Some Questions
- What inspired the story-teller to relate this story in the first place and what might he or she be trying to tell us?
- Where might the story have originated? Nineveh? Judah? Nineveh’s other enemies?
- Why do you think it appealed to the Jews so much that they felt it important to tell it and to pass it on to future generations?
- Why was it valued sufficiently highly to find its way into the Canon?
Some Activities
- Try writing the next chapter of the Jonah story. When Jonah returned home with whom do you think he shared this experience? How do you think he might have told it? What do you think his hearers might have said in response?
- If you belong to a group try a little role play with Jonah, a couple of sailors, a Ninevite reflecting on the way in which his city was no longer the jewel in the crown of Assyrian times, and the voice of God.
- Initiate discussion among friends on the similarities between Jonah, representing the hardliners in the Jewish community in the 4th century BCE, and people with similar views in your own community today. See if you can identify the different groupings.
- Compare the respect the sailors show to Jonah’s God with the respect he shows to theirs. Contrast their turning to God with Jonah’s running away from him. And where do we find ourselves?