The book of Jonah is about a dedicated and gifted prophet living in the 8th century BC, who as a prophet, spoke up for Yahweh during the reign of Jeroboam, son of Joash [Jeroboam II] over the northern tribes. Jonah must have had a tough time for Jeroboam, ‘did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat [Jeroboam I]’ (2 Kings 14:23-25), in spite of Jonah and his colleagues’ counsel and warnings (2 Kings 17:23) throughout the 180 years during and between the reigns of these two kings. The situation was complicated too, because although Jeroboam was so evil, archeological studies suggest his 40-year reign was one of the most prosperous in the northern kingdom’s history,[1] confirming the hints in 2 Kings 14:25, 28. We know that this happened because,
Yahweh had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since Yahweh had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash (2 Kings 14:26-27).
But did Jonah understand that? Might he have been frustrated that Yahweh was not in any hurry to fulfill the warnings Jonah and his fellow prophets issued on Yahweh’s behalf? No details are given in Scripture but it is not unreasonable to surmise that Jonah would mirror how we might feel if we were in Jonah’s shoes.
During this time Jonah was called by Yahweh to travel 1,000 miles, that is at least two-three months’ walk, to Nineveh, a major city and probably the ruling city in Assyria, the ‘mega-power’ of the day. Jonah then had the amazing experience of leading a mass repentance of the king and people of Nineveh. But the book of Jonah is not about that. It is about Jonah’s character. It highlights his hypocrisy, self-centredness and stubbornness that contrasts with the biblically established model he ought to have followed of Yahweh’s compassion, forgiveness and consistency (Psalm 103) and he knew what Yahweh was like (Jonah 4:2). He had no excuse. The story is embarrassing to people of faith. Some commentators[2] and virtually every reader, I suspect, wonder why it is in Scripture – and Scripture does not explain. It reminds me of Jesus’ parables. They too, often end abruptly and Jesus does not explain their point. The disciples, on occasion, had to ask (Matthew 13:10-23, Mark 4:10-13). We too sometimes get stuck with the parables but we have one big advantage over the disciples – we read the parables in the light of the full Jesus narrative and the later scriptural revelations of God’s Kingdom. That provision helps unlock the meaning. We need a similar key to unlock Jonah and I wonder if we have it in the insights obtained from understanding about trauma.
Might Jonah have been traumatized by the difficulties of his ministry while Jeroboam ruled? Was his passion for Yahweh overwhelmed by hatred for the Assyrians, the aggressive, power hungry people that were threatening invasion? Was it out of consideration for Jonah’s possible trauma that Yahweh was so patient and forgiving? The book of Jonah is so different to the other prophetical books. Jonah is biographical and says hardly anything about his message whereas all other prophetic books are about the message and hardly anything is revealed about the named prophet. Even the narratives in Kings and Chronicles about prophets such as Elijah and Elisha recount their powerful and faithful ministry whereas the book of Jonah is primarily about the prophet’s rebelliousness and failure. Rather than compare Jonah to such prophets we should perhaps compare Jonah with the poets who shared with us their innermost grief and despair and sometimes their anger and aggression in laments such as Psalm 58 and Psalm 79.
This is as far as I have reached so far in this analysis but it looks as if it is going in a worthwhile direction. If you are interested in developing further please let me know and I will go elsewhere.
[1] Siegfried Horn, revised by P. Kyle McCarter, ‘The Divided Monarchy: The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel,’ in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple ed. by Hershel Shanks, (Washington DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1999) p. 159-162.
[2] Douglas Stuart, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 31, Hosea-Jonah, (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987) p. 433.
Written: 15 June 2022
Published: 28 November 2023