This book of jonah, though it be placed here in the midst of the prophetical books of scripture, is yet rather a history than a prophecy. He went down to the port of joppa, where he found a ship leaving for tarshish. He further explains the actual definition of a contradiction and cited examples of a man. Crack your knuckles and warm your fingers up for all this scrolling that will come. The bible tells us that god prepared a great fish which swallowed jonah. In attempting to explain some of the bibles alleged errors, i am. This proves, they say, that this cannot be gods book, its no different from any other human book with the usual errors and mistakes.
What are the most commonly asked questions about the book of jonah. Introduction jonah is the book of the bible which perhaps has been criticized more than any other. It is the conviction of the present author that how many alleged bible contradictions one may test and falsify, there will always be an understandable hesitancy about the reliability of the biblical account. Home content index books of the bible jonah questions about jonah. We should not imagine that the repentance of the ninevites will be.
My jewish learning is a notforprofit and relies on your help. Jonah brazos theological commentary on the bible kindle edition by cary, phillip. Book of jonah overview insight for living ministries. Oct 01, 2011 it is the conviction of the present author that how many alleged bible contradictions one may test and falsify, there will always be an understandable hesitancy about the reliability of the biblical account. But this doesnt explain why god would let his original revelation get corrupted.
The bible is a book that some laugh at, some swear on, and some leave on a shelf to gather dust. Jonah was angry with god because he brought the people of nineveh to repentance jonah 4. Go to the great city of nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. Book of jonah bible survey what are the major prophets and minor prophets. Following the lead of the hebrew masoretic text, the title of the book is derived from the principal character, jonah. During this time, an important event happened to israel. But the bible is replete with contradictions and inconsistencies. The nwt study bible is complete with cross references, maps, and an accurate bible dictionary. T he book of jonah is an old testament story which tells about how the prophet jonah refused to follow the lord.
He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the lord by sailing to tarshish. Jonah brazos theological commentary on the bible kindle. It could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. This is because the story is not very favourable towards jonah. Biblical contradictions occur when two or more verses, approached from a literalist perspective, state two or more things that cannot simultaneously be true. The book is named after its principal character, whose name means dove. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for tarshish to flee. It would be presumptuous to think that one could, in a brief article, speak the final word on the questions in debate. Study scripture verses with commentary, concordances, and use highlighting, underlining, take notes in the bible.
Book of jonah, also spelled jonas, the fifth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, embraced in a single book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. If the bible is the word of god, how can you explain the contradictions of the bible. He was gods instrument to carry out gods will on earth. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading jonah brazos theological commentary on the bible.
Most prophetic books record the messages of the prophet, but in jonah the only prophetic message is five words in 3. Many times skeptics will present a list of socall contradictions such as whether god repents, the time of jesus death, and when peter denied him. Read more is the passage in matthew 19 a contradiction. The ancient hebrew word for angry is literally to be hot. Identified verse by verse and explained using the most uptodate scholarly information about the bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them by dr.
An easyenglish 2800 word vocabulary commentary on the book of jonah. Set in the reign of jeroboam ii 786746 bc, it was probably written in the postexilic period, some time between the late 5th to early 4th century bc. The purpose of this book is to show that god is a merciful and gracious god. Listen to chuck swindoll s overview of jonah in his audio message from the classic series gods masterwork. The gentle humor of this wonderful tale of the badtempered prophet is given full reign here. The book of jonah is a book of the neviim prophets in the hebrew bible. He went down to joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. Its no different from any other human book with the usual errors and mistakes. He was the son of amittai and was of gathhepher in galilee north of nazareth. Nov 01, 2010 the companion volume to this book is demolishing supposed bible contradictions volume 2. Unlike other old testament prophetic books, jonah is not a collection of the prophets oracles but primarily a narrative about the man. Written by an exfundamentalist and bible student, this book goes straight to the evidence. The third thing to be said about the difficulties in the bible is that there are many more, and much greater, difficulties in the way of the doctrine that holds the bible to be of human origin, and hence fallible, than there are in the way of the doctrine that holds the bible to be of divine origin, and hence infallible. Commentary on the book of jonah jonah 1 1the word of the lord came to jonah the son of amittai saying, 2arise, go to nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.
Prophet jonah runs away, jonah in the belly of the fish, prays, obeys god, nineveh, bottlegourd, mercy. Aug 10, 2010 yonah is a strange prophet, and sefer yonah the book of jonah a strange book. The book of jonah, written primarily in the third person, does not explicitly name the prophet as the author of his own account, but we have no reason to doubt either the inspiration or the historical veracity of the book. This commentary has been through advanced theological checking words in boxes are from the bible. Reasons to trust the book of jonah it contains verifyable geographical and historical data. Go, enquire of the lord for me, and for them that are left in israel and in judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. Jonah bible study outlinecontents by chapter and verse. He is cast into the sea, and miraculously preserved.
Jonah, insights into the prophetic gift bible explained. Its a collection of writings revered by jews and christians. This summary of the book of jonah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of jonah. Contradictions in the bible is first and foremost a website dedicated to the bible. Jonah, the book of definition and meaning bible dictionary. Key personalities include jonah, the captain and the ships crew and the people of nineveh. The prophet jonah a dove is already mentioned in 2 kings 14. Contradictions in the bible identified verse by verse and. Jonahs flat refusal to preach the word of the lord to the people of the wicked city of nineveh leads. This little roll of four short chapters has given rise to almost as much discussion and difference of opinion as the first four chapters of genesis. Although the 66 books of the bible were written by diverse human authors in.
Contradictions in the bible identified verse by verse. Jonah was a prophet in the land of israel about 800750 bc. Using human logic many so called scholars, have questioned the authenticity of the book of jonah, because they find it hard to believe a fish could shallow and man and the man live. Jonah david conner is an exchristian fundamentalist with a lifelong. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Some moral difficulties in the bible inter varsity.
Randel helms argues that the books of the bible were written for and against. This book also includes translation problems, additions and subtractions that have been made to the bible, and problems with themorality of the book in general. Contradictions, absurdities, and more as want to read. In studying creation accounts, many skeptics will claim that the bible holds two different creations accounts the six days of genesis 1 and a different version in genesis 2. Jonah runs away because he cannot resolve two contradictions. Alleged bible contradictions explained dehoff publications. Miracles are also seen in many other credible bible books. Contradicting bible contradictions answering bible. For an explanation of the history of salvation, see the overview of the bible, pp. But jonah ran away from the lord and headed for tarshish.
Many have questioned whether the book of jonah is historical. Ham wrote in the foreword, many people today buy into the assertion that the bible is full of contradictions, but they havent bothered to look into the claim for themselves. Written by the prophet jonah, son of amittai, around 785760 b. The book of jonah is narrative history and a prophetic oracle.
The entire book of revelation has been scrapped, as god changed his mind. Mar 04, 2014 when people criticize the bible, they often point to contradictions. The thing that primarily killed my faith is that i read enough of the bible to realize that it teemed with contradictions and thus couldnt possibly have been divinely inspired, aka the infallible words of a perfect god that was dictated to human transcribers. But you dont have to be of any particular religion to read it. The prophets, such as jeremiah, ezekiel, and jonah, are said to have heard and. Unfortunately, many christians thoughtlessly cast aspersions upon this important book in the canon of scripture without realizing that they are playing into the hands of the critics and innocently becoming the dupes of the skeptics. Both the holy bible and the quran mention the story of the prophet jonah son of amittai, called yunus in the quran. But there is something more at play in this little book, which, though only 47 verses long, mentions the word big 14 times. Book of jonah, destruction and captivity by the assyrians. For as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. Demolishing supposed bible contradictions volume 1. Jonah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary.
The theme of repentance nominates it for being read on yom kippur, but it has less to say about repentance than it. As we read of jonah being answered from the belly of the fish, we are reminded that we too can be saved, even as the day begins to wane. I used to think that god never gave reasons for what he does but now i am convinced that god always makes commentary to jonah rev. In the 17th century, spinoza considered the bible to be. The primary purpose of the book of jonah is to engage readers in theological reflection on the compas.
Apr 26, 2010 so, if there are inconsistencies it counts against the bible, and if there were no inconsistencies, it would still count against the bible. The sun beat on jonahs head, so that he grew faint. While jonah eventually did what he was asked to do, the book closes with showing jonah as a bitter man. It concerns a disobedient prophet who rejected his divine commission, was cast overboard in a storm and swallowed by a great fish, rescued in a marvelous manner, and returned to his starting point. Through some supernatural events, god convinced him to obey and carry out the lords plan. It is more logical to accept discrepancies if there was an oral tradition. It is possible that jonah, like job, was written andor expanded by a sage to teach a theological truth i. Isaac asimov all scripture is given by inspiration of god, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. For many people, the belief that the bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing. Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.
When people criticize the bible, they often point to contradictions. The internal consistency of the bible concerns the coherence and textual integrity of the bible. He calls us to proclaim the gospel to themwhether we like it or not. This is a project that has been on my mind for over four and a half years outlining all the books of the bible, from genesis to revelation. It tells of a hebrew prophet named jonah son of amittai who is sent by god to prophesy the destruction of nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. The supposed legendary character of some of the events e. That is to say that it is a website about the very nature of the biblical text itselfa nature, moreover, which is readily perceivable from a cursory glance at the bibles table of contents. The audience of the book of jonah was the people of israel and all future readers of the bible and, typically, prophets issued warnings or gave instructions to the people of israel.
Commentary on the book of jonah relevant bible teaching. A commentary on the book of jonah cooper abrams bible truth. Overall a very informative and useful book with an author who is well versed on the subject and has solid credentials. The book of jonah makes no direct claim to its authorship, although the author may be jonah himself. Nor think that this amount proves that the bible needs defending and twisting. However, because of the literary style of the book and the amazing adventures that are said to have befallen the prophet jonah, many modern scholars propose. Intro to jonah biblica the international bible society. About 90% of these are due to a not so great ability to read. Do not be surprised, dear reader, by the size and profuse number of alleged contradictions here. Jonah flees from the lord the word of the lord came to jonah son of amittai. And yet we have jonah, a clear example of god changing his mind and not. The third thing to be said about the difficulties in the bible is that there are many more, and much greater, difficulties in the way of the doctrine that holds the.
Bible contradictions explained come reason ministries. The study of inconsistencies in the bible has a long history. Biblical contradictions exemplify internal errors something that contradicts the bible s own message as opposed to external errors something that the bible gets wrong about the external. The prophets, such as jeremiah, ezekiel, and jonah, are said to have heard. No writer in the bible tells such a bad story about himself. Jonah was an israelite who was sent to the assyrians in nineveh. The bible says this here, but says the opposite over here. Bulgarian, dutch, french, indonesian, italian, spanish t he bible has many seeming contradictions within its pages. Had not the inhabitants of it repented, he had done right to go out of it, and shake the dust of his feet against it.
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