Thematic Essay On The Book Of Jonah

The book of Jonah, just like the other Minor Prophets, is a short story – only 4 chapters with 48 vesicles – which, between other characteristics, its distinguishes by having the prophet as the main character, while the other prophets are only collections of oracles. Another difference with the other minor prophet books, is that the book of Jonah is a narrative story about the mission ordered to Jonah, and, even in other books of the Bible, we find parallel writings of this particular style, none of them is as dominating as this. The most distinguished of its characteristics is that, while most of the prophetic books in the Bible the narrator is the prophet (redacted on first person), the book of Jonah is narrated by a third person. This book …show more content…
For instance the number three in the verse 1:15 from the book of Jonah: “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.” These texts in which the number "three" appears as a sign of the unity of the beginning, the middle and the end, we could add the three times a year every Israelite male was presented before the Lord (Exodus 23:17); the triple priestly blessing (Numbers 6: 22-27); the three great annual feasts in the Jewish tradition/holyday: "Pesach" ("Passover"), "Shavuot" ("Pentecost") and "Sukkot" ("The Cabin" or "Tabernacles"); the animal sacrifices which are three years old, that are “pleasing to the Lord” (Genesis 15: 9); the three times a day Daniel knelt and prayed to God (Daniel 6: 10-11); the three parts of the temple ("Court", "Sanctuary" and "Holy of Holies"); The three sons of Noah, which is implied by the bible that they are the root of all humanity; The three sons of Noah (Shem, Cam, and Japhet), which is implied by the bible that they are the root of all humanity; Similarly, the "three" also points to an imminent and serious danger particularly as the three-day stay of the plague of darkness on Egypt (Exodus 10:22), and, as we are studying, the three days of Jonah in the belly of the “big fish”. This element (three) is just one of many. The Bible is so loaded with this kind …show more content…
This worm figure is employed in the Bible to distinguish how small humans are compared to God (Dominguez). In the book of Job, Bildad expresses the purity of God compared to stars and humans to worms. “How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” (Job 25:4-6) The book of Acts of the Apostles tells us about the death and pride of the King Herodes, at the moment he is being cheered like a god, he is hurt by and angel and then worms. “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”(Acts of the Apostles 12: 21-23). The figure of the worm is presented in the Bible to describe the condition of the unrepentant sinners, and the ones who protested against God. “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:24). Last