The first chapter of the book of Jonah begins with Jonah’s call to go to Nineveh. But instead of heading for Nineveh, he heads the opposite direction to Tarshish aboard a ship filled with pagan sailors. Jonah’s presence on the ship does not bode well for the sailors, who eventually figure out Jonah is the reason their ship is in danger. After much prayer, they toss Jonah into the sea, after which he is swallowed by a divinely appointed “big fish.” Thus begins Jonah’s “Big Fish” story.

Jonah and the Sailors (1:1-16)

Hebrew Text

The Hebrew Text is taken from BHS. Click on the image to the right to view the passage in the actual Leningrad Codex (MS B19 A). To hear the chapter read in Hebrew, an MP3 file is available here.

‏וַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יוֹנָה בֶן־אֲמִתַּי לֵאמֹר׃ קוּם לֵךְ אֶל־נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ כִּי־עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי׃ וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אָנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה׃ וַיהוָה הֵטִיל רוּחַ־גְּדוֹלָה אֶל־הַיָּם וַיְהִי סַעַר־גָּדוֹל בַּיָּם וְהָאֳנִיָּה חִשְּׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר׃ וַיִּירְאוּ הַמַּלָּחִים וַיִּזְעֲקוּ אִישׁ אֶל־אֱלֹהָיו וַיָּטִלוּ אֶת־הַכֵּלִים אֲשֶׁר בָּאֳנִיָּה אֶל־הַיָּם לְהָקֵל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וְיוֹנָה יָרַד אֶל־יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה וַיִּשְׁכַּב וַיֵּרָדַם׃ וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה־לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיךָ אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד׃ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ לְכוּ וְנַפִּילָה גוֹרָלוֹת וְנֵדְעָה בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ וַיַּפִּלוּ גּוֹרָלוֹת וַיִּפֹּל הַגּוֹרָל עַל־יוֹנָה׃ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו הַגִּידָה־נָּא לָנוּ בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי־הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ מַה־מְּלַאכְתְּךָ וּמֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא מָה אַרְצֶךָ וְאֵי־מִזֶּה עַם אָתָּה׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי וְאֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲנִי יָרֵא אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה אֶת־הַיָּם וְאֶת־הַיַּבָּשָׁה׃ וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה־זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ כִּי־יָדְעוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים כִּי־מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה הוּא בֹרֵחַ כִּי הִגִּיד לָהֶם׃ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה־נַּעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעָלֵינוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם שָׂאוּנִי וַהֲטִילֻנִי אֶל־הַיָּם וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם כִּי יוֹדֵעַ אָנִי כִּי בְשֶׁלִּי הַסַּעַר הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה עֲלֵיכֶם׃ וַיַּחְתְּרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים לְהָשִׁיב אֶל־הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְלֹא יָכֹלוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר עֲלֵיהֶם׃ וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל־יְהוָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָנָּה יְהוָה אַל־נָא נֹאבְדָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וְאַל־תִּתֵּן עָלֵינוּ דָּם נָקִיא כִּי־אַתָּה יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר חָפַצְתָּ עָשִׂיתָ׃ וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת־יוֹנָה וַיְטִלֻהוּ אֶל־הַיָּם וַיַּעֲמֹד הַיָּם מִזַּעְפּוֹ׃ וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה אֶת־יְהוָה וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־זֶבַח לַיהוָה וַיִּדְּרוּ נְדָרִים׃ ‎

Translation

Please note that my translation is more formal in nature and purposefully highlights literary and poetic features of the text. The versification follows the Hebrew text.

1:1 The word of YHWH came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying: 2 Get up, go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it; for their wickedness has come before me. 3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of YHWH. So he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, and he paid its hire, and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the presence of YHWH. 4 But YHWH hurled a great wind to the sea, and there was a great storm upon the sea that the ship thought about breaking up!

5 And the sailors were afraid and cried out, each to his own god; and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten [it] for them. But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel and had lain down, and was in a deep sleep. 6 The captain went over to him and cried out, “Why are you sleeping so soundly? Get up, call upon your god! Perhaps the god will bear us in mind and we will not perish.” 7 The men said to one another, “Let us cast lots and find out on whose account this misfortune has come upon us.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 They said to him, “Please declare to us — you who have brought this evil upon us — what is your business? Where have you come from? What is your country, and from what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew and I fear YHWH, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 The men were greatly terrified [feared a great fear], and they said to him, “How could you have done this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of YHWH, for so he had told them. 11 And they said to him, “What must we do to you so that the sea calms down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more stormy. 12 He answered, “Heave me overboard, and then the sea will calm down for you; for I know that this great storm came upon you on my account.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to return to the dry land, but they could not, for the sea was growing more and more stormy against them. 14 Then they called to YHWH: “Oh, please, YHWH, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood upon us! For You, O YHWH, have done just as you pleased.” 15 And they cast Jonah into the sea, and the sea stopped from its raging. 16 The men feared YHWH with a great fear, and they sacrificed a sacrifice to YHWH, and they vowed vows.

Translation & Text Critical Notes

For basic identification and parsing, please see the excerpts from Owens (PDF) or Beall and Banks (PDF). For bibliography noted in my post on “Resources for the Study of the Book of Jonah,” only short references will be provided here. See my “Mastering Biblical Hebrew” pages for more information on any Hebrew grammars and lexicons mentioned.

Verse 1

• וַיְהִי- This Qal prefix vav conversive apocopated form is at home in Hebrew narrative and is the typical opening for “historical” books like Joshua, Judges, 1Samuel, and Ruth (see AC 3.5.1 c).
• יוֹנָה בֶן־אֲמִתַּי - This “Jonah son of Amittai” is considered to be the nationalistic prophet of the same name mentioned in 2Kings 14:23-29.

Verse 2

• קוּם לֵךְ- Of the two imperative verbs, קוּם functions as an auxiliary verb to the principal verb לֵךְ and may be translated something like “Arise, go…” or better, “Go at once…” (GKC 120g).
• וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ- The collocation of על with the verbקראtypically has negative connotations, hence my translation “proclaim against.” The parallel statement in Jonah 3:2 on the other hand has אל. While this change may only suggest the interchangeable nature of the prepositions (WO’C), the change to the more innocuous “proclaim to” in 3:2 may foreshadow the Ninevites’ positive response to Jonah’s message (see Ben Zvi).
• הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה- The definite articles are functioning as weak demonstratives, “that great city” (AC 2.6.6). Alternatively, both adjectives could be modifying the noun, “Nineveh the great city” (J-M 138b; 141c; BHRG 30.2.2vii).
• כִּי־עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי- This phrase should be taken as causal (”because…”), providing the rationale for God sending the prophet to Nineveh (contra Sasson who understands it as asseverative). See AC 4.3.4a, i.

Verse 3

• מִלִּפְנֵי- This compound preposition is best translated as “away from the presence of” or even just “away from” (HALOT).
• תַרְשִׁישׁ- The identification of “Tarshish” is the subject of much spilled ink (see Sasson for a discussion). I tend to think of it as an ancient “Timbuktu.” Either way, the point is that Jonah headed in the exact opposite direction of Nineveh. Note that it occurs both with and without the directive ה in this passage
• אָנִיָּה- The footnote in BHS (sic L, mlt MSS Edd אֳניה cf 4.5) suggests that the pointing of אָנִיָּה is incorrect; it should be אֳניהas many other Masoretic texts indicate as well as the pointing in vv. 4 and 5.
• וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ- The antecedent of the 3fs possessive pronoun is clearly אָנִיָּה(”paid its [i.e., the ship's] fare”). A number of Jewish traditions (and modern authors) suggest this indicates Jonah rented the entire ship (and thus was wealthy), which again emphasizes the extent to which he was willing to avoid God’s call.
• עִמָּהֶם- While the sailors are not mentioned until v. 5, the 3mp object suffix on עִמָּהֶם refers to the sailors included in the sense of the term אָנִיָּה (GKC 135p).

Verse 4

• וַיהוָה- The fronted subject with the conjunction breaks the series of vav conversives and introduces a different subject and is best rendered as “but YHWH…” (AC 3.5.4; 5.1.2b.2).
• חִשְּׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר- Many translations render this combination of Piel affix 3fs and Nifal infinitive construct something like, “the ship was about to break up” (NASB) or the like. I prefer to take it as an example of personification or prosopopoeia where the ship is portrayed as thinking about breaking up. This understanding is supported by the fact thatחשׁבis always used elsewhere with an animate subject. See WO’C 23.2.1 for the sense of the Nifal here.

Verse 5

• אִישׁ אֶל־אֱלֹהָיו- This is a distributive use ofאִישׁ, “each to his own god” (GKC 139b). It could also be translated “each to his own gods” since the sailors were evidently pagan.
• לְהָקֵל- The Hifil infinitive construct needs an object, i.e., “to lighten [it].”
• “But Jonah had gone down… and had lain down, and had fallen fast asleep.” The fronted subject once again interrupts the sequence of wayyiqtol verbs and marks a new subject which contrasts Jonah’s actions with those of the sailors.
• וַיֵּרָדַם- The verbרדםmeans “deep sleep” and is from the same root as the noun used to describe Adam’s sleep when the woman was taken out of his side in Gen 2:21. The Septuagint translatesרדםwith the verb ῥέγχω “snore,” which adds some humour to the scene as Jonah’s snoring was apparently loud enough for the captain of the ship to hear him from above deck as he comes down to Jonah and asks him what is he doing snoring when a life threatening storm has been thrown to the sea by YHWH (see my post on snoring here)!

Verse 6

• רַב הַחֹבֵל- Lit., “chief of the sailors,” i.e., captain.
• מַה־לְּךָ נִרְדָּם- The Nifal participle may be functioning as a subordinate accusative of state, i.e., the object of the non verbal interrogative construction, lit. “what [is it] to you, sleeping?” = “why are you sleeping so soundly?” (see GKC 120b; J-M 127a, 161i). I am almost tempted to take the participle as a vocative and translate it something like, “What is the matter with you, sleepy head?!”
• יִתְעַשֵּׁת - The Hitpael of עשׁתis a hapax that means something like “bear in mind” (HALOT).

Verse 7

• Note the cohortative הs on וְנַפִּילָהand וְנֵדְעָה .
• בְּשֶׁלְּמִי- The compound particle is made up of the preposition ב + relative שׁ + preposition ל + interrogative מי; together it means “on whose account” (HALOT), or “for whose cause” (GKC 150k). For the combination of the relative שׁ and preposition ל, see WO’C 19.4a n15.
• Note the idiom of “casting lots” with the verb נפל.

Verse 8

• There is a rather oblique text critical footnote in BHS (”nonn add Hab” = “several manuscripts have added”) marking off the phrase בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי־הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ, “on whose account has this evil come upon us” (as well as a similar phrase in v. 10; see below). The footnote suggests the editors of BHS considered this phrase to be an addition or later gloss. While they do not provide any reasons, it is likely based on two things: (1) the phrase is omitted in the LXX and a number of Masoretic manuscripts and (2) it appears to be a doublet or repetition of virtually the same phrase in v. 7. While this is certainly possible, the phrase is found in the huge majority of Masoretic texts as well as scrolls from Qumran. Furthermore, the absence of the phrase in some Hebrew and Greek manuscripts can easily be explained by homoeoteleuton (skipping over words between words with similar endings) triggered by the repetition of לָנוּ in the Hebrew or ἐν ἡμῖν in the Greek. That being said, the question of how to translate it remains. The most straightforward translation is to repeat the question, “on whose account has this evil come upon us?” even though they already know the answer and Jonah doesn’t answer it (see NASB, KJV, NIV). Another, perhaps better, option is to render it as a relative clause, “you who have brought this evil upon us” (see JPS and Sasson). This recognizes the subtle difference of the construction בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי־הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ with בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּin the preceding verse.
• The sailors pose four questions to Jonah: (1) what is your mission? (2) from where are you coming? (3) what is your (home)land? and (4) from what people are you? (the combination of the interrogative with מן does not produce any notable change in meaning; J-M 143g).

Verse 9

• עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי- The order of predicate –> subject in the verbless clause indicates classification and refers to a general class (Hebrews) of which the subject is a member (WO’C 8.4.2). The term “Hebrew” is typically only used in the HB to imply a contrast with foreigners (GKC 2b).
• The irony of Jonah’s confession is marvelous; while his confesses he fears “YHWH, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land,” he also appears to believe he can flee from this same YHWH by taking a sea voyage!

Verse 10

• וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה- This construction of a verb with a direct object derived from the same root is called an “internal accusative” or “cognate accusative.” It serves to strengthen the verbal idea and may be translated “the men were greatly terrified” or the like (AC 2.3.1c; GKC 117q).
• מַה־זֹּאת- The linking of the interrogative pronoun to the feminine demonstrative is an exclamation of shock or horror rather than a query (Sasson).
• כִּי הִגִּיד לָהֶם- This phrase is marked off as a gloss in BHS (see discussion on v. 8 above).

Verse 11

• מַה־נַּעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ- The prefix form in this context likely has a modal nuance, i.e., “what must we do to you…” (J-M 113m).
• וְיִשְׁתֹּק- The prefix + vav form indicates purpose, “so that” (J-M 169i; BHRG 21.5.1.iv).
• הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר- The participles form a hendiadys to convey repetition and increasing intensity, with הלךfulfilling an auxiliary role (GKC 113u).

Verse 12

• וְיִשְׁתֹּק- The prefix + vav form in Jonah’s reply has a consecutive sense, “then…” (J-M 169i).

Verse 13

• וַיַּחְתְּרוּ- The verb חתר means “to dig”; it is used here to suggest hard rowing or “digging” into the water with their oars.

Verse 14

• The first person plural cohortatives are found here with the particle of entreaty נָא, often translated as “please” or the like (J-M 114f; GKC 105, 108c).
• כִּי־אַתָּה יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר חָפַצְתָּ עָשִׂיתָ- This clause is a bit difficult to unpack. Sasson takes it and the preceding clause as separate motivations offered by the sailors to God: “Indeed, you are YHWH; and whatever you desire, you accomplish.” While this is possible, I think Sasson is giving too much weight to the zaqef qaton on YHWH. I have translated YHWH as a vocative and the relative clause as modifying אַתָּה“you.”

Verse 15

• מִזַּעְפּוֹ- The Qal infinitive construct with the prepositionמן (and the 3ms suffix) serves as a verbal complement to עמד, “the sea stopped from its raging.”

Verse 16

• וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה אֶת־יְהוָה- The verb here has double accusatives: YHWH is the affected object (the object that existed apart and before the action of the verb, but is reached by the verb), while the “great fear” is the internal object (the object is an abstract noun of action typically of the same root as the verb, and thus a cognate accusative) (AC 2.3.1; J-M 125u n1).
• Note again the irony that the pagan sailors are more devout than Jonah.

Comments

While I will leave most of the larger questions of interpretation to a later post, I do want to highlight a few things from chapter one.

First, it is difficult if not impossible to pick up on a significant key word for the book of Jonah: גָּדוֹל“great” or “big.” Everything in Jonah is “great”: Nineveh (v. 2), the wind (v. 4), the storm (v. 4, 12), the sailors’ fear (v. 10) and their repentance (v. 16). In later chapters we will encounter a “great” or “big” fish (2:1), among other things.

Second, the frequent use of גָּדוֹלas well as some of the other language in this (the ship thinking) and later chapters (the animals putting sackcloth on themselves in 3:8), “shifts the story to the fabulous” as Sasson suggests. I will come back to this observation in a later post.

Finally, when examining the characterization of Jonah, YHWH, and the pagan sailors in this chapter it is striking:

• Jonah does exactly the opposite of what YHWH calls him to do: instead of getting up and going (קוּם לֵךְ), he got up to flee (וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ ), and then in contrast to getting up, he has a series of descents (ירד) in order to get away from YHWH’s call. And of course, as I already noted, the irony between Jonah’s flight and his confession is stunning.
• The sailors come across much better than Jonah. Their actions are often parallel to those of YHWH: they, like YHWH, tell Jonah to “get up” and “call” (1:2, 6); they both “cast to the sea” (1:4, 5, 15). In addition, a contrast is set up between the sailors and Jonah: Jonah’s fear (1:9) vs. the sailors’ fear (1:10); and “perish” in the mouths of the sailors (1:7, 14) vs. from Jonah’s perspective (4:10).

Well, this post has ended up longer than I anticipated. I better end it here. We’ll pick up Jonah chapter three next.

He’s started a series on the book of Jonah. So far he’s posted an introductory podcast on Jonah 1:1 as well as one on the importance of genre — which actually deals more with Amos 4:4-5 (rather brilliantly, I might add).

I strongly encourage you to check it out — it’s really pretty cool. The podcasts are informative and witty — and Tim’s New Zealand accent alone is worth the five minutes!

And if you like the book of Jonah… check out my (incomplete) blog commentary here.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah”.
The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”
The little girl replied, “Then you ask him”.

Of course, we know that both teacher and student are wrong. Jonah was swallowed by a “big fish” (דג גדול), not a whale! While we are on the topic of whether a person can be swallowed by a fish/whale and live, I came across an article a number of years ago on the “urban legend” of a man being swallowed by a sperm whale. This story even made its way into a number of standard conservative biblical reference works. The article available online:

Edward B. Davis, “A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories” in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 43 (1991) 224-237.

The article is definitely worth a read.

(While I am on the topic of Jonah, I thought I would note that I haven’t forgotten about my series on “Jonah’s ‘Big Fish’ Story.” I just ran out of time and energy before finishing the series. I will be returning to the series this upcoming year as I take my intro Hebrew class through the book of Jonah — so stay tuned!)

Hebrew Helps

For those just learning Hebrew, there are a number of aids to help you work through the Hebrew text of the book of Jonah (For more general Hebrew aids, please see my “Mastering Biblical Hebrew” pages). There are three resources that facilitate the rapid reading of biblical texts (I have included links to PDF excerpts with the book of Jonah as examples).

• T. A. Armstrong, D. L. Busby and C. F. Carr, A Reader’s Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Complete in One Volume (Zondervan, 1989). Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com [PDF]
• T.D. Beall and W. A. Banks, Old Testament Parsing Guide: Revised and Updated Edition (2 vols.; Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000). Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com [PDF]
• J. J. Owens, Analytical Key to the Old Testament (4 vols.; Baker, 1989-1990). Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com [PDF]

The Old Testament Parsing Guide parses and provides an English gloss for every verb in order of their occurrence in the biblical text, while A Reader’s Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament provides an English gloss (from BDB) for words that occur less than fifty times in sequence of chapter and verse. The most comprehensive work of this kind is the Analytical Key to the Old Testament. This four volume work parses, translates, and provides a cross-reference to BDB for all forms (verbs, nouns, particles, etc.) as they occur in the biblical text.

Another handy aid for translating the book of Jonah is

• Norm Mundhenk, Eugene A. Nida, Brynmor F. Price, A Handbook on the Books of Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah (UBS Helps for Translators; United Bible Societies, 1993). Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com

Commentaries

There are many excellent commentaries on the book of Jonah. These are written from a variety of different theological and ideological perspectives for audiences of different levels (for a discussion of the theological perspective and intended audience of some of the main series, see here).

The critical commentaries by Limburg, Sasson, and Simon, and Wolff all have their strengths, though if you had to only choose one I would highly recommend Sasson. I have worked through Sasson again and have come to appreciate his careful eye for detail as well as his sober exegetical judgment. In addition, his commentary is a wealth of information of how Jonah “Big Fish” story grew with its retelling. Limburg is good, albeit brief.

There are a number of good comentaries that are based on sound scholarship yet offer theological depth and insight. These would include Achtemeier, Allen, Bruckner, Roop, Stuart, and Trible. My pick for top pastoral commentary, however, is Allen’s work in NICOT, primarily for his balancing of scholarship and theological reflection. In this regard, Trible is a close runner-up. Good commentaries for a popular audience include Bruckner, Baker et al, and Nixon.

• Achtemeier, Elizabeth Rice. Minor Prophets I: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. New International Biblical Commentary: Old Testament. Hendrickson, 1996. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Allen, Leslie C. The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1976. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Baker, David W., T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K. Waltke. Obadiah, Jonah and Micah. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity, 1988. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Bruckner, James K. Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. NIV Applicaton Bible Commentary. Zondervan, 2004. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Craigie, Peter C. Twelve Prophets, Volume 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos,
  Obadiah, Jonah. Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1984. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Fretheim, Terence E. The Message of Jonah. A Theological Commentary. Wipf & Stock, 2000. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Knight, George A.F., and Friedemann W. Golka. Revelation of God: A Commentary on the Books of the Song of Songs and Jonah . International Theological Commentary. Eerdmans, 1988. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Limburg, James. Jonah: A Commentary. Old Testament Library. WJK, 1993. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Limburg, James. Hosea-Micah. Interpretation. John Knox Press, 1988. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• McComiskey, Thomas. The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary. Volume 2: Obadiah, Jonah,
  Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. Baker, 1993. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Mitchell, H. G., John M. Smith, and Julius A. Bewer. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Jonah. International Critical Commentary. T & T Clark, 1912. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Nixon, Rosemary. Message of Jonah. Bible Speaks Today – Old Testament. InterVarsity Press, 2003. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Roop, Eugene. Ruth, Jonah, Esther. Believer’s Church Bible Commentary. Herald Press, 2002. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Sasson, Jack M. Jonah: A New Translation with Introduction, Commentary, and Interpretation. Anchor Bible. Doubleday, 1990. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Simon, Uriel, and Lenn J. Schramm. Jonah: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. JPS Bible Commentary. Jewish Publication Society, 1999. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Smith, Billy K. Amos, Obadiah, Jonah. New American Commentary. Broadman Holman, 1995. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Stuart, Douglas K. Hosea-Jonah. Word Biblical Commentary. Word, 1987. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Sweeney, Marvin A. The Twelve Prophets, Volume 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah. Berit Olam. Liturgical Press, 2000. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Trible, Phyllis. Jonah. The New Interpreter’s Bible: The Twelve Prophets (Vol 7). Abingdon Press, 1996. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Wolff, Hans Walter. Obadiah and Jonah: A Commentary. Continental Commentaries. Augsburg Publishing, 1986. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

(See my “Old Testament Commentary Survey” for more information on these and other commentaries).

Monographs

There are many interesting monographs on the book of Jonah. Most of these are more academic, though Trible’s work is an accessible guide to rhetorical criticism that uses the book of Jonah as an extended example. On a more scholarly level, I recommend all of the other works. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the work of fellow Edmontonian, Ehud Ben Zvi. His collection of essays is well worth a read.

• Ben Zvi, Ehud. Signs of Jonah: Reading and Rereading in Ancient Yehud. JSOT Supplements. Sheffield Academic Press, 2003. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Bolin, Thomas M. Freedom Beyond Forgiveness: The Book of Jonah Re-Examined. T & T Clark International, 1999. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Craig, Kenneth M. A Poetics of Jonah: Art in the Service of Ideology. University of South Carolina Press, 1993. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Gaines, Janet Howe. Forgiveness in a Wounded World: Jonah’s Dilemma. Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Green, Barbara. Jonah’s Journeys. Interfaces. Liturgical Press, 2005. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Magonet, Jonathan. Form and Meaning: Studies in Literary Techniques in the Book of Jonah. Bible and Literature Series. Almond Press, 1983. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Salters, Robert B. Jonah and Lamentations. Old Testament Guides. T & T Clark International, 1994. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Sherwood, Yvonne. Biblical Text and Its Afterlives: The Survival of Jonah in Western Culture. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com
• Trible, Phyllis. Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method and the Book of Jonah. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Augsburg Fortress, 1994. Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

Next in the series, we’ll look at Jonah chapter 1. Stay tuned.

Here’s the plan for this series: after I provide a post highlighting some resources for the study of Jonah, I will work through the book of Jonah in Hebrew with a series of posts leaving chapter two until the end (as my class is introductory Classical Hebrew, I want to leave the poetry for after the prose). Only after working through the book, will I post on some interpretive issues surrounding the book of Jonah.

So get your fishing rods… we’re about to catch a big fish!

My theory has nothing to do with the fact that I snore a little bit. OK, full confession: I snore really loud — just ask my wife or my kids! In order to gain some appreciation for how loud I snore, let me provide two illustrations. (1) As many of you know, I recently moved into a new house — a new house with a spare bedroom upstairs (also know as the “snoring room”). One night I had been sent to the snoring room and subsequently fell fast asleep. For some reason, in the middle of the night my wife had to go downstairs. She discovered that in the middle of the night she could hear my snoring everywhere in the house! (2) Last spring when I was in Toronto, I stayed at a good friend’s house. I ended up sleeping in his kids’ playroom. I am told that in the middle of the night his oldest son woke up and heard a horrible growling noise coming from the playroom. He ran to his parents’ room scared and told them all about the monster in his playroom. (Just in case you need the dots connected, I was the monster and my snoring was the growling. Also, don’t worry — I don’t have sleep apnea.)

Anyway… back to Jonah and my amazing theory. The Hebrew of Jonah 1:5 is pretty standard. Jonah takes off and boards a ship and goes down to the hold to catch a few zees. I guess it isn’t that boring since his sleep is described as רד×?, which is typically rendered as “deep sleep” or even “trance” (the cognate nominal is used in Genesis 2:21 to describe Adam’s Yahweh-induced sleep when having his rib removed). What I find interesting is how the Septuagint translates רד×? with the verb ῥέγχω “snore.” And Jonah’s snoring was apparently loud enough for the captain of the ship to hear him from above deck as he comes down to Jonah and asks him what is he doing snoring when a life threatening storm has been thrown to the Sea by Yahweh.

So, the moral of the story is if you snore, you’re in good company! Even the prophet Jonah snored… and we all know what a paragon of faithfulness and mercy he was!