Sermon Tone Analysis

Jonah and the Whale

The grammatical-historical method.

Seeking the meaning that the writers intended to convey - bring meaning out of the text.

Illumination by the Spirit.

Illumination refers to the ministry of the Spirit by which the meaning of the Scripture is made clear to the believers.

The clarity of the scripture.

The scriptures are basically plain and meant to be understood.

Adaptation to the Human Mind.

The Bible is adapted to the human mind.

The Bible expresses truth in finite human vocabulary and thought patterns, although it never accommodates to human error.

Progressive Revelation.

God reveals truth progressively from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Scripture as it’s own interpreter.

Scripture interprets scripture.

The unity of scripture and centrality of Christ.

The Bible is unified, and its central focus is Jesus Christ.

Multiple witnesses for truth.

Truth has several witnesses.

One primary meaning, many applications.

Each passage has one primary meaning but can have manifold significance and many applications.

Use of Logic.

We should use sound rules of logic in interpreting Scripture.

God called Jonah to preach against the wickedness of Nineveh (a principle city of Assyria - Assyrians).

He disobeys God.

He goes to Nineveh and the Ninevites repent.

Time Line

Jonah flees toward Tarshish

In the last chapter, Jonah justifies his disobedience by explaining that he knew God would have mercy on Nineveh; this is why he went in the opposite direction.

Jonah was from Gath-hepher (a town of the tribe of Zebulun).

Instead of Jonah going to Nineveh his route of travel was in the opposite direction to the Port of Joppa (modern day Jaffa, Israel) to board a ship to take him to Tarshish (commonly accepted as Carthage, Tunisia), which at that time was under Philistine control.

If Jonah were alive today, he would have traveled from Mashhad, Israel (approximately 5 miles north of Nazareth, Israel) 770 miles (15h 24m drive with no traffic) to Mosul, Iraq.

He instead travelled to the Port of Jaffa (78 miles).

To get to Tarshish (Carthage, Tunisia), he would have to take a 6 hour flight, or drive 2243 miles

Jonah is thrown into the sea

Jonah prays from inside the fish

Jonah then gets angry at God because the city is spared from destruction.

The Fish/Whale

The Hebrew word used is דג גדול (dg gdwl) (literally, “big fish”).

The Septuagint renders it κητος μεγας (kētos megas) (meaning “huge fish”).

The use of the word μεγας (megas) suggests that it was even larger: a large “huge fish.”

The fish can be understood in a number of ways:

• Literally: A large fish (or whale) did indeed swallow Jonah.

Although no such known fish today is capable of swallowing a person and allowing him to stay alive, it is possible that this species of fish is either extinct or undiscovered.

• As a miracle: God created, enabled, or modified a fish so that it was capable of swallowing Jonah whole and allowing him to live there.

• As an allegory: In this case, the fish did not actually exist.

The fish is merely a literary device.

Jonah could have dreamt the whole incident or he could have been picked up by a ship named “large fish” (Shemesh, “And Many Beasts,” 10).

Jonah goes to Nineveh

The Ninevites repent

The Ninevites repent

Jonah is angry at God’s compassion

Jonah angers over a dead plant.

Jonah’s phrophetic work paralleling Jesus ministry.

o Jesus uses Jonah as an example to the Sadducees and the Pharisees, lamenting the fact that while those in Nineveh did repent, this generation (Sadducees and Pharisees) did not.

Jonah’s three days and nights in the big fish parallel Jesus’ three days and nights in the tomb.

Genre of Jonah

: narrative of a foolish prophet

: thanksgiving hymn

: ironic divine repentance narrative

: divine conversation narrative

o Significance of Jonah preaching repentance in Nineveh.

o Significance of Jonah inside the fish for three days.

The Fish/Whale

The Hebrew word used is דג גדול (dg gdwl) (literally, “big fish”).

The Septuagint renders it κητος μεγας (kētos megas) (meaning “huge fish”).

The use of the word μεγας (megas) suggests that it was even larger: a large “huge fish.”

The fish can be understood in a number of ways:

• Literally: A large fish (or whale) did indeed swallow Jonah.

Although no such known fish today is capable of swallowing a person and allowing him to stay alive, it is possible that this species of fish is either extinct or undiscovered.

• As a miracle: God created, enabled, or modified a fish so that it was capable of swallowing Jonah whole and allowing him to live there.

• As an allegory: In this case, the fish did not actually exist.

The fish is merely a literary device.

Jonah could have dreamt the whole incident or he could have been picked up by a ship named “large fish” (Shemesh, “And Many Beasts,” 10).

Date of writing

Exilic (the period between 587/6 [destruction of the temple, constructed by King Solomon] and 539 BC, during which most of the people of Judah lived in captivity in Babylon or its territories - the likely time of composition of several books of the Hebrew Bible, and a formative event in the development of biblical theology) to postexilic period (referring to the period between the Neo-Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70).

Nineveh has a goddess named Nina who was a fish goddess.

Jonah’s mode of transportation, while seemed punishment for disobeying God’s call, served as God’s chosen vessel in which to deliver Jonah and perhaps served as a sign.