I do not intend to propose a strict bifurcation between the literary nature of Jonah and the provenance of Jonah. I only wish to encourage the reader to see Jonah first as literature, and only then, after a strong understanding of its literary cues, should the reader turn to matters of provenance. Furthermore, I contend that biblical theology should closely follow as the secondary means of interpreting Jonah. A strong grasp of the biblical-theological background of the Bible is more useful for interpreting Jonah than that of understanding its provenance.

Jonah is written in such a way as to divulge its meaning to the reader even if that reader has but a meager understanding of the cultural backgrounds that lay behind the text. Although establishing matters of provenance (i.e., authorship, date, geography) is useful and even necessary in the pursuit of a faithful interpretation of Jonah, the focus of this post is on the superiority of reading Jonah first as a piece of literature. In other words, Jonah is laced with literary cues that the reader is intended to discover along the way. What is at stake should the reader focus first on matters of provenance, is that he would likely miss, or not fully apprehend, the embedded literary cues resident in the narrative.

I do not intend to propose a strict bifurcation between the literary nature of Jonah and the provenance of Jonah. I only wish to encourage the reader to see Jonah first as literature, and only then, after a strong understanding of its literary cues, should the reader turn to matters of provenance. Furthermore, I contend that biblical theology should closely follow as the secondary means of interpreting Jonah. A strong grasp of the biblical-theological background of the Bible is more useful for interpreting Jonah than that of understanding its provenance.

Thus, the literary nature and biblical-theological background of Jonah creates a context unto itself. We now turn to the cues in Jonah:

1. Jonah leaves Israel, which is meant to evoke feelings of a self-willed exile.

 A self-willed exile is always a bad idea for an Israelite. The land is the sacred space of the people of God (1 Samuel 26:19) and any time an Israelite willfully leaves the land, it is depicted as disobedience, or at least hazardous, and the result is often death (Ruth 1:1-5). This is stated in Deuteronomy multiple times (28:20; 36-37). Our author intends the reader to be cued to something having gone awry with this particular prophet. In Jonah 1:1-3 the author signals the reader that Jonah has entered into grave error and has embarked on a perilous voyage. This cue is most ably apprehended by tracing the author’s literary technique and employing a strong biblical-theological understanding of the exile motif, the Torah, and the consequences of disobedience.

2. The sea and sea monster are meant to cause anticipation of Divine judgment.

 When the seas are alluded to in Scripture, it is predictably meant to evoke ideas of chaos and judgment (Genesis 1:1-2; 7:11-24, Exodus 14; Job 26:12; 1 Peter 3:20). Alternatively, to overcome the sea and its monsters or to realize an absence of them is to experience peace and the smile of the Lord (John 6; Revelation 21:1). Therefore, in the book of Jonah the sea voyage cues the reader to a tension and the possibility of coming judgment. This tension is further confirmed in 1:4 as the seas begin to rage. The tensions rise higher when Jonah is thrown into the open sea (1:15). This is what makes 1:17 and the swallowing of Jonah even more surprising. Every tension in the text has driven the reader to the summit of judgment, but instead of judgment, Yahweh visits Jonah with mercy and kindness. The Lord doesn’t appoint the great fish to destroy Jonah as the reader expects; no, the Lord swallows Jonah away to safety.

3. Jonah’s southward geographical descent is meant to reflect his spiritual state.

When Jonah received the word of the Lord to preach to Nineveh (1:2), he promptly disobeyed by traveling south, the exact opposite direction. He left the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 14:25) and traveled south toward the seafaring city of Joppa and then west toward Tarshish. Jonah’s physical, geographical descent is meant to reflect a shadow reality of his disobedient, sinful descent. The reader is swept into a vivid, tactile, and ironic experience as Jonah’s disobedience builds anticipation of imminent consequences. ‘Why would Jonah flee the presence of the Lord? This sounds like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3!’ First, Jonah traveled ‘down’ to Joppa. Then he stepped ‘down’ into the ship headed to Tarshish. Next, he went ‘down’ into the bottom of the ship—the bowels, as it were. Then, eventually, Jonah was thrown onto the wiles of the sea where he swam and eventually sank his way downward. Jonah was at the rock bottom of the sea, it would seem (2:6). But even at this point, Jonah was not yet at the bottom of his psychological self (2:5-6). No, the underworld goes deeper ‘down.’ In chapter 2, Jonah confessed when he accomplished his desired end of fleeing the presence of the Lord; he found he hated it (2:4). He felt ‘banished’ from the Lord, but this is what he wanted (1:3)! Jonah had effectively sprinted, sailed, swam, sank, and had been swallowed away as far from the presence of the Lord as possible in this old world.

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