Jonah

#1

Dude gets scared, tries to run from God, doesnt work, tells fellow sailors to throw him overboard, gets consumed by a big fish, fish vomits him up on the shore after "praying and praying" inside the fish's stomach for 3 days..

Theres ya Sunday School..

Now..

How close is this to how it really went down???

#2

Interesting, I've never heard the full breakdown of what this story symbolizes, though I'm sure I may be able t piece a few things together...D-Dub and RAUM will probably be able to go into much depth...

#3

This one I'm definitely interested in, I've got notebook paper, I've got pencils, eraser, I showered this morning...I'm def. ready for school.

#4

lmao.

yea..I'm waiting for school to start also

#5

yea Ima list topics similaah to this one one at a time tho..Samson, Red Sea, etc..lookin forward to a fresh perspective..

#6

The name Jonah means "Dove." It is first mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, the son of Amettai (God's Truth), and a contemporary of Amos and Hosea. Jonah is essentially one of the first 5 minor prophets. That's all we know.

The text of the book of Jonah is probably written around or after 5-8 BC, when Ninevah was made the established capital of Assyria, when previously it had been but a small citystate capital. The book uses King of Ninevah, not King of Assyria. The cultural context within this book is also supported by the later developments of 5-8BC. This is but one of the Arguments for this.

One of the greatest oppositions to this book (in the Rabbinical sense) is that Jonah, a minor prophet, undermines the nationalistic views of the Prophets Ezra, Nehemiah and Zacariah.

Sirach 49:10 and Tobit 14:4,8 (both in the Apocrypha) mention Jonah, and were written in the second century BC, so there is evidence as far back as 2 BC that Jonah was a minor figure in Jewish history, three hundred years after his story has been embellished.

The most compelling argument for this book is that it contains false prophecy.

When the people of Nineveh repent and God forgives them, He does not punish the people like He had told Jonah and Jonah had proclaimed was inevitable. God shows them mercy.

Perhaps this story was told to force Israel to deal more in depth with the question of true vs. false prophets, but more likely it is poorly translated, and added to the writing by proponents who bore a "bloodline" connection to Jonah, whob lauded that Jonah was so loyal to YHVH that he was saved from drowning.

The general story is actually:

He boards a boat going to Tarshish trying to evade the role of prophet to the people of Ninevah, because the Torah and the LORD YHVH are supposed to be for Israel alone... not because he was afraid, because he was a racist (as was part of the Jewish religion at the time, upheld by their National facism). and the boat that grabs him is met with turbulence.
The sailors on board demand everyone draw lots, Jonah's lot indicates he is the cause of the problems. They throw him over, and before he is drowned, YHVH has a fish take him into his belly. The reason he took him into his belly, is that is where a fish is watertight, so Jonah wouldn't drown. Jonah sings a praise to his god who had not let him drown, and YHVH sets aground on the shore of The Capital of Ninevah (which won't exist for centuries.)

It is interpreted that Jonah's preaching of judgment did not come true - though he had spoken God's word as instructed- because God gave Jonah the message of the "worst case scenario" which could be avoided be fealty.

The Primary interpretation of Christians is "God's love outweighs his anger."

My favorite quote regarding it is "The world can not devour you if you make of yourself an indigestable truth." (-me, ispired by Kafka, inspired by the book of Jonah.)

vertical,
raum

(who is about ready to start seeing if he can find a job in the belly of a fish)

#7

Regarding this book, it is a Midrash... a story with a moral, developed from stories around the camp fires.

Jews still laugh that Christians wonder if a man was really swallowed and spat out on the shore by a fish... to them, this is something to worry about when you are cast out in the sea!

The purpose of this story is to establish balance as a negative pole with the positive elements of the book of Ruth. The very structure of the book is that it is there as one of the Twelve prophets, yet it does not stand as a prophecy... nor does it begin like the books of the prophets, which is all too easy to imitate. It is there for purposes of allegory and spiritual instruction, and to add some entertainment to the reading of the Tanakh to the Congregation.. and for that reason, it is not considered a "history" but a midrash, or "Fable." Nor was it ever considered a History, by any but Christians and extremists.

vertical,
raum

(who is knee-deep in actionscript)

#8

Well then, that was quick and painless...
This reminds me of Coleridge's Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, sure it's lenghty and rumored to have been a product of an opium haze (and it's nothing but a rumor), but it still carries a similar albeit simpler message underneath all the bizarre ramblings.

#9

You're right, that was painless...Lets troll a bit...

What's Opium, and where can I get some..?

#10

Hey Fap...how did you get into AYHJA's account?