Vermeulen/Jonah, 1. Words Hurled Upon the Sea

This essay argues that the book of Jonah reflects a culture that grew out of intense engagement with biblical traditions and tropes even as it renders them strange and often problematic. While recognition of Jonah’s myriad allusions is widespread, many scholars have seen them as upholding traditional theologies about God’s sovereignty and Israel’s sinfulness, a reading that undergirds interpretations of the dynamic between Jonah and God. However, Jonah playfully critiques the idea of God’s sovereignty along with prophetic depictions of the divine word as stable and transferable. The essay concludes with an analysis of Jonah 4 to show that the book of Jonah is imprinted with the aesthetics, concerns, and values of an innovative and skeptical iteration of scribal culture.