This book is a revision of my doctoral dissertation from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (1995). It questions the interpretative judgments, assumptions and methodologies of much of the modern exegesis of Jonah. It also critiques as inherently flawed the dominant method in biblical studies which uses Israelite history and the Bible to mutually support and explain each other. It analyzes the book of Jonah by means of a combination of the standard historical tools, lacking in many of the newer literary approaches, with the freedom from the failed attempts of traditional biblical scholarship to assign a date or detect a historical background for the book. An interpretation of Jonah is offered independent of any historical speculation derived from hypothetical reconstructions of Israelite history.
This study is broadly arranged along the lines of a commentary.
After an overview of the history of scholarship in Jonah, the analysis follows the outline of the book. Each of the four chapters of Jonah receives a separate treatment. Much space is devoted to textual and grammatical analysis, attention being given in particular to ancient translations. In addition, biblical and extra-biblical traditions, motifs and conventions which also appear in Jonah are examined to provide an interpretative context for the book. Through this latter analysis, an opportunity is gained for renewed study of the distinct theological themes of the Hebrew Bible. The implications of this finding are discussed in a concluding chapter. Translations of Jonah are my own, except where otherwise specified. Block quotations of biblical texts are taken from the RSV. While the bulk of the research and writing was done from 1993-1995, I have tried to supplement the bibliography and notes with more recent publications on the subject. Many readers will doubtless find lacunae.
Sincere thanks go to those who have helped in the writing of this book with their support and critique. First of these is my wife, Megan Wood Bolin. Among others for whose assistance I am grateful are: Willliam J. Bolin, Robert C. Helmer, Julian V. Hills, Thomas L. Thompson, John J. Schmitt, Philip R. Davies, Sharon Pace Jeansonne, Richard A. Edwards and Deirdre Dempsey. A profound intellectual debt is owed to Jack Sasson's Jonah commentary in the Anchor Bible Series, which is at once a first-rate discussion of the book as well as a delightful read. Special mention must be made of the directors of the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation, whose dissertation fellowship for the 1994-95 academic year offered me the opportunity to complete the work. Finally, I would like to offer my thanks to the editors of the Copenhagen International Seminar Series for accepting this study for publication.