1. TYPE OF LITERATURE
1.1. Place in the Canon
1.1.1. In what section of the Christian OT is the passage? Prophets
1.1.2. In what section of the Jewish Bible is the passage? Latter Prophets
1.1.3. What things characterize literature in these sections of the OT / Jewish Bible? What is the “goal” of the corpus?
Acceptable ethics and proper ways to worship characterize literature in this section of Jonah from the Old Testament. The goal is to deliver God’s word to the people about the appropriate ways worship and proper ethics.
1.2. Genre
1.2.1. What is the primary genre of the passage? Narrative
1.2.2. Are there any other sub-genres? Yes, Poetry (Jonah 2)
1.2.3. How does literature of this type communicate its message?
I would consider the
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DATE
2.1. “Internal” Date
2.1.1. At what point on the OT timeline is this passage set? The story of Jonah occurred during the reign of Jeroboam II. That means that this passage occurs toward the end of our Old Testament time line between the Divided Monarchy and the fall of Israel to Assyria. Scholars think that this book was written by Jonah himself.
2.1.2. What is the approximate range of dates the passage reflects? This passage takes place during the reign of Jeroboam II who ruled Israel from 782 to 753 B.C.. More specifically the story of the prophet Jonah happens in c. 760 B.C.
2.1.3. What are characteristics of this era of Israel’s history?
Some characteristics of this era include peace and prosperity. During this time Assyria was not a threat to Israel. The Israelites did not consider Assyria to be a threat but there was concern that they were slowly rising. They were growing their territory as well. Military rarely ventured out. Jeroboam II restored the borders of Israel. Religiously during this time, Israelites believed that God was taking care of them and blessing them. Assyria had a reputation of being evil. Assyria was at a high point of evil and it continued to grow in power at the end of Jonah’s life