Posts Tagged ‘Jonah’

  • Jonah: Thoroughly fishy!

    Jun 12, 14 • Genre, Humour, Jonah2 Comments
    Jonah: Thoroughly fishy!

    Spotting the exaggerations and humour in the book can help us understand, but it also acts as a warning!...

  • Direct speech in biblical narratives

    Feb 15, 13 • 1 Samuel, Jonah, Narrative, RuthComments Off on Direct speech in biblical narratives
    Direct speech in biblical narratives

    There are many ways in which the story-tellers of the Bible ensure that their tellings are lively and engaging. One is through the way they report speech. There is usually more “direct speech” (where the words of a character are “quoted”) then “indirect speech” (where the teller tells us the gist of what the character [&hellip...

  • Obadiah and Jonah

    Sep 10, 12 • Isaiah, Jonah, Obadiah2 Comments
    Obadiah and Jonah

    Juxtaposition: putting things together to make something “more than the sum of the parts” is a common artistic skill, it is common (but often unrecognised) in the Bible. As my least favourite book of the Bible helps reveal!...

  • The structure and organisation of the book of Jonah

    Jul 18, 12 • Jonah, Narrative, StructureComments Off on The structure and organisation of the book of Jonah
    The structure and organisation of the book of Jonah

    Jonah is carefully and neatly structured into four acts (the chapters): Act one: Jon 1:1-16 Pagan sailors converted Scene one: Jonah’s commission 1:1-3 Scene two: On a ship in a storm Jon 1:4-16 Jon 1:17 (MT & LXX 2:1) bridge Act two: Jon 2:1-10 Jonah talks to God Scene three: in the belly of the [&hellip...

  • Bridges in Biblical Narrative

    Jul 17, 12 • Jonah, Narrative, RuthComments Off on Bridges in Biblical Narrative
    Bridges in Biblical Narrative

    Like soap-operas, and other serials, biblical narratives with several episodes often seek to bridge between two parts. These bridges are often verses that serve to link one episode to another. We’ll look at examples from Ruth, Jonah and Genesis 2-...

  • Clumsiness in biblical narrative: Jonah 1:10 (Be afraid, be very afraid)

    Jun 1, 12 • Jonah, NarrativeComments Off on Clumsiness in biblical narrative: Jonah 1:10 (Be afraid, be very afraid)
    Clumsiness in biblical narrative: Jonah 1:10 (Be afraid, be very afraid)

    Biblical narrative is seldom clumsy and not often more complicated than it needs to be. So apparent clumsiness is usually intended to show us something. As I hope to convince you it does in Jonah 1:10.  ...

  • Jonah 1:3-5 : What’s Jonah doing?!

    Aug 24, 07 • Jonah, NarrativeComments Off on Jonah 1:3-5 : What’s Jonah doing?!
    Jonah 1:3-5 : What’s Jonah doing?!

    The puzzle of Jonah’s actions, and other strange goings-on don’t stop in Jonah 1:3, but deepen (pun intended) as we begin to read on… we meet the ship that had plans of its own and hear echoes of Santa Claus in the telling of Jonah’s story&#...

  • Jonah 1:2: three little words

    Aug 24, 07 • Jonah, NarrativeComments Off on Jonah 1:2: three little words
    Jonah 1:2: three little words

    Continuing the series on Jonah, we rush ahead into the second verse of the book, only to spot yet again possibly more than one meaning. Jonah’s task however is clear. By the way I am sorry about the long delays recently, I hope to post more regularly again, but not till after enjoying a two [&hellip...

  • Jonah pt.2: Jon 1:3 – What’s going on?

    Apr 25, 07 • Genre, JonahComments Off on Jonah pt.2: Jon 1:3 – What’s going on?
    Jonah pt.2: Jon 1:3 – What’s going on?

    So, here’s the second part of the Jonah series. This time we focus on 1:3. Again we end with a question – but at least the right question is better than the wrong answer!  ...

  • Jonah 1:1 – How should I begin?

    Apr 23, 07 • Amos, Genre, Jonah5 Comments
    Jonah 1:1 – How should I begin?

    This post deals with Jonah 1:1, I excuse this by reference to the new commentary series announced on the first of this month by Eisenbrauns 😉 This ‘cast deals with beginnings, and with whether the clues in this verse suggest Jonah is of the genre prophecy or narrative (if you don’t understand why this question [&hellip...