JONAH, Book of. The book of Jonah is written concerning a prophet, Jonah, the son of Amittai, doubtless to be identified with the prophet of that name whose prediction in the time of Jeroboam II is recorded in 2 Kings xiv, 25. The hook was written much later than the lifetime of the prophet, however. The language of the book is particularly decisive, for Ar maisms and other late words afford clear evi dence that it was written after the exile. The thought of the book makes it probable that it was intended as a protest against the narrow ness of postexilic Judaism, which was most conspicuous after the time of Ezra and Nehe miah. It is probable, therefore, that the hook is not earlier than 400 Lc., and may be some what later than that. The phrase "the king of Nineveh," iii, 6, is in accord with this dating, since it is one which would not have been used until some time after the end of the kingdom of Assyria, in 606. Concerning the personality of the author, or authors, nothing is known out side of the hook itself.
The nature of the book is much disputed. It has in the past often been considered to be historical, but various features of the book are against that, of which the swallowing of Jonah by the fish and his later deliverance unhurt, and the repentance of the whole city of Nineveh at the call of an unknown foreign prophet are but more conspicuous features among many im probabilities. It is a book of wonders, not of history. Some have given it an allegorical in terpretation, Jonah representing the nation Israel and Babylon being the fish which swal lowed the nation during the exile. But the details of the treatment do not yield themselves readily to an allegorical interpretation. It is to be regarded as a story designed to teach a lesson, a romance. The story as such is doubt less the creation of the author. It may be based upon some current story or stories. Similar stories of the swallowing of a man by a monster and later deliverance are common among many ancient peoples. The somewhat similar story of Perseus and Andromeda is located at Joppa, the port from which Jonah embarked.
There has been some question whether the book is all by one author. With the exception of a few words here and there, however, there seems no reason for question except in refer ence to the psalm in ii, 2-9. That is undoubtedly not by the author of the remainder of the book First of all, it is inappropriate at this point, Jonah can hardly have been thought to utter this while within the whale, and in its nature it is a thanksgiving for deliverance and not a prayer for such deliverance. It would be more
appropriate if put after verse 10. But even then it would be in some measure inappropriate. The psalm presupposes no such experience as Jonah's but only drowning. The drowning, in accordance with the usage of the psalms of the Old Testament, is more probably figurative, as a description of extreme trials, than literal. The psalm was doubtless composed independently and probably in use in some collection of psalms, it being similar to those in the Book of Psalms. Nothing definitely indicates whether the psalm was added by the author or by a later reader or editor. In any case it is more probable that it was originally designed to be after verse 10, but was accidentally transposed. If added later, it was probably written on the margin, so that its transposition would be easy. The psalm con sists largely of reminiscences of other psalms, and hence is probably postexilic.
In literary form the book excels; as a ro mance it is very artistically worked out.
There are two principal thoughts in the book. The first concerns the nature of the prophet's work, particularly in prediction. The purpose of the prophet is a practical one, to affect the lives of the hearers; not to present a program of the future, but so to present that future as to influence die lives of those addressed. This influence may so change their lives that the prediction of punishment will not be fulfilled. The prediction is conditional, as had been stated by earlier prophets. The other thought, and the principal one, concerns the character of God and his plans for men. The thought of God is not limited to the nation Israel, but is concerned with mankind generally. Even the great op pressor of Israel, Assyria, is the ob1ect of God's loving care; the people of that nation may find mercy from God if they repent. It is God's world-wide plans of mercy for men that are here presented, quite in the spirit of Isaiah. It is one of the most exalted messages in the Old Testament.
Bibliogmphy.— Sewer, J. A., ternational Critical Commentary,' (New York 1912) Kennedy, J., 'On the Book of (London 1895) ; Perowne, T. T., 'Books of Obadiah and Jonah' Bible,' Cam bridge 1879) ; Smith, G. A., The Book of the Twelve Prophets' ((Expositor's Bible,' Vol. II, New York 1898).