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 matters, keep coming back as I’ll have a post on “Why genre matters” soon!
PS: Thank you Tyler for reminding me of your blog post commentary on Jonah, you began it so long ago 😉 that I’d forgotten – but it should get a link here!
I should also link to my Notes on Jonah, less detailed than these talks, but dealing with the whole book.
I think I can see where you are going and I like the trajectory. Thanks for the Hebrew – I start level 2 tomorrow and am learning to hear as well as deciper visually
I tried sending a verbal comment – but I don’t think I could make it work. The size is excellent and the level inviting – altogether delightful.
Thanks, listening to Hebrew is certainly a good move, too many of us learned by seeing only! I’m sorry the audio comments did not work for you – it may be a silly question but do you have a microphone (either built in or plugged in)? Otherwise I am at a bit of a loss – this stuff is too technical for me!
I think I agree that Jonah is a prophetic-narrative/story, but wayhi debar yhwh occurs 21 times in Jeremiah, 41 times in Ezekiel, and 6 times in Zechariah. In those instances it is a prophetic introductory formula, not a narrative forumula. So if it doesn’t mark a story in those instances, why would it necessarily mark one here?
I don’t think I’m saying that it does, exactly… I think the whole form of the book so evidently IS a narrative that the introduction gently and subtly provides a clue that the book is not JUST a narrative…