rest of that canon to inform the events and concepts within the book. As a result, we should not be surprised to find interpreters drawing from a wide range of biblical passages to support or refute a given interpretation of a passage in Jonah.

On a related note, I am fully aware that many of the perceived contradictions in the final form(s) of the Book of Jonah can be and have been explained by modern scholarship from source-critical and redaction-critical perspectives. A case in point is the tension between the narrative in Jonah 1, 3–4 and the psalm in Jonah 2. I have wilfully excluded such diachronic interpretations. This approach should be construed as neither endorsement nor rejection of diachronic explanations but as an attempt to preserve the focus of the present commentary on the received text in its final form(s).

Finally, some technical details.

I refer to God as a masculine singular entity called either God or YHWH. This is a linguistic rather than ontological decision that seeks to reflect how God has been perceived for most of the last 2500 years.

Many people have written commentaries to the Book of Jonah. In each case, unless otherwise specified, the references to their writings go to the germane verse in their commentary. In the case of the

Glossa Ordinaria

and the Geneva Bible Notes, unless stated otherwise, the reference belongs to the verse under discussion. With reference to the Church Fathers, this is true also for Jerome (transl. MacGregor), Cyril of Alexandria (transl. Hill), and Theodore of Mopsuestia (transl. Hill); with reference to the reformers, the same principle applies to Calvin (transl. Owen) and Luther (transl. Oswald). In the case of Luther, I shall further indicate whether his comment appears in his Latin or his (longer) German commentary. The interpretations of the mediaeval Jewish commentators (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Abarbanel) are all taken from the Rabbinic Bible, as found in the Bar Ilan Judaic Digital Library (the Responsa Project). As above, their views are expressed in their commentary to the particular verse under discussion (transl. Bob) unless otherwise specified.

English translations of the following primary sources are taken from the following texts unless otherwise indicated: the Jewish-Hellenistic sermon

On Jonah

, see Muradyan and Topchyan; Rabbinical sources (Mishnah, the talmudim, Mekhilta, Genesis Rabbah, etc.), see Neusner; Targum Jonathan, see Cathcart and Gordon;

Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer

, see Friedlander;

Glossa Ordinaria

, see Litteral; ‘Patience’, see Koertge; the Qur’an, see Pickthall; the Zohar, see Wineman.

It has been a rare scholarly privilege to spend the last five years in the company of the Book of Jonah. I wish to thank the series editors John F.A. Sawyer and David Gunn for their invitation to write this commentary and for their continuous and ever-gracious and constructive support along the way. I am also very grateful to the series editor Andrew Mein, who read through the penultimate version of this book and gave constructive and encouraging feedback. I am further indebted to the students in my seminar ‘Jonah and His Fish’ that I gave in the autumn of 2019 at the University of Aberdeen. Their questions and insights constantly prompted me to think deeper about the issues raised in this commentary. I especially wish to thank Dr Hei Yin Yip, Amy Bender, Dorothy Plummer, and Caitlin Yool for pointing out a plethora of typos and less felicitous English constructions, thus helping me to write a better book. I am also, as always, grateful to my husband Andreas Tiemeyer for his constant willingness to discuss yet another theological issue, yet another interpreter, and yet another textual problem. It is not an exaggeration to say that Jonah and his fish have become members of our family!

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Örebro, Sweden, November 2020

Jonah 1

The first chapter of the Book of Jonah features God’s calling to Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach repentance. It also speaks of Jonah’s attempted flight to Tarshish to avoid that same calling. We shall explore how interpreters through the ages have embellished the character of Jonah, with focus on his origin, his character, the reasons behind his disobedience, and his interaction with the sailors on board the ship.

Jonah 1:1

And the word of YHWH came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying

The first verse of the Book of Jonah raises several questions. The ensuing discussion will focus on two key issues. First, what information can we glean from the description of Jonah as the ‘son of Amittai’? Who were his parents and where did he live prior to his flight from Yafo? Second, was this the first time that ‘God’s word came to Jonah’ or had God already commissioned Jonah to serve as a prophet earlier in his career?

Jonah’s Identity and Ancestry

2 Kgs 14:25 gives interpreters their chief starting point for establishing Jonah’s identity. This verse refers to a person named Jonah, son of Amittai, who was a contemporary of Jeroboam II. We further learn that this Jonah was from Gath-Hepher. This reference compels most pre-critical scholars to identify the prophet in the Book of Jonah with this man, with the result that the events in the Book of Jonah are assumed to have taken place in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the eighth century BCE.

The Jewish sages sought to find out even more about Jonah’s background story and family connections. Whereas 2 Kgs 14:25 states clearly that Jonah’s father was Amittai, his mother’s identity is more difficult to establish. Rabbinic traditions commonly identify Jonah’s mother with the woman of Zarephath, who hosted Elijah (1 Kgs 17) and whose son Elijah resurrected. The basis of this identification can be found in the use of the word ‘truth’ (emet) in 1 Kgs 17:24. This word is then connected with Jonah’s patrilineage Amittai (amitai), a name that contains the same three Hebrew letters aleph, mem, and tav. By extension, the whole narrative in 1 Kgs 17 is understood to provide information that is useful for uncovering Jonah’s identity. God commands Elijah to go to Zarephath of Sidon, where God has commanded a widow to supply him with a place to stay (v. 9). In the ensuing narrative, Elijah performs a miracle whereby the woman has enough flour and oil to last until God would again bless the country with rain (vv. 13–16). Later, the woman’s son becomes ill and finally stops breathing (v. 17). Elijah carries the boy upstairs, stretches himself out on top of the boy, and pleads with God to let the boy live (vv. 18–21), with the result that the boy’s life is restored (vv. 22–24).

In many rabbinic stories, the resurrected boy is identified with Jonah, yet there is no consensus whether his resurrection took place before or after his mission to Nineveh. In the mediaeval midrash Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer 33 (henceforth PRE), for example, Rabbi Simeon says:

Owing to the power of charity, the dead will be quickened in the future. Whence do we learn this? From Elijah the Tishbite ‘For he betook to Zarephath, and a woman (who was) a widow received him with great honour’. She was the mother of Jonah and they were eating and drinking his bread and oil; he, she, and her son, as it is said, ‘And she did eat’, and he also (1 Kgs 17:15) was entreated of him, as it is said, ‘And the Lord hearkened unto the voice of Elijah’ (1 Kgs 17:22).

The Lives of the Prophets (Vitae prophetarum), a document of Jewish origin written in Greek, elaborates on the same tradition (see Schwemer 1270). Taking the end of the Book of Jonah as its starting point, it narrates how Jonah, after having been to Nineveh, settles in Tyre together with his mother, the reason being that he was now considered a false prophet in his homeland Israel. At this time, Elijah had fled from Israel after having called a famine upon the land as part of his rebuke of the house of Ahab. Elijah stayed with Jonah and his mother in the region of Tyre. Jonah died at this point but was brought back to life again by Elijah. After the famine ended, Jonah and his mother moved to Judah. On the way, however, his mother died, and Jonah buried her.

Elijah was at that time rebuking the house of Ahab and having called a famine upon the land he fled. Coming to the region of Tyre he found the widow and her son, for he himself could not lodge with the uncircumcised. He brought her a blessing; and when her child died, God raised him from the dead through Elijah, for he wished to show him that it is not possible to flee from God.

This intertextual dialogue between the Jonah narrative and the Elijah narrative serves two purposes. It not only provides the reader with more information about the prophet Jonah, it also offers an explanation as to how and why Elijah was able to stay in Tyre: the widow in whose house he stayed was in fact an Israelite (and not a Gentile).

By contrast, the Portuguese Jewish statesman and philosopher Abarbanel (1437–1508 CE) argues that this event took place in Jonah’s childhood and thus prior to his mission to Nineveh. In his commentary to Jonah 2:3 [Eng. 2:2], he explains Jonah’s reference to God having saved him from Sheol as a reference to Elijah’s miracle in 1 Kings when he brought Jonah back to life. Along similar lines, a few modern scholars position Jonah’s death experience in his childhood and understand it as a key to his later behaviour in the Book of Jonah. Zornberg, for instance, explains Jonah’s fear of facing God as a result of his earlier trauma of survival (cf. below, Jonah 1:3) (Zornberg 1329: 291–293). Fishman likewise explores what it would have meant for Jonah to know that his early resurrection and subsequent fate depended on the acts of ‘a desperate impulsive mother and a feckless purveyor of false promises who occasionally gets lucky’ (Fishman 1166: 312).

Several Christian sources also attest to this identification. In the prologue to his commentary on Jonah, Jerome (347–420 CE) appears to accept the Jewish tradition that Jonah was the son of the woman of Zarephath, and it is also found in the prologue to the Book of Jonah in the Glossa Ordinaria. Ephrem the Syrian (303–373 CE) likewise adheres to the same tradition, as he writes that Jonah, after completing his mission to Nineveh, retired to Tyre with his mother (Ephraem, Repentance of Nineveh, Introduction). Other Christian interpreters reject this line of thinking, instead maintaining that the woman of Zarephath was a non-Jew. This line of interpretation is supported by Luke 4:25–26:

25I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.

Luther (German commentary), for instance, uses this passage to prove that the woman of Zarephath was a Gentile. The fact that Jonah identifies himself as a Hebrew in Jonah 1:9 means, according to Luther, that Jonah could not have been the son of the (Gentile) woman of the Elijah narrative. Instead, Jonah was ‘an excellent and estimable man in the kingdom of Israel’.

Islamic traditions also provide Jonah with a mother. The tradition preserved in Tales of the Prophet and attributed to Kaab al-Ahbar names Jonah’s mother Sadaqa (‘righteousness’). Furthermore, according to the same tradition, Jonah’s birth was miraculous as Sadaqa gave birth to him when she was no longer of childbearing age (Burge 1138: 588. Eng. transl. W. M. Thackston, al-Kisai, Tales of the Prophets, 321).

Some traditions do not stop with Jonah’s parents but also, somewhat surprisingly given the complete lack of textual support, provide Jonah with a wife. Several classical Jewish texts associate her with pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Among them, Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael 17:1, speaking of people who fulfil ritual requirements, mentions Jonah’s wife:

The wife of Jonah used to go up for festivals to Jerusalem.

Thus, a woman never mentioned in a biblical book is reported as having set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Ginzberg 1100: 4:253). This widespread tradition is also attested in the Jerusalem Talmud (y.Ber 2:2–3, cf. y.Ber 9:1, and b.Erub. 10:1–2), stating that Jonah’s wife used to go on pilgrimage but at one point was sent home. From this we can learn that women (as well as slaves and children) are exempt from the obligations of reciting the Shema and from wearing tefillin.

They asked: Lo, Michal daughter of Kushi used to wear Tefillin. And Jonah’s wife used to go up to Jerusalem on the pilgrimages, and the sages did not object.

R. Hezekiah in the name of R. Abbahu, ‘they sent the wife of Jonah home and the sages objected to Michal the daughter of Kushi’s actions’.

Some traditions even name Jonah’s wife. Several Islamic traditions describe how Jonah, together with his wife Anak and their two sons, went to Nineveh together (Burge 1138: 587–588. Eng. transl. W. M. Thackston, al-Kisai, Tales of the Prophets, 321–322). Much more recently, the libretto by Paul Goodman, accompanying the opera Jonah by Jack Beeson (1921–2010 CE), names Jonah’s wife Hephzibah (to be sung by a contralto or mezzo soprano). This name, meaning ‘my delight is in her’, appears twice in the Bible: in 2 Kgs 21:1 referring to Hezekiah’s wife and the mother of Manasseh and in Isa 62:4 referring to Jerusalem. It is unclear whether either of these two passages influenced Goodman in his choice of name.

Having established Jonah’s family connections, many interpreters proceed to determine his tribal affiliation. The biblical account in 2 Kgs 14:25 informs us that Jonah came from Gath-Hepher, a place known from Josh 19:10–13, Judg 1:3, and 1 Kgs 17:9, yet its exact location is unknown. Readers of the Jonah narrative thus sought to establish more firmly the whereabouts of Jonah’s hometown, as well as his tribal affiliation. The section on Jonah in The Lives of the Prophets, for instance, claims that Jonah came from the district of Kiriath-maon near the Gentile city of Ashdod (Azotus) on the sea. Based on this location, Jonah belonged to either the tribe of Asher or the tribe of Zebulun. To narrow down the possibilities, the rabbis appealed to the above-mentioned biblical passages:

10The third lot came up for Zebulon according to its clans: The boundary of their inheritance went as far as Sarid. 11Going west it ran to Maralah, touched Dabbesheth, and extended to the ravine near Jokneam. 12It turned east from Sarid toward the sunrise to the territory of Kisloth Tabor and went on to Daberath and up to Japhia. 13Then it continued eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin; it came out at Rimmon and turned toward Neah.

(Josh 19:10–13)

31Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. 32The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out.

(Judg 1:31–32)

8Then the word of the LORD came to [Elijah]: 9 ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food’. 10So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’

(1 Kgs 17:8–10)

Gen.Rab. 98:11, for example, reports a discussion between Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Yohanan. According to Rabbi Levi, citing Josh 19:10–13, Jonah, as indicated by his origin in Gath-Hepher (2 Kgs 14:25), came from the tribe of Zebulon. By contrast, according to Rabbi Yohanan, citing Judg 1:31–32 and 1 Kgs 17:9, Jonah came from Asher, as indicated by the above-mentioned identification of Jonah with the son of the woman of Zarephath near Sidon. Offering a compromise, Rabbi Levi concludes that whereas Jonah’s mother came from Asher, his father came from Zebulon (cf. y.Sukk. 5:1). The mediaeval Jewish exegetes also debated this issue. The mediaeval Jewish commentator David Kimhi (henceforth Radak, 1160–1235 CE), for example, used Josh 19:10, 13 to argue that Jonah was from the tribe of Zebulun.

At this point, it should be noted that the Book of Jonah never specifies Jonah’s starting point. In Jonah 4:2, Jonah’s reference to his home can literarily be translated to read ‘on [his] own ground’. This vague reference has caused especially Muslim retellings to detach Jonah from the Land of Israel and instead to see him as a Ninevite. As implied in the writings of both Ibn Isḥāq and Al-Tha’labī, Jonah was commanded to speak to his fellow citizens of Nineveh. Quoting Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn Isḥāq states that ‘God, the Most High, sent Jonah to the people of his town, and they opposed what he brought to them and resisted them’ (Gregg 1180: 416. Eng. transl. Newby 1238: 224). Along similar lines, Al-Tha’labī, citing other scholars, situates Jonah on a mountain in Nineveh, in the region near Mosul (Gregg 1180: 421. Eng. transl. Brinner 1137: 681).

Jonah’s Prophetic Career

In parallel, interpreters have asked questions about Jonah’s prophetic career, both prior to and after his mission to Nineveh.

Jonah, Elisha’s Disciple

A rabbinic tradition argues that Jonah, following his resurrection by Elijah, became Elijah’s disciple. This tradition probably comes from b.San. 113a, which speaks about Elijah’s student Joshua (!) and the curse that he would utter. Several other rabbinic traditions identify Jonah with the anonymous prophet in 2 Kgs 9:1–4 (e.g. Ginzberg 1100: 4, Chapter 8; opening statement in PRE 11; Rashi, Rabbinic Bible, 2 Kgs 9:1). After Elijah’s death, Jonah joined Elisha’s many disciples and was sent to anoint King Jehu (prior to his mission to Nineveh in Jonah).

The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, ‘Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, “This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel”. Then open the door and run; don’t delay!’ 4So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. (2 Kgs 9:1–4).

Seder Olam Rabbah 19 (Part 2 [the prophets], sections 25–26 [Joash]) also preserves this tradition. This retelling conflates the material in 1–2 Kings with that in the prophetic books in an attempt to identify which prophet was active during which king’s reign:

Elisha went to Damascus and anointed Hazael as king over Aram and sent Jonah son of Amittay to anoint Jehu at Ramoth Gilead.

Seder Olam Rabbah (Part 2 [the prophets], sections 23–24 [Asa to Ahaziah]) makes the additional claim that all the prophecies to the House of Jehu were given through Jonah (cf. Scherman 1267: xxv).

Jehu ruled over Israel for 28 years. (2 Kgs 10:30) ‘And the Eternal said to Jehu: Since you were good and did the right things in my eyes, all my intentions you executed on the dynasty of Ahab, your Children of the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel’. Who said that to him? Jonah son of Amittai.

(2 Kgs 10:31–32)

Gen.Rab. 21:5–6 also identifies Jonah with one of Elisha’s disciples, more exactly with the one who was cutting down a tree and whose iron axe-head fell into the water (2 Kgs 6:5):

Resh Lakish said: [He has become] like Jonah, [of whom is written], But as one was felling a beam, etc.

Jonah, the Prophet during Jeroboam II’s Reign

The identification of Jonah with the eponymous prophet in 2 Kgs 14:24–25 tells us that Jonah delivered prophecies during the reign of Jeroboam II. This identification provides Jonah with both prophetic experience and prophetic credentials.

He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

The Roman-Jewish scholar and historian Josephus (37–100 CE), for example, includes Jonah in his retelling of the events during the reign of Jeroboam II (Ant. 9:10) and emphasizes his previous prophetic assignments.