Jonah. The details are quite in keeping with the localities and the date of the narrati,e. This will appear in the course of the Exposition. The mention of the size of Nineveh and the extent of its population is proved by recent investigations to be perfectly correct. Could our blessed Lord have referred to Jonah's incarceration in the fish's belly as e. sign of his own three-days' sojourn in the grave, had the story been an allegory and nothing more? Could he further have used the comparison of tho Ninerites' conduct with that of the men of his own time, had the former been a.n imaginary people existing, for the nonce, only in fiction? Critics may say that Christ was speaking uncritically and merely using an illus- tration from a well-known allegory ( comp. Ladd, 'Doctrine of Scripture,' i. 67, etc.), but they forget the full bearing of this reference. As Perowne puts it forcibly, "The futnre Judge is speaking words of solemn warning to those who shall hereafter stand convicted at his bar. Intensely real he would make the scene in anticipation to them, as it; was real, if then present, to himself. And yet we are to suppose him to say that ... the fictitious characters of a parable shall be a.rraigned at the same bar with the living men of that generation." Again, if the book is a parable, why is the didactic purpose not presented more prominently and directly? If an allegory, can any example be pro- duced of a sacred canonical writer using prodigious miracles as the vehicle of his teaching? In a narrative of facts the psalm (eh. ii.) is introduced naturally; it is given as composed by Jonah nnder the circumstances related. In an allegory it is quite out of place, marring the unity of the work, and intruding an element which does not harmonize with the other parts. .And if a person had to be selected on whom to hang this :fictitious narrative, is it conceivable that the Jewish author should have fixed on an eminent and well-known prophet to represent in so unfavourable a light? W onld he have been so wanting in common reverence as to affix to a celebrated man of God these traits of disobedience, waywardness, folly, narrowness, and peevishness ? Plainly, the only way to account for the prophet being represented in this light is to consider that he acted in the way mentioned, and that the book is the plain narrative of his conduct, whether in its present form written wholly by himself, or partly by some la.ter editor from his record. Lastly, the miraculous portion of the story is not dragged in unneces- sarily, and is not unparalleled by other transactions in Holy Scripture. Jonah's mission was unusual and most important; both the prophet himself and those with whom he was brought into contact needed to be convinced that God's providence was ordering all things, and that the powers of nature and the destinies of men were at his absolute disposal. The storm, the fish, the repentance, the gourd, are parts of this Divine lesson; and where God interferes there must needs be the supernatural. We must doubt the miraculous element in the histories of Elijah and Elisha, if we dispute the reality of the wonders in the biography of Jonah, THE BOOK OF JONAFI. xi
'I'ha.t WDB a,n age of miracles. God was manifesting his power against idolatry, and showing himself as the Guide and Support of his servants. Some prophets proclaimed him by word, some by action. Among tho latter Jonah takes hie natural place. Assyria had a. great future before it. It ie not improbable tha.t on its repenta.nce at the preaching of Jonah depended its continued existence and its subsequent pre-eminence. It was ordained that the Semitic people of Assyria. should prevail over the children of Ham in Egypt. This would not have been the case had Nineveh's fall not been postponed for a time. Though Jonah saw not the full bearing of his mission, and, regarding it in a narrow, prejudiced spirit, tried to avoid its execution, really it was a factor in the world's history, and momentous issues hung thereon. Hence arose the extraordinary exhibition of super- natural agencies. As in the era of Moses and Elijah, and in the early days of Christianity, a great crisis demanded a baring of the Almighty's arm and evident tokens of his interference in the affairs of men.
§ V. LITERATURE. The Book of Jonah has been published in Chaldee, Syriac, lEthiopic, and Ara.hie, with glossaries by Professor W. Wright. Amon~ commentaries on the book may be mentioned those of Ephraem Syrus; Basil; Theophylact; Calvin, 'Lectures;' J. Brentius; Luther; J. Ferus (1554, often reprinted); Dereser (Bonn, 1786); Kaulen, • Lib. Jon111 Proph.' (1862); Bishop Hooper, 'Sermons;' Archbishop Abbott, 'An Exposition' (1600, 1845); Gerhard, 'Annotationes' (Jena, 1676); Pfeiffer, 'Prrelec- tiones' (Leipzig, 1686); Leusden, with the commentaries of Jarchi, Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, and Jophi (Utrecht, 1692); Von der Rar<lt, '1Enigmata Prisci Or bis;' Helm- stad (1723); Grimm,' Der Proph. Jon. iibersetzt' (Di.isseldorf, 1789); a Martin (Lon<lon, 1866); W. Drake, 'Notes;' Redford,' Studies' (1885); Kleinert (Bonn, 1871); Arch- deacon Perowne, in 'The Cambridge Bible for Schools.'
§ VI. ARRANGEMENT OF THE BooK IN SECTIONS. The four chapters into which the book is divided make four natural divisions of the whole work. Part I. (Ch. i.) The mission of Jonah. Ilis disobedience and punishment. § 1. (Ch. i. 1-3.) Jonah ia sent to Nineveh; he tries to avoid the mission, o.nd takes ship to 'l'arsbish. § 2. (Ch. i. 4-10.) A great storm arises, which the crew discover to have been sent on account of Jonah's sin. § 3. (Ch. i. 11-16.) At his own request, Jonah hi cast into the sea, which imme- diately becomes calm. § 4. (Cb. i. 17.) He is swallowed alive by a great fish, and remains in its belly three days and three nights. Part II. (Ch. ii.) Jonah's prayer and deliverance. § 1. (Oh. ii. 1-9.) Jonah, in the belly of the fish, offers a prayer of thanksgivin<> for his rescue from death by drowning, in which he sees a pledge of furthe~ deliverance. § 2. (Ch. ii. 10.) The fish caste him up on the shore. Part III. (Oh. iii.) Jonah's preaching in Nineveh; the repentance of the Ninevites. § 1. (Oh. iii. 1-3.) Sent again to Nineveh, Jonah obeys the command. § 2. (Ch. iii. 4.) He delivers his message. § 3, (Ch. iii. 6-9.) The Ninevites believe God and repent. § 4. (Ch. iii. 10.) The threatened destruction is averted. xii I:N"TRODUCTION TO THE DOOK OF JONAH.