Księga Jonasza i osoba proroka w literaturze międzytestamentalnej i późniejszej tradycji żydowskiej

Abstract

The Book of Jonah is not too popular in the writings of the Second Temple Period. Neither the book nor the prophet attracted any attention in the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are only a few mentions of Jonah in the intertestamental literature. In 3 Maccabees (first century B.C.), Jonah’s deliverance from the fi sh is ranked with the great deliverances of Israel (cf. Synagogal Prayers ). A tendency to elaborate on the story of Jonah is evident in the Lives of the Prophets (first century A.D.). In the writings from the fi rst centuries A.D., Jonah appears with other prophets ( Martyrdom of Isaiah , Sibylline Oracles , 5 Esdras). Josephus reports on Jonah in Ant . 9,205–214. His paraphrase of the biblical story of Jonah contains the account about the fi sh (Jonah 1–2), but nothing is reported of Nineveh’s repentance (Jonah 3–4). There is a lengthy sermon on Jonah attributed to Philo (fi rst century A.D.). Jonah is treated extensively in the rabbinic literature ( Mishnah , Talmud (Palestinian and Babylonian), Midrash Rabbah , etc.). Three longer works from the latter rabbinic traditions have a detailed account of Jonah, including many additions and embellishments ( Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer , Midrash Jonah , Zohar ).