My foray into Jonah was stimulated by this post from Brian Leport and its good questions.
This book is chock full of signs. Every word, even every preposition, and every recurrence is overloaded with meaning. And we haven't even got to the fish yet. לֵךְ אֶל הַיָּם
| Story | Vs | Story |
| וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְהוָה אֶל יוֹנָה בֶן אֲמִתַּי לֵאמֹר | 1.1 | and the word of יְהוָה happened to Jonah (Dove) child of Amittai saying |
| קוּם לֵךְ אֶל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ כִּי עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי | 1.2 | Rise - walk to Nineveh the great city and call out against her for their evil has come up in my face |
| וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה | 1.3 | but Jonah rose and ran away to Tarshish away from the face of יְהוָה and he descended to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish and he paid the fare and descended into her to go with them to Tarshish away from the face of יְהוָה |
| וַיהוָה הֵטִיל רוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה אֶל הַיָּם וַיְהִי סַעַר גָּדוֹל בַּיָּם וְהָאֳנִיָּה חִשְּׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר | 1.4 | but יְהוָה hurled a great wind onto the sea and a great tempest happened on the sea and the ship, she was reckoning she was a wreck |
| וַיִּירְאוּ הַמַּלָּחִים וַיִּזְעֲקוּ אִישׁ אֶל אֱלֹהָיו וַיָּטִלוּ אֶת הַכֵּלִים אֲשֶׁר בָּאֳנִיָּה אֶל הַיָּם לְהָקֵל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וְיוֹנָה יָרַד אֶל יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה וַיִּשְׁכַּב וַיֵּרָדַם | 1.5 | And the salt-sea-farers feared and they cried each to his God and they hurled their cargo that was in the ship onto the sea lightening themselves of trifles but Jonah had descended into the recesses below decks and he was laid out unconscious |
| וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל אֱלֹהֶיךָ אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד | 1.6 | so the pilot approached him and said to him what's with you - unconscious! Rise! Call out to your God maybe this God will do something for us and we will not perish |
| וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ לְכוּ וְנַפִּילָה גוֹרָלוֹת וְנֵדְעָה בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ וַיַּפִּלוּ גּוֹרָלוֹת וַיִּפֹּל הַגּוֹרָל עַל יוֹנָה | 1.7 | and they said, each to his companion look here, let's throw the dice to know from whom this evil is ours and they threw the dice and the dice pointed to Jonah |
| וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו הַגִּידָה נָּא לָנוּ בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ מַה מְּלַאכְתְּךָ וּמֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא מָה אַרְצֶךָ וְאֵי מִזֶּה עַם אָתָּה | 1.8 | and they said to him, make it clear to us, please why is it that this evil is ours? what is your business? and where have you come from? what part of earth? and from this people - who are you? |
| וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי וְאֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲנִי יָרֵא אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת הַיַּבָּשָׁה | 1.9 | and he said to them Hebrew I am and I, I fear יְהוָה the God of the heavens who made the sea and the dry land |
| וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ כִּי יָדְעוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים כִּי מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה הוּא בֹרֵחַ כִּי הִגִּיד לָהֶם | 1.10 | and the mortals feared, a great fear, and they said to him what is this you have done? for the mortals knew that from the face of יְהוָה he had run away for he had made it clear to them |
| וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעָלֵינוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר | 1.11 | and they said to him what will we do to you that the sea may be quieted for us for the sea worked up a tempest |
| וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם שָׂאוּנִי וַהֲטִילֻנִי אֶל הַיָּם וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם כִּי יוֹדֵעַ אָנִי כִּי בְשֶׁלִּי הַסַּעַר הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה עֲלֵיכֶם | 1.12 | and he said to them lift me up and hurl me onto the sea and the sea will be quieted for you for I, I know that it is from me that this great tempest is upon you |
| וַיַּחְתְּרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים לְהָשִׁיב אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְלֹא יָכֹלוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר עֲלֵיהֶם | 1.13 | But the mortals dug hard to turn to the dry land but they could not for the sea worked up a tempest against them |
| וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל יְהוָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָנָּה יְהוָה אַל נָא נֹאבְדָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וְאַל תִּתֵּן עָלֵינוּ דָּם נָקִיא כִּי אַתָּה יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר חָפַצְתָּ עָשִׂיתָ | 1.14 | so they called out to יְהוָה and said we beseech you יְהוָה please, let us not perish in the life of this man and do not make us pay for innocent blood for you יְהוָה have done according to what you wanted |
| וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת יוֹנָה וַיְטִלֻהוּ אֶל הַיָּם וַיַּעֲמֹד הַיָּם מִזַּעְפּוֹ | 1.15 | and they lifted up Jonah (the Dove) and they hurled him onto the sea and the sea stood back from his rage |
| וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה אֶת יְהוָה וַיִּזְבְּחוּ זֶבַח לַיהוָה וַיִּדְּרוּ נְדָרִים | 1.16 | and the mortals feared יְהוָה, a great fear and they offered an offering to יְהוָה and they vowed vows |
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. Thus far I see Jonah (the Dove) in the paradox of being called to go "up" yet he continues to go "down". He is to go northeastward to Nineveh yet goes westward toward Tarshish. The sea is personified as angrily beating against the boat and YHWH is in the midst of it all. Have I missed anything thus far?
Wow - that was a quick response !! Yes Brian, in every verse there are clues and signs of the story and what it is and why Jesus held it up as his 'sign'. The dove is of love, the child will end up as an idiom at the end of chapter 4. You get the ascend vs descend - tov! walking vs running, (though walk is a weak translation). Face - compare psalm 139 - and I am sure the writer knew it. The hurling, the helpful mortals, the lifting up - all point to the sign as Jesus might have read it. The impact on others of failure - still positive! As I think about 'beseech' - perhaps - 'please, please' would be better - hence why I could not use 'pleased' at the end of that verse. Does God 'want' anything? The dry land - a reference to creation of course. The heaven and the dry land - reflecting heaven and earth in the refrain in the psalms of ascent ++. Blood and innocence - don't hold it against us - also reflected in the NT. The image of the storm will be expanded in chapter 2. Just a few random notes for the moment.
ReplyDeleteBob, a quick question, before my test starts:
ReplyDeleteIn v.3 why did you choose not to have Jonah pay "her fare" (= slightly oddly in both cases the ship's fare in Hebrew as in English)?
On "face" for לְפָנָי I'll need to look at what you said and why in the Psalm... but without good reason it seems to me the construction most often has clearly the sense of "into my presence" with overtones of authority often intended...
Tim - I think it should be her fare, but I drew away for fear of fair play with the traditional attribution of pronouns. Then I noted that KJV has her for sea where it is clearly his! So right on - thanks - I think it should change.
ReplyDeleteAlso I agree on face - I like presence better and had it at first... still pondering..
@ Tim - I should have listened to all your podcasts before starting - I just noticed this one and I wanted to make a point similar about the definite articles combined with the repetition of 'this' in its various forms. Definiteness seems exaggerated as you would expect in a children's story.
ReplyDelete@ Brian - on the serious side is the series of questions including what line of work are you in? It reminds me of Who to men say that I am? That word for work or occupation is 'creator' (Genesis 2:2)
@ Tim - after hitting several more possible uses of her, I think it is dislocating for an English reader. The personification is not really there in the Hebrew, just part of its gendered grammar. So I changed my mind again. Chapter 4 is very difficult - I've been struggling with fury and depression as I read it. :) And 'happen' for 'become' only works sometimes. O rigidity thou art a cruel taskmaster.
ReplyDeleteWould "her fare" indicate he paid for the entire cost of the ships journey? "Her" = ship?
ReplyDeleteRe her fare - I don't see that it means more than that he paid what we would call 'his own' fare. I have been wondering about analogy here - whether the ship is 'the elect', 'the church', going off in the wrong direction, like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle. But I don't think I need to press the image too far. I also wondered if the fish might also be an image of the judgment of the assembly, but again, I think it is the pattern of death and rebirth that is the low hanging fruit. Also that Jonah is like Jesus in that he prays even from within death. So also even if he should die, he will live (John 11:25).
ReplyDeleteI think that it is one example of the personification (or even anthropification) of non-human characters in Jonah. Among the others a few verses later the ship "threatens" to break up. Whatever else this adds to the "children's story" quality of the book.
ReplyDeleteAre there other examples of ships "having" fares, or indeed payments made to or for anything otherr than people. This strikes me as unusual language, that becomes usual in Jonah where ships and fish and even the animals of Nineveh have personality!
ReplyDelete@Tim - the ship does seem personified and I think one could get away with some play with the language. The treatment of Jonah I found from Christensen is really a good teaching tool.
ReplyDelete