ab Assyriis pressum' (see infra notes on iii. 10), by Coccejus and others, unmindful that is the feminine of the active participle. Even more curious is the combination of who calls himself emphatically a Hebrew (ver. 9), with 12, a Greek (so Grotius).-Jonah was the son of N (Sept. Auasi, Vulg. Amathi), a word formed from no as

, shortened into Masaios by throwing off the weak initial N, and hence simply meaning 'a man of truth,' not 'God is truth' or 'God knows the truth.' According to a Jewish tradition, Jonah was that son of the widow in Zarephath, whom Elijah restored to life, after the performance of which miracle she exclaimed, 'Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth' (ne, 1 Ki. xvii. 24), and thenceforth called her son Amittai (PEN; comp. Yalkut, Jon. § 550, nin njpba nians 11; see infra notes on iii. 10.)—which is, of course, no more than ingenious play, and is as completely devoid of foundation as the assumption of some that Amittai was Jonah's mother. The Rabbinical deductions meant to prove that Jonah's father was of the tribe of Zebulun, while his mother belonged to that of Asher (Yalk. 1. c.), are no less precarious. The Talmud (Bab. Bathr. 14b) observes: 'Four prophets prophesied in the same period (P¬Da 7), viz. Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Isaiah;' for Jonah was reckoned to an earlier generation, since he seems to have come forward quite at the beginning of Jeroboam's reign, while Hosea and Amos taught at a later time; yet Micah and Isaiah reach but remotely into that period. On the other hand, the Rabbins assert that the 'one of the sons of the prophets' sent by Elisha to anoint Jehu as king, was Jonah (see Rashi, Kimchi a. o. on 2 Ki. ix. 1), whom they thus put into a still earlier time, as Jehu ascended the throne B. C. 884. Indeed Jonah's prophecy recorded in the second Book of Kings (xiv. 25) has by some modern critics also been placed in the time of the unfortunate Syrian wars of King Jehu or Jehoahaz, and by others in that of the encouraging victories of their successor Joash (comp. Friedrichsen, Kritische

Uebersicht der verschiedenen Ansichten von dem Buche Jonas, pp. 7, 8): but though a comparison of the passages bearing on the subject (2 Ki. x. 32, 33; xiii. 3-7, 22-25) not quite excludes these opinions, none of them has as great probability as that which obviously results from the historian's direct association of Jonah with Jeroboam II.— Jonah's mission to Nineveh was evidently considered by the author to have taken place after the prophecy to Jeroboam above referred to; but that he supposed it to have happened as late as the reign of Menahem, after the Assyrian invasion under Pul, is indeed possible, but not very likely, as at that time Jonah would have been extremely advanced in age.

2. THE CHARGE. I. 2.

Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.

Is such a mission of a Hebrew prophet incredible? It can hardly appear surprising to those who have fully studied that course of national development which we have endeavoured to unfold in the Preliminary Treatise. In the ninth and eighth century, when no binding code of religious and civil laws had yet immutably stamped upon the people a specific character, there still existed between Israel and the other nations a lively and unrestrained sympathy which constantly manifested itself not only in political intercourse but also in spiritual and religious community. Elijah and Elisha were in close relation to the royalty of Syria, and Amos inveighed against Damascus and Phoenicia, the Philistines and Edomites, Moab and Ammon, on account of their cruelties and iniquities, with the same fervour and almost the same impressive terms of reproof, with which he denounced the tres

a

a 1 Ki. xix. 15; 2 Ki. viii. 7—13.

passes of Judah and Israel. Is it then inconceivable that, at that time, an inspired man, moved by a holy fire and the dictates of humanity, should have felt a powerful impulse to attempt the moral improvement of that people upon whose moderation and righteousness the well-being of almost the whole of the Eastern world seemed to depend? This will not seem impossible to those who have formed an adequate notion of the exalted aspirations which were then animating the best minds in Israel, and which, in conjunction with a complete freedom and purity of Divine worship, appeared to realise the highest ideals of a universal nationality and a universal religion.

Naturally, therefore, might Jonah, whose intrepidity and political sagacity had been so splendidly displayed in his own country, have been credited with a missionary journey to distant and powerful Nineveh. That tradition busily engaged itself with his life, is proved by the Book which bears his name; while the nature of this Book itself makes it probable that he was a man of such uncommon character or such uncommon experiences that it was safe and probable to connect with him every marvel and every extraordinary adventure. And why should the substance of the story, though the historical annals make no allusion to such enterprise, not be founded on a real fact? Jonah, being in intimate relations with his sovereign, might have been employed by him for important offices; foreign embassies were not unusual, and some such legation from the king of Israel to the king of Assyria is actually mentioned by Jonah's contemporary Hosea. Many and vital interests connected at that period the Jordan and the Tigris. Even Jehu, the founder of the then reigning dynasty of Israel and Jeroboam's third predecessor, had been compelled, as we learn from the inscription and pictures on the 'Black Obelisk,' to conciliate the favour of the Assyrian monarch Shalmanezer II. by

rich presents sent to his capital. But for the later author of the Book of Jonah, the prophet's diplomatic mission, supposing that it took place and was faithfully handed down to his time, had no prominent interest. He knew that those efforts had borne no lasting fruit, since a century afterwards the kingdom of Israel was subdued by an Assyrian conqueror, while Nineveh still existed and flourished for two hundred years or more after the days of the prophet. He lived at an epoch when the Jews, feeble and imperfectly organised, hardly pretended to national importance, and surveyed the history of the past from a religious, rather than a political aspect. He was, therefore, unable to conceive any other object of Jonah's journey than moral reformation, and it was from this point of view that he endeavoured to estimate its character and significance. He succeeded in his task, or at least in all essential points, to a degree which fully justifies the place his narrative occupies in the Hebrew Canon; for in ideas and conceptions, it breathes the lofty spirit of the greatest and noblest of Hebrew prophets. The mighty force and beneficent sway of that spirit are proved by the undeniable fact that even its very echoes and last vibrations had the power to uplift and to purify, to enlarge the minds, and to cement the sympathies between race and race in an age which, by all its tendencies and a thousand influences, aimed at seclusion and isolation. With resolute freedom the author of this Book rose above all narrow doubts and faint-hearted scruples, which seemed insurmountable even to readers of much later times. He did not ask whether there had ever lived a Hebrew so daring as to attack the proud and reckless evil-doers in their own luxurious capital. He did not ask whether Jonah could hope to find among the Ninevites a capacity for understanding his religion and its doctrines. To him still, as it had been to the old prophet Jonah

a See Bible Studies i. 292.

ს See infra on iii. 1-3.

himself, the religion of Israel was no more than the acknowledgment of Jahveh, the Eternal, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Lord of all nations, in whose eyes the humble Hebrew is equal to the lordly Assyrian, because 'before Him all nations are as naught'-no more than that recognition together with 'doing justice and loving mercy.' He so firmly relied on the all-conquering power of these elementary truths that he was sure they needed only be pronounced with clearness and enjoined with earnestness to be accepted by all men and in all lands, and by their piercing rays to scatter the mists. of idolatry and falsehood.

Therefore God addresses to Jonah no more than the simple charge, 'Preach against Ninevhe, for their wickedness is come up before Me.' This is the sole text of the prophet's discourses. He fathoms its full scope and import, and he knows also, what is not expressly stated because it is self-understood, that he must not merely reproach the pagans with their depravity, but exhort them to repentance; not merely hurl against them menaces, but rouse their hopes of Divine compassion and of deliverance as the fruits of contrition. For according to Hebrew notions, warning precedes punishment. The gates of amendment and redemption are opened to the sinner. Though the principles of God's rule are unchangeable, their application is adapted to man's changeful conduct. They are framed by Him who knows and weighs human weakness, and they hence combine eternal justice with readily varying mercy.a

From the very outset the author has in his mind the important lessons which he intends to embody in his narrative, and not without reason, therefore, does he

a

Questionable, therefore, is Philo's expansion of the charge (De Jona c. 5): 'Quid ergo, o propheta ? Volo ut praedices huic

civitati ruinam, ut acerbior mors superveniat neque spatium temporis eis detur ad placitum vivere futurorum spe;' see notes on iii. 1-3.