It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that Jonah is older
than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,--that he is the oldest among the
prophets whose written monuments have been preserved to us. The passage
in 2 Kings xiv. 25, where it is said, that Jonah, the son of Amittai
the prophet, prophesied to Jeroboam the happy success of his arms, and
the restoration of the ancient boundaries of Israel, and that this
prophecy was confirmed by the event, cannot decide in favour of this
assertion, because it cannot be proved that the victories of Jeroboam
belonged to the _beginning_ of his reign. On the other hand, it is
opposed, _first_, by the position of the book in the collection of
the Minor Prophets, which, throughout, is chronologically arranged,
and which is tantamount to an express testimony that Jonah wrote
_after_ Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah. _Then_,--the circumstance that
Nineveh is mentioned here, and that too in a way which implies that,
even at that time, the hostile relations of the Assyrians to the
Covenant-people had already begun, while in the first part of Hosea, in
Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, no reference to the Assyrians is as yet found.
Even ancient interpreters, as _Chr. B. Michaelis_, _Crusius_ (in the
_Theol. Proph._ iii. S. 38), inferred from this mention of Nineveh,
that the book had been composed in consequence of the first invasion of
the Assyrians under Menahem, who ascended the throne 13 years after the
death of Jeroboam II. _Finally_,--the book begins with _and_. Wherever
else, in the canonical books of the Old Testament, such a beginning
occurs, it indicates a resumption of, and a junction with, former links
in the chain of sacred literature; compare Judges i. 1; 1 Sam. i. 1;
Ezek. i. 1. That the expression, "And it came to pass," with which the
book opens, is intended to establish the connection with the prophecy
of Obadiah, which occupies the immediately preceding place in the
Canon, is intimated by the internal relation of the two books to each
other. The prophecy of Obadiah bears, throughout, a hostile aspect to
the heathen world; it appears to him as the object only of God's
judging activity. Jonah, on the other hand, received the mission,
distinctly to point out the other aspect of the matter, and [Pg 408]
thereby, not indeed to correct, but certainly to supplement his
predecessor.
The time was approaching when the heathen world was to pour out its
floods upon the people of God. It was obvious that the position of
Israel towards it became one altogether repulsive, that the
susceptibility of the heathen for salvation was denied, and God's mercy
was limited to Israel. Narrow-minded exclusiveness received a powerful
support from the oppression and haughtiness of the heathen. Whilst
other prophets opposed such exclusiveness by their words, by announcing
the extension of salvation to the Gentiles, Jonah received the mission
to illustrate, by a symbolical action, the capacity of the heathen for
salvation, and their future participation in it. The effect of this
must necessarily have been so much the greater, as the whole of the
little book is exclusively devoted to this subject, as it appeared at
the first beginning of the conflict, and as Nineveh is mentioned here,
for the first time, in so peaceable and conciliatory a relation, and in
close harmony and connection with the announcement of the willing
submission of the heathen world to the dominion of Shiloh, spoken of in
Gen. xlix. 10. It is remarkably impressive to see how spirit here
triumphs over nature--a triumph which appears so much the brighter
because the prophet himself pays his tribute to nature; for it was
because he listened to the voice of nature, that, at first, he intended
to flee to Tarshish. The reason why the commission of the Lord was so
disagreeable to him, we learn from chap. iv. 2. He was afraid lest the
preaching of repentance, which was committed to him, might turn away
the judgments of the Lord from Nineveh, the metropolis of that country
which threatened destruction to Israel. He knew the deep corruption of
his own people, and foreboded the issue which the extension of the
means of grace to the Gentiles might very easily bring about in the
end. But yet, he felt almost irresistibly impelled to carry out the
commission of God, and in order to cut himself off from the possibility
of following the voice which called him to the east, he resolved to go
to the far distant west. The voice, however, followed him even there;
but the farther he advanced on his journey, the more difficult it
became for him to follow it. At a later period, when the Lord granted
mercy to Nineveh, he was angry and wished to die, not by any means
because he [Pg 409] felt himself injured in his honour as a prophet (as
was erroneously supposed, even by _Calvin_), but because he grudged to
the Gentiles the mercy which he considered as a prerogative of Israel
only, and because he was anxious for the destruction of Nineveh as the
metropolis of that kingdom which was destined to be the rod of
chastisement for his own people. He was thus actuated by the same
ardent love for his people which called forth the wish of St Paul, that
he might become an anathema for his brethren,--by the same disposition
of mind which prevailed in the elder brother at the return of the
prodigal son (Luke xv. 25 ff.), and which at first would manifest
itself even in Peter, Acts x. 14 ff. The Jewish sentence (_Carpzov.
Introd._ 3, p. 149), "Jonah was anxious for the glory of the Son, but
he did not seek the glory of the Father," is very significant. Jonah
exhibits, in a very striking way, the thoughts of his old man, in order
that Israel might recognise themselves in his image. But we are not at
liberty to say that the prophet represented the people only. It is true
that, as one of the people, he also entertained those thoughts; but,
besides these, he entertained other thoughts also. The voices of the
Lord which he heard were spiritual; and such voices can be heard only
when there is something akin in the heart. Not even with one step did
Jonah touch the territory of the false prophets, who prophesied out of
their own hearts. He retained all his human weakness to himself, and
the Word of God stood by the side of it in unclouded brightness, and
obtained absolute victory.
There can be no doubt that we have before us in the Book of Jonah the
description of a symbolical action,--that his mission to Nineveh has an
object distinct from the mission itself,--that it is not the result
attained by it in the first instance which is the essential point, but
that it is its aim to bring to light certain truths, and in the form of
fact, to prophesy future things. The truths are these:--_First_, that
the Gentiles are by no means so unsusceptible of the higher truth as
vulgar prejudice imagined them to be. This was manifested by the
conduct of the sailors, who, at last, offer sacrifices and even vows to
Jehovah; but, in a more striking manner, by the deep impression which
the discourse of Jonah produced upon the Ninevites. In this we have the
actual proof of Ezek. iii. 5, 6, where the prophet represents his
mission as one of peculiar difficulty--more [Pg 410] difficult, even,
than it would have been if addressed to the Gentiles: "Had I sent thee
to them, surely they would have hearkened to thee." _Further_,--that it
is not in His relation to Israel only, but in His relation to the
Gentiles also, that the Lord is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and of great kindness," chap. iv. 2. The view which these words, at
once, open up into the future, is, that at some future period the Lord
will grant to the Gentiles the preaching of His word, and admission
into His kingdom. The glory of His mercy and grace would have been
darkened, if the revelation of them had been for ever limited to a
particular, small portion of the human race. Nineveh, the
representative of the heathen multitude, is very significantly called
the "great city" at the very outset, in i. 2, and "a great city for
God," in iii. 3, for which, as _Michaelis_ remarks, God specially
cared, on account of the great number of souls; compare iv. 11.
If the symbolical and prophetical character of the book be denied, the
fact of its having its place among the prophetical, and not among the
historical, books, admits of no explanation at all. For so much is
evident, that this fact cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by the
circumstance that the book reports the events which happened to a
prophet. The sound explanation has been already given by _Marckius_:
"The book is, in a great measure, historical, but in such a manner,
that in the history itself there is hidden the mystery of the greatest
prophecy, and that Jonah proves himself to be a true prophet, by the
events which happened to him, not less than by his utterances." A
similar explanation is given by _Carpzovius_: "By his own example, as
well as by the event itself, he bore witness that it was the will of
God that all men should be saved, and should come to the knowledge of
the truth," 1 Tim. ii. 4.
We are led to the same conclusion by the representation itself. This
differs very widely from that given in the historical books. The
objection raised by _Hitzig_ against the historical truth,--viz., that
the narrative is fragmentary,--that it wants completeness,--that a
number of events are communicated only in so far as is required by the
object of gaining a foundation for the graphic representation of the
doctrinal contents,--cannot be set aside so easily as is done by
_Hävernich_ when he says: [Pg 411] "By arguments of a nature so flimsy,
suspicions may be raised against the truth of every historical report."
We cannot but confess that, to the writer, history is indeed a means
only of representing a thought to which he is anxious to give currency
in the Church of God. It is just for this reason that he abstains from
graphically enlarging, because that would have been an obstacle to his
purpose. The narrative of a symbolical action which took place
outwardly, comes, in this respect, under the same law as the narrative
of a symbolical action belonging to the internal territory, and to that
of the parable. The narrative would lose the character of perspicuity
which is so necessary for the whole matter, if it were complete in the
subordinate circumstances.
It also tells in favour of the symbolical character of the history of
Jonah, that the missionary activity on behalf of the Gentiles does not
properly belong to the vocation of the prophets, their mission being to
the two houses of Israel only. In the entire history, not even a single
example is to be found of a prophet who, for the good of the heathen
world itself, went out among them. The history of Elisha, in 2 Kings
viii. 7 ff., has, without sufficient reason, been adduced by
_Hävernick_. According to the visions of the prophets themselves, the
conversion of the heathen is not to be accomplished _at present_, but
in the Messianic time, and by the Messiah Himself. If, then, the book
itself is not to stand altogether isolated, the symbolical character of
Jonah's mission must be acknowledged. But then it is only in the form
that it differs from the announcements of the extension of salvation to
the heathen also,--announcements which occur in the other prophets
also. That which these exhibited in words merely, is here made
conspicuous by deeds. The influence thereby produced upon the heathen
appears then only as the means, while the real purpose is to make an
important truth familiar to the Congregation of God, and, by a striking
fact, to remove the prejudices which prevailed in it.
_Finally_,--If the symbolical character of the facts be denied, the
mission of Jonah appears to be almost divested of every aim; for the
good emotions of the crew, and the repentance of the Ninevites,
evidently did not lead to any lasting result. If anything else were
aimed at than the prefiguring of future events, the prophet might
better have stayed at home; an unassuming [Pg 412] ministry in some
corner among the Covenant-people would have carried along with it a
greater reward.
If, on the other hand, the symbolical character of the history of Jonah
be admitted, remarkable parallels in the history of Jesus present
themselves. The Saviour, in the days of His flesh, was satisfied with
the prophetic intimation of the future farther extension of His
salvation. That which He Himself did for this extension, in those
particular cases where the faith of non-Israelites obtruded itself upon
Him, must, in its isolation, be viewed as an embodiment of that
intimation,--as a prophecy by deeds. He says in Matt. xv. 24: "I am not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" but if,
nevertheless. He purposely makes His abode in the territory of Tyre and
Sidon; if there He hears the prayer of the Canaanitish woman to heal
her daughter, after having first tried her faith, then His purpose
evidently is: That His prophecy in words concerning the extension of
salvation to the Gentiles, might find a support in His prophecy in
deeds. Jesus, prefiguring the future doings of His servants, passed
over the boundaries of the Gentiles. Whilst the Jews had rejected the
salvation offered to them, and forced Jesus to retire into concealment,
the heathen woman comes full of faith, and seeks Him in His
concealment. The Canaanitish woman is a representative of the heathen
world, the future faith of which she was called to prefigure by
sustaining the trial. From her example, the Apostles were to learn what
might be expected from the Gentiles when the time should arrive for
proclaiming the Gospel to them also. In Matt. x. 5, 6, the Lord speaks
to the Apostles: "Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any of
the cities of the _Samaritans_ enter ye not; but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel." His own conduct, however, as it is
reported in John iv., stands in contradiction to this command to His
Apostles, so long as its prophetical significance is not acknowledged.
That which was, on a large scale, to be done by Christ in the state of
glorification, was prefigured by Him, on a smaller scale, in the state
of humiliation. The ministry of Christ in Samaria bears the same
relation to the later mission among this people, that the single
instances of Christ's raising the dead do to the general resurrection.
The Lord afterwards did not foster the germs which had come forth among
the Samaritans; He, in the meantime, left them altogether [Pg 413] to
their fate. That prelude was quite sufficient for the object which He
then had in view, and nothing further could be done without violating
the rights of the Covenant-people, to which, in the conversation as
recorded by John, the Lord as expressly pays attention, as He does in
Matt. x.