The book of the prophet Jonah – a scientific commentary on the text

Scholarly comments are given in brackets after each verse.

Chapter 1

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amathine: (The book of the prophet Jonah, both in style and in content, belongs to the same genre as the Book of Ruth. The main character of the book is Jonah, the son of Amathine. This, apparently, is a real historical In the 2nd Book of Kings, he is mentioned as a prophet who lived in the kingdom of Israel under the kings Jehoahaz, Joash and Jeroboam II, that is, at the end of the 9th – the first half of the 8th century. Then Israel was endlessly attacked by its neighbors, especially the kings Damascus.Jeroboam managed not only to repel the offensive of Damascus, but also to go on the offensive himself.In this regard, the chronicler inserted several lines about Jonah into the text; telling about Jeroboam, that this king "restored the borders of Israel from the entrance to Hamath to the desert sea ", the chronicler added: "according to the word of Yahweh the God of Israel, which he spoke through his servant Jonah, the son of Amathien, the prophet from Gathhefer"; 2 Kings 14:25. More about this ancient prophet Jonah is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Priests-hypnotists "broadcast" through the prophets in order to "not shine", but to remain behind the scenes).

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, for its wickedness has reached me. (“Jonah was from Galilee. His life is attributed to the era of the Israelite king Jeroboam II. Therefore, he was born surrounded by heretics. One day he received an order from God to go preach in Nineveh. Jonah was the only prophet who received a mission of this kind. What language did he preach in, asks Voltaire, noting in passing that from the homeland of Jonah to Nineveh was a distance of more than six hundred kilometers. Jonah did not foresee the particular success of his sermons, "says Leo Taxil, Amusing Bible, p. 398. Nineveh is an ancient city in northern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, existed from the 5th millennium BC to 612 BC Nineveh is one of the main political and religious centers of Assyria).

3 And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and came to Joppa, and found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the freight, and entered it to sail with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Instead of going to Nineveh, he moved in the opposite direction, because he wanted to escape from the annoying priest-hypnotist, who had a face. Joppa – Jaffa. Tarshish – Tartes, in the territory of modern Spain).

4 But the Lord raised a mighty wind on the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was about to be broken. (Man of antiquity associated all events with the actions of God, who allegedly either helped him or harmed him).

5 And the shipmen were afraid, and each one cried to his god, and began to throw into the sea the baggage from the ship, in order to lighten it from it; Jonah went down into the interior of the ship, lay down and fell asleep soundly. (Everything is connected with the actions of God, the shipbuilders had their own gods. However, oddly enough, but the storm lulled Jonah).

6 And the captain of the ship came to him and said to him, Why are you sleeping? arise, call upon your God; maybe God will remember us and we will not perish. (The head of the ship hopes for the god Jonah).

7 And they said to one another, Let's go and cast lots to find out for whom this trouble befalls us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. (The lot was supposedly determined by "divine forces", perhaps they simply cheated).

8 Then they said to him, Tell us, for whom has this trouble come upon us? What is your occupation and where are you coming from? where is your country, and what people are you from? (Interrogation of Jonah).

9 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, I honor the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. (Jonah, like all people of antiquity, believed that God was somewhere in heaven, controlling every step of any person and all natural phenomena).

10 And the people were terrified with great fear, and said to him, Why did you do this? For these people knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, as he himself declared to them. (Job claimed to be running from God.)

11 And they said to him, What shall we do with you, that the sea may be calm for us? For the sea did not cease to worry. (Shipmen do not know what to do, how to appease the wrath of the sea god).

12 Then he said to them, Take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be quiet for you, for I know that this great storm has come upon you for my sake. (Job is ready for self-sacrifice in order to save people).

13 But these people began to row hard to land on the land, but they could not, because the sea continued to rage against them. (The sea is raging, but the land is somewhere nearby).

14 Then they called to the Lord and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may not perish for the soul of this man, and that Thou shalt not impute innocent blood to us; for you, Lord, have done what pleases you! (Appeal to God, who supposedly can hear).

15 And they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea was stilled because of its fury. (Jonah is thrown overboard, the sea is calm, most likely this is a coincidence or an accident).

16 And these people were afraid of the Lord with great fear, and offered sacrifice to the Lord, and made vows. (People very much believe that the sacrifice made to God will help in any trouble: the talion rule).

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