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A Note on Jonah 2.8: Idolatry and Inhumanity in Israel

the story of Jonah does not cease to fascinate readers and scholars today. the four short chapters can be read from many angles, offering multitudinous insights and possibilities for understanding. the book is unique among the prophets. the story is not about the message of the prophet, but rather about the attitudes and behaviour of the prophet himself. The book’s theology is subtle, yet profound and revolutionary.1 the author, through the main character Jonah—as the stereotypical Israelite—provides a critique of Israel’s self-understanding. Jonah does not understand Yahweh’s great concern to show mercy to all people. Rather, Jonah is more concerned with his own ideological and nationalistic agendas. the debate over the literary genre and compositional history of the book is far from settled.2 Nevertheless, regardless of how one conceives its compositional history, the four chapters of Jonah present a coherent and symmetric story. there are neither major textual problems nor different versions of the story in the documented traditions.3 The apparent inconsistencies between Jonah’s prayer in chapter two and the rest of the story were evidently not a problem for the final editor(s) of the story.4