ISN’T IT IRONIC?: THE IRONY MOTIF OF THE BOOK OF JONAH

ISN’T IT IRONIC?: THE IRONY MOTIF OF THE BOOK OF JONAH

 By: Daniel McMillin

Irony is a tool that authors use to state the opposite of what is intended. Andreas Köstenberger states that “irony has to do with the reversal of what is said or expected.”[1] The author of Jonah uses irony as a literary device throughout the course of his writings, McGehee uses the term “ironic inversion” to describe this theme in Jonah.[2] This sermon will trace the irony motif employed in Jonah.[3]

CHAPTER 1

Jonah was sent to Nineveh to confront pagans with wickedness, and in an effort to forsake his responsibilities, he became the cause for the calamity that God brought upon him and the pagan sailors he traveled alongside to Tarshish. Jonah was causing more harm than good in this instance. The irony is evident since Jonah was chosen by God to preach to the Ninevites to be used as an instrument of God’s grace to vanquish evil from this pagan society, but now is the catalyst of further calamity among these people as God’s punishment appears in the form of a storm.

When God tells Jonah to “arise” and “go” one might expect the author to record Jonah’s obedient response but instead find the prophet doing the opposite of God’s call. “Our expectations are subverted when Jonah indeed arises, but to go in the opposite direction. The “hero,” with whom we would expect to identify, acts in an inexcusable way.”

When the storm ensues on the sea, the sailors assume that this is a sign of divine judgment meant for one of the travelers, and so they cast lots to isolate the individual responsible for the calamity. In this scene, the lot falls on Jonah, and he is identified as the cause of the storm. The irony is found in Jonah’s response to the sailors when he professes his fear of the Lord of creation when all aboard the ship knew he was attempting to flee from this same God. It is ironic that Jonah affirms that the God he serves is the Almighty Creator and Lord of all things, namely the sea and land, and yet he tries to run from God as though He does not control and cannot see all things. In addition, the sailors react to the storm in a commendable manner where they appeal to the divine for their salvation, whereas Jonah does not pray about the God of his salvation until the next chapter, knowing he is the cause of the storm.

CHAPTER 2 

After Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish, Jonah begins to pray to the Lord of his salvation. The prayer is quite beautiful, yet his words are bittersweet since he bit more than he could chew. One might expect Jonah to repent at this point in the story and straighten up so he may readily answer the call of God. Instead, Jonah ignores his disobedience and boasts of his superiority over the pagans. He may not recognize the irony of his calling. God has sent Jonah to call attention to the coming destruction for the sins of a pagan people so they may repent, while Jonah, His prophet, requires the same message and has the same need for repentance.

“The prayer actually contributes to the story’s irony and the author’s characterization of Jonah.” [4] Jonah would rather die than be used as an instrument of grace for the Ninevites, and yet it is ironic that he thanks God for saving him from the storm by using a great fish to swallow him up. In other circumstances, being swallowed by a great fish would appear to be a form of torture and viewed as the prelude to certain death. However, Jonah, strangely enough, viewed it as a form of salvation. He appreciated the mercy God extended to him at this moment through this great fish, but he was not willing to go to Nineveh in the first place to be used like the great fish to extend the same mercy to this pagan nation. 

CHAPTERS 3-4

At the beginning of the narrative, God was angry with Nineveh, and so He sent His prophet Jonah to preach the coming destruction. However, by the end of the story, Jonah is depicted as one who is angry with the outcome of God sparing this cruel nation. Jonah believed that Nineveh deserved what was coming to them, their sure demise, not mercy. Yet, Jonah thought that he deserved mercy when he abandoned his calling. The irony is evident when God demonstrates through the plant He prepared and destroyed that He has every right to be angry and care for this pagan nation, and yet Jonah cares for a plant more than for a pagan people. In addition, it is ironic that at the beginning of the narrative, the word translated “displeasure” is used to describe the evil character of the Ninevites but is later used to describe Jonah’s emotional state of disdain for the outcome of these events.

After Jonah preaches the immanent destruction of Nineveh, everyone responds to this warning by turning away from their sinful ways, and so God spares them. It is ironic that Jonah is mournful that Nineveh repents and is not destroyed since he was successful in declaring the message of God and His will was accomplished on that day. God sent Jonah to warn Nineveh, and they repented. In addition, God is even depicted as one who repents, analogically speaking, but Jonah still continues to pout like a child when he does not get his way. “Jonah was unwilling to let God be God. He felt the pagan Ninevites did not deserve mercy, even though they repented of their sin. It is fine for God to forgive sinful Israel but not the sinful pagans.”[5] McGehee notes that in Jonah, the author’s use of irony is meant to reverse “the conventions of biblical narrative in terms of the encounter between a prophet and the people, and between Israel and the outside world.”[6]

OH THE IRONY

The book of Jonah ends in a most dramatic fashion. The narrative leaves the reader in suspense, asking, “How did Jonah respond?” The entire time, Jonah was so self-involved and was unwilling to be used as a vessel of mercy on behalf of God. Jonah knew that God sent him to Nineveh to save them because he acknowledged his God is loving, compassionate, merciful, and patient.

Isn’t it ironic how one can read this story and judge Jonah for being so unloving, discriminatory, and selfish concerning God’s grace, and yet they, the reader, may have the same heart of anger and judgment? They may not want to share the same message of mercy and forgiveness with a certain group of people due to their outward appearance, or they may decide to not extend the hand of salvation to certain individuals because, in their judgment, they may never change and repent, or possibly they judge certain people for having a past and feel they are not worthy of God’s mercy for their lives. It is ironic that one may want God’s mercy to be exclusive so long as they are included. Hopefully, the irony of Jonah sheds some light on God’s glory and grace through His extension of mercy to the Gentile nation of Nineveh and the prophet Jonah. May our hearts be softened by God’s grace.

END NOTES

[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger, Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2011), 197.

[2] Michael David McGehee, “Book of Jonah,” in Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary.

[3] Most of this work is developed from the work of Robert B. Chisholm Jr.’s masterful work, Handbook on the Prophets (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 409-416.

[4] Chrisholm, Handbook on the Prophets, 412.

[5] Chrisholm, Handbook on the Prophets, 414.

[6] McGehee, “Jonah.”