Book of Jonah is satire?

[YHWH_Christ]

I have read that some scholars believe the Book of Jonah was specifically written to be ancient Israelite satire, meaning as a genre its “comedy” or “satirical”. That would be interesting if true. What implications would that have?

 

[BartholomewB]

A satire on what?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Satire can be used to deliver powerful messages.

Johnna takes some extreme measures to avoid going to Nineveh, and then when he does go, he gets mad that the Ninevites repent!
God rebukes Him, and the book abruptly ends.

I would say it’s possible.

 

[kapp19]

Jonah is an uproarious satire on the irony of God’s mercy and love, in the context of the universal covenant of faith yet to be externalized in Christ and the Church. Jonah hates the Assyrians SO MUCH that he would rather die than tell them that God loves them… see the Christic parallel? There are many characters and episodes in the story which show up in a twisted/upside down way in the Gospels. Like the sleeping in the boat, the righteous sailors who “wash their hands of his blood,” etc.

 

[Vico]

I have read that some scholars believe the Book of Jonah was specifically written to be ancient Israelite satire, meaning as a genre its “comedy” or “satirical”. That would be interesting if true. What implications would that have?

In the Haydock Commentary on Jonas, that was mentioned:

Paine’s supposition, that this book was written by a pagan “to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest,” requires no refutation. H. Watson.

Also:

He prophesied and prefigured in his own person the death and resurrection of Christ, and was the only one among the prophets who was sent to preach to the Gentiles. Chrysostom.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It’s obviously addressing the same problems Chiristians have continued to have into the modern era, namely that some of them believe they are in the holy and righteous group and that those outside the group (as they define it) are beyond God’s mercy and redemption and should just be punished by God. They sit around expecting this punishment to happen and are even disappointed when it doesn’t occur.

Jonah always reminded me of a Woody Allen type movie. With Woody playing Jonah. I guess in that sense you could say it’s satire, but it seemed to me more just an illustration of the human condition.

 

[Beryllos]

I think of the Book of Jonah not as satire but more like a folk tale which is both entertaining and enlightening, that might be told in an intimate setting like the home or synagogue.

 

[ColoradoCatholic]

I don’t think Jesus thought it was satire when he said “no sign will be given to this generation except for the sign of Jonah” and then proceeded to resurrect himself.

 

[Dovekin]

In the Haydock Commentary on Jonas, that was mentioned:

Paine’s supposition, that this book was written by a pagan “to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest,” requires no refutation. H. Watson.

This is not exactly the same as saying the book is a satire, because it imputes an evil motive to the satire. It was written by a Jew “to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest.”

The author of Jonah has no evil intent; he wants to show that God is merciful and loving even when we want something else. This skewering of the malignant character of those close to God is best done with satire, at least in the author’s mind. I would rather laugh when my faults are exposed.

 

[Tolle_Lege]

Jonah is sacred history but may be considered written in satirical form. Just as the Gospels are sacred history and written in biographical form.

 

[Crusader13]

I believe the reason that Jesus mentions the sign of Jonah is because the story did in fact happen, but Jonah was not alive in the fish/whale. He did in fact die.

Dr. Brant Pitre mentions this view and it does make sense. When you read chapter 2 you discover that Jonah is praying from the belly of Sheol, the realm of the dead. The imagery that is given is describing the underworld, not necessarily being beneath the waves of the sea.

Jesus mentions this sign because Jesus will also descend to the realm of the dead for three days after dying on the cross.

Seems odd that Jesus would use the sign of Jonah as a sign given to His generation, if it was merely satire and especially if Jonah never died and was therefore never resurrected, as Jesus would later be.

 

[Usagi]

Right! If it’s a satirical novel, it’s not a satire against God, it’s a satire using Jonah, God’s Worst Prophet Ever, to illustrate that God is the God of the whole world who even wants to save (rather than destroy) the people of the wicked Assyrian Empire.

 

[Usagi]

Jesus used fictional stories to illustrate real points all the time. It was one of His major teaching methods. So I wouldn’t take His reference to Jonah as a guarantee that the events really happened.

Also, the canonical Book of Jonah potentially being a novel doesn’t mean Jonah wasn’t a real guy or even a real prophet. Someone could have taken his story and written it up as historical fiction while emphasizing certain elements to make the point about God’s universal love. Like, Alexander Hamilton really existed and did a lot of the stuff Lin-Manuel Miranda included in Hamilton, but the musical isn’t just a factual recounting of the real man’s life.

 

[Shakuhachi]

Jonah always reminded me of a Woody Allen type movie. With Woody playing Jonah. I guess in that sense you could say it’s satire, but it seemed to me more just an illustration of the human condition.

Do you remember an episode of Northern Exposure when I think the doc had such an hallucination.

 

[Vico]

Vico:

In the Haydock Commentary on Jonas, that was mentioned:

Paine’s supposition, that this book was written by a pagan “to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest,” requires no refutation. H. Watson.

This is not exactly the same as saying the book is a satire, because it imputes an evil motive to the satire. It was written by a Jew “to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest.”

The author of Jonah has no evil intent; he wants to show that God is merciful and loving even when we want something else. This skewering of the malignant character of those close to God is best done with satire, at least in the author’s mind. I would rather laugh when my faults are exposed.

You think it is ridicule. What did Jesus say?

Matthew 12

38 Hereupon some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, Master, may we see a sign from thee? 39 He answered them, The generation that asks for a sign is a wicked and unfaithful generation; the only sign that will be given it is the sign of the prophet Jonas. 40 Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-beast, and the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineve will rise up with this generation at the day of judgement, and will leave it without excuse; for they did penance when Jonas preached to them, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 42 The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the day of judgement, and will leave it without excuse; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

 

[Dovekin]

Jesus said it was a sign for a wicked generation. The men of Nineveh (not to mention all the cattle) will testify to the merciful love of God, against those who want certainty about God’s judgment.

I would not use “ridicule”. That seems harsher than the mood of Jonah. And I would rather think Jesus is lightening the mood by recalling Jonah, against the gloomy Pharisees.

 

[Dovekin]

I was refering to the Pharisees wanting a sign, and their similarity to Jonah who did not like that God would forgive the Ninevites if he preached to them.

 

[Dovekin]

The certainty of something that did not happen? The Ninevites were not destroyed for their wickedness, they were saved as an act of God’s mercy. “ I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment… it is better for me to die than to live.”

The book is about Jonah and how unhappy he is with how gracious and merciful God is. That is the lesson given to the Pharisees who lay burdens on others, who want a sign of God’s coming. Three days in a whale, Nineveh repenting, the gourd plant withering, those are all incidentals that barely matter next to the love of God shown throughout.

 

[Vico]

Jesus said it was a sign for a wicked generation. The men of Nineveh (not to mention all the cattle) will testify to the merciful love of God, against those who want certainty about God’s judgment.

I would not use “ridicule”. That seems harsher than the mood of Jonah. And I would rather think Jesus is lightening the mood by recalling Jonah, against the gloomy Pharisees.

OK. However satire is ridicule or scorn (Merriam-Webster “satire noun, 1. a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn”). By testify I take it to mean “to serve as evidence of”.

The Haydock Commentary has:

As Jonas was a sign to the Ninivites, so is Christ to the Jews; for as he by the prodigy of remaining so long in the fish’s belly, and afterwards coming forth alive, gave such authority to his preaching, that the Ninivites were converted; so Christ, by his death and resurrection on the third day, shall shew that he is the true Christ, and this generation shall acknowledge him for the Messias. M.

 

[YHWH_Christ]

Old Testament scholar, Arnold J. Band, argues that the Book of Jonah was written to be a parody and deconstruction of the prophetic tradition in ancient Israel and a critique of the notion that God was only the God of the Jewish people rather than of the entire world. Numerous other scholars have taken up this point of view on Jonah, noting the many Hebrew puns and satirical wordplay appear throughout the novella. Indeed, the Book of Jonah is considered to be a Menippean satire, a common form of satirical prose originating in the ancient world.