“Is it right for you to be angry?”(Jon 4:4) On a Possible Reason for Jonah’s Rebellion against God’s Mercy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2020.022Keywords
the Book of Jonah, mercy, the image of God, love of enemies, narrative gapAbstract
The author of the article analyzing the narrative of the Book of Jonah observes that the central message of the text is neither salvific universalism nor missionary vocation of Israel, as many biblical scholars want to believe. The whole narrative focuses on the conflict between Jonah and God, which concerns the answer to the question about the relation between justice and God’s mercy. God’s mercy revealed to Nineveh is the reason for Jonah’s rebellion. It is not, however, about God’s forgiveness towards pagans. Jonah is able to accept such a form of mercy, namely the saving of pagan seamen from the storm by God, which leads to their conversion to the one God. Nineveh is not the symbol of the pagan world as such but the representation of imperialism, hostility, persecution, and aggression towards the people of God (Is 10:5-15; Zep 2:13-15; Na). In this context, what Jonah cannot accept is the fact of God’s mercy to the greatest enemy of Israel, symbolized by Nineveh. In the Book of Jonah, the narrative leads to the final question (4:10) functioning in the text as a “narrative gap,” which as such remains unanswered. It is not Jonah but the readers who are invited to answer this question through the story of their lives. It is an invitation to 1) discover the truth about God who shows His mercy to all people, even the greatest persecutors and enemies, and 2) to be merciful towards enemies and persecutors. In this way, the Book of Jonah comes closer the Gospel's call: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Mt 5:43-45).
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