Since the Book of Jonah does not have details about the story background, nor does it have a complete ending, it is like an independent story that even without it would not affect much about the Israel’s history. Instead of a true story of Prophet Jonah, some scholars would regard it as a tale or a work of imagination to teach the Israel about God. The name “Jonah” means “dove” in Hebrew, and it is commonly accepted as the representation the “Jewish people as a whole”. It is possible that the Book of Jonah is a “symbolic writing” which only focuses on delivering the meaning of the story itself. Since the Book of Jonah is one of the twelve prophetic books, by using Jonah as a symbol of the Israel, I think the entire story of Jonah is the real prophecy in disguised in the Book of Jonah. The prophecy about the great city of Nineveh works as an instrument to show how Jonah responses to God’s commands and God’s mercy to gentiles. My thesis is that the Book of Jonah is a reminder of God’s love, patience and salvation towards the Israel and the gentiles through God’s consistent patience and mercy towards Jonah and the Nineveh city in the story of
Since the Book of Jonah does not have details about the story background, nor does it have a complete ending, it is like an independent story that even without it would not affect much about the Israel’s history. Instead of a true story of Prophet Jonah, some scholars would regard it as a tale or a work of imagination to teach the Israel about God. The name “Jonah” means “dove” in Hebrew, and it is commonly accepted as the representation the “Jewish people as a whole”. It is possible that the Book of Jonah is a “symbolic writing” which only focuses on delivering the meaning of the story itself. Since the Book of Jonah is one of the twelve prophetic books, by using Jonah as a symbol of the Israel, I think the entire story of Jonah is the real prophecy in disguised in the Book of Jonah. The prophecy about the great city of Nineveh works as an instrument to show how Jonah responses to God’s commands and God’s mercy to gentiles. My thesis is that the Book of Jonah is a reminder of God’s love, patience and salvation towards the Israel and the gentiles through God’s consistent patience and mercy towards Jonah and the Nineveh city in the story of