Difference between revisions of "Overview – Sefer Yonah/0"
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Historical Background | <category>Historical Background | ||
| − | <p>Sefer Yonah itself does not provide enough information to allow the reader to place it within a larger historical framework.<fn> | + | <p>Sefer Yonah itself does not provide enough information to allow the reader to place it within a larger historical framework.<fn>No known historical events are mentioned or alluded to in the story. The king of Nineveh is not named, making it impossible to identify him with any known figure.  Even Yonah is an unknown, as the text provides no identifying information about him besides his name.</fn> However, many commentators<fn>See, for example, Ibn Ezra, Radak and Ibn Kaspi on Yonah 1:1.</fn> associate Yonah with the Yonah b. Amitai mentioned in <a href="MelakhimII14-23-29" data-aht="source">Melakhim II 14:25</a> who prophesied during the reign of Yerovam II. If so, Yonah prophesied at a time when Assyria was one of the strongest powers in the Ancient Near East.  Within just a few decades after Yerovam's death, Assyria exiles Israel and decimates Judah.  Sefer Yonah, though, makes no mention of any of this.  It never even draws a connection between Nineveh and Assyria, suggesting that these facts are perhaps not crucial for a proper understanding of the book's main messages..</p> |
</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Themes | <category>Themes | ||
<subcategory>Repentance | <subcategory>Repentance | ||
| + | <p>The theme of repentance and return . See Radak 1:1  - lesson to Israel.</p> | ||
| + | <ul> | ||
| + | <li>The Sailors –</li> | ||
| + | </ul> | ||
</subcategory> | </subcategory> | ||
<subcategory>Mercy vs. Justice | <subcategory>Mercy vs. Justice | ||
Version as of 14:29, 25 August 2020
Overview – Sefer Yonah
Structure of the Book
Sefer Yonah is a neatly structured book, dividing into two halves which are to some extent symmetrical in content, as illustrated in the Table in the pane to the right.
- Chapters 1-2 detail Yonah's flight from his mission and its consequences, while Chapters 3-4 detail his fulfillment of his mission and its aftermath.
- Each unit opens with Hashem's call and the prophet's disobedience or compliance.
- This is followed by a description of people in danger of destruction whose ensuing actions and cries to God lead to their salvation.
- Both units end with a focus on the prophet Yonah who prays (in one case for salvation, and in the other for death) and is answered with miraculous messages.
For further discussion of the book's structure, see Structure – Sefer Yonah.
Historical Background
Sefer Yonah itself does not provide enough information to allow the reader to place it within a larger historical framework.1 However, many commentators2 associate Yonah with the Yonah b. Amitai mentioned in Melakhim II 14:25 who prophesied during the reign of Yerovam II. If so, Yonah prophesied at a time when Assyria was one of the strongest powers in the Ancient Near East. Within just a few decades after Yerovam's death, Assyria exiles Israel and decimates Judah. Sefer Yonah, though, makes no mention of any of this. It never even draws a connection between Nineveh and Assyria, suggesting that these facts are perhaps not crucial for a proper understanding of the book's main messages..
Themes
Repentance
The theme of repentance and return . See Radak 1:1 - lesson to Israel.
- The Sailors –
