Commentary on the book of the prophet Jonah

Information about the prophet Jonah, like most of the Old Testament inspired writers, is very scarce. The book inscribed with his name, reporting in detail about his work - the embassy and preaching to Nineveh, about himself is limited to the remark that he was “a Jew, a worshiper of the God of heaven, the son of Amitai” (glory to Amathia). A valuable supplement to this information is provided by the 4th book of Kings. Reporting on the expansion of the borders of the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam II, she notes that this happened “according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amathi, a prophet from Gethahover” (2 Kings 14:25). This remark resolves for us an important question about the time of life and place of activity of the prophet Jonah. He was originally from Gethahover, which means he came from the tribe of Zebulun, in which this city was located (Joshua 19.13) and belonged to the prophets of the kingdom of Israel. His name is associated with the reign of Jeroboam II, who reigned in 835 BC and occupied the Israeli throne for 41 years (2 Kings 14.23). The war with Syria, the result of which, as predicted by Jonah, was the expansion of the borders of the kingdom of Israel, should be attributed to the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam II, since it was started by his predecessors (Jehoahaz and Joash) and was only gloriously completed by him. Hence, the life of the prophet Jonah must be moved back to an earlier time. If Jonah's prophecy was fulfilled at the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam II, then it was, of course, pronounced earlier, even during the previous reign of Joash. Before his death, the prophet Elisha predicted to this king that he would defeat the Syrians, only “not to the end” (2 Kings 13:14–20). Jonah's prophecy about the final victory over Syria and the restoration of the ancient borders of the kingdom of Israel is thus a continuation and addition of the prophecy of Elisha and was most likely pronounced to the same Joash as a consolation. From the above it follows that the prophet Jonah lived in the half of the 9th century. BC; This means, by the time of his ministry, he was the most ancient of the prophets who left us their writings. He was a younger contemporary of Elisha and even, perhaps, the prophet Elijah and their successor according to prophecy. Jewish tradition, not without reason, considers him a disciple of the prophet Elisha, who was educated in those prophetic schools that were founded by Elijah (2 Kings 2.2–6; 2 Kings 6.1–8); it identifies him with that impetuous youth whom Elisha sent to anoint Jehu as king (2 Kings 9:1–10). Another legend transmitted by Blessed. Jerome, considers the prophet Jonah to be the son of the Sarepta widow, resurrected by Elijah (1 Kings 17:17–23). These traditions, establishing a connection between Jonah and the great Israeli prophets Elijah and Elisha, were accepted by the Orthodox Church and included in the service to this prophet on September 22. We have no further information about the activities of the prophet Jonah, except for the story of his book about preaching in Nineveh. Other places in the Bible that mention Jonah (Tob 14.8; 3Mac 6.6; Mt 12.41; Lk 11.30–32) only confirm this fact. We learn about the end of the prophet’s life and his death from legend. According to one of them, the prophet Jonah, after preaching in Nineveh, remained to live there until the end of his life, and died there. His tomb is still indicated on a high hill near the village of Mozul, where the ruins of Nineveh have been discovered. According to another legend, Jonah returned from Nineveh and died in his homeland in Gefahover. And here, as near Nineveh, is the revered tomb of the prophet. The latest version of the death of the prophet Jonah is confirmed by the words of 3 books. Maccabees that “God showed Jonah unharmed after he was in the belly of the whale of the sea” (3 Mac 6.6). This means he returned to his fatherland. About the essence and origin of the book of St. Jonah. The question of the essence of the book of the prophet Jonah is resolved differently in exegetical literature. The most ancient opinion, based on direct evidence from the biblical text, considers the book of the prophet Jonah to be a historical narrative, conveying a story about actual events and persons. Another opinion, developed and widely argued in critical literature, does not recognize the book of Jonah as true history, because much in it seems extraordinary, incomprehensible in its miraculousness and historically incredible. Defenders of the second opinion consider the book of the prophet Jonah to be more or less a fictional work. Some see in it a story about a vision of a former prophet, others consider it an apology, an allegory or a parable told with a moralizing purpose, others take it as a legend that embellishes a simple and natural fact with wonderful and incredible details. We will not dwell on how successful the convergence of the book of the prophet Jonah with the above literary forms is; The very variety of attempts to present the book of Jonah other than in the form of a historical story suggests that none of them was completely satisfactory. All these attempts stem from the idea that it is impossible to imagine what is told in the book of Jonah as an event that actually happened. When explaining the text of the book, we will try to eliminate difficulties in understanding it historically, and now we will present evidence extraneous to it in favor of its historical character. The most ancient evidence in favor of the historical nature of the book of Jonah is found in the books of Tobit and 3 Maccabees. They attest to the historical understanding of the two main facts of the book of Jonah that are most opposed, the prophet’s stay in the belly of the whale (3Mac 6.6) and his preaching in Nineveh (Tov 14.8). Then Josephus, conveying the contents of the book of Jonah in his Antiquities of the Jews (Jonah 9:2), considers it to be true history. Only given the historical nature of the book of Jonah was it possible that it was included by the Old Testament church in the canon of sacred, divinely inspired books; a work fictitious or distorting reality could not enjoy such great respect. Following the Old Testament church, the ancient Christian church understood and interpreted the book of Jonah in a historical sense. In this case, she followed the indisputable authority of Jesus Christ Himself. Responding to the Pharisees’ demands for miracles from Him, He said that the greatest sign for them should be the fact that Jonah was in the belly of the whale: “For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Matthew 12.40). These words of the Savior could have their persuasive power only if he spoke about a real fact. The sign of the miracle of the resurrection of Christ could be another similar and certainly historical (and not fictitious) miracle. To the same extent, the Savior attested to the historical nature of another event in the book. Jonah - the repentance of the Ninevites. He said: “The Ninevites will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented because of Jonah’s preaching, and here is more Jonah” (Luke 11.32). The Savior could set the Ninevites as an example of responsiveness to the word of God to His contemporaries only when both He Himself and His listeners accepted the story of this in the book of Jonah as true history. But the book of the prophet Jonah is not only a historical narrative, but at the same time a prophetic scripture. Its prophetic and transformative meaning is indicated in the above words of the Savior (Matthew 12.40). Jonah, with his three-day stay in the belly of the whale, prefigured the Savior's three-day stay in the heart of the earth. This is the main point of the book, but still it is impossible to limit the entire prophetic meaning of the book, because in this case the rest of its content, except for Chapter II, will be a completely unnecessary addition, told for no apparent reason. Then, the representative educational meaning of the book indicated by the Savior became understandable only to Christians, and not to Jews, - meanwhile, it was the Jewish church that included it among the prophetic books. In view of all that has been said, it is necessary to find the prophetic meaning and significance not only in individual parts of the book, but in its entirety, in the main idea revealed throughout the entire book. The idea of ​​the book is that salvation through repentance can be granted by God not only to Jews, but also to pagans. Jehovah is not the national God of the Jews, but the God of all people. Theocracy (manifestation of God) extends to all humanity; pagans will also enter the Kingdom of God, because the path to it is the same for everyone - moral improvement. By presenting this idea in historical narrative, the book of Jonah prepared the Jews to grasp the central messianic idea of ​​the spiritual and universal nature of the Kingdom of the Messiah. In the age of Jonah, this idea for the first time so clearly illuminated the religious consciousness of the Jews and, as the example of Jonah himself shows, they assimilated it with great pain, after a difficult struggle with their narrow national prejudices. Subsequent prophets up to John the Baptist continued to teach about the salvation of all people in the Kingdom of the Messiah, that is, to reveal the main idea of ​​the book of Jonah and this was the main task of their prophetic ministry. Thus, the book of the prophet Jonah should be recognized as the first prophetic book in terms of time and content. Representatives of critical exegesis express very diverse opinions about the origin of the book of the prophet Jonah, as well as about its essence. With great diligence, they look for traces of its later origin in the book and, on the basis of this, attribute the time of its writing - some to the Assyrian captivity, others to the time of the Jewish king Josiah or during the period of the Babylonian captivity, and others, finally, think that it was written in the post-exilic period, maybe even during the time of the Maccabees. When explaining the book, we will note that those parts of it in which they see evidence of its later origin do not actually contain such indications, and now we will dwell on the positive side of the issue. The Book of Jonah is known by I. Sirach, who speaks of the twelve minor prophets (Sir 49.12), and Tobit is familiar with its contents (Tob 14.8). It could not have been written later than 430, the time of the conclusion of the Old Testament canon, since it was included in it. Judging by the nature of the contents of the book, it is most likely to assume that it was written by the prophet Jonah himself. No one else could know and so vividly depict the most intimate movements of his mental life, and those that did not serve to praise the prophet. The writer of the book undoubtedly visited Nineveh and became acquainted with its life and customs. The language reveals him to be an Israelite, not a Jew. The truth about Jonah is spoken of in the book in the third person, but this is the habit of many sacred writers to put their personality in the shadow and highlight the action of the word of God through them. You might be interested in: