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| {{book
| | [[File:The Book of Jonah.jpg|thumb|Planned cover of the Darton, Longman & Todd edition.]] |
| |title=The Book of Jonah
| | '''''The Book of Jonah''''' was translated by J.R.R. Tolkien from ''La Bible de Jérusalem'' for the [[The Jerusalem Bible|''Jerusalem Bible'']] around 1957. It was published (after several failed attempts) in ''[[Journal of Inklings Studies (October 2014)|The Journal of Inklings Studies]]'' (October 2014), with an article by Brendan Wolfe on the history and features of the translation.<ref>Judith Wolfe, "[http://judithwolfe.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/tolkiens-jonah-text/ More information on The Book of Jonah]" (01 August 2014) at [http://judithwolfe.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Judith Wolfe(blog)] (accessed 01 August 2014)</ref> |
| |image=[[Image:The Book of Jonah.jpg|225px]]
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| |author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] | |
| |editor=Brendan Wolfe
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| |pages=104<ref>[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Jonah-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0232527679/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291671124&sr=1-1 The Book of Jonah] at [http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Amazon.co.uk] (accessed 6 December 2010)</ref>
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| '''''The Book of Jonah''''' was translated by J.R.R. Tolkien from La Bible de Jérusalem for the Jerusalem Bible around 1957. It was published (after several failed attempts) in [[October]] [[2014]] by [[The Journal of Inklings Studies]], with Brendan Wolfe articles on the history and features of the translation.<ref>[[Judith Wolfe]], "[http://judithwolfe.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/tolkiens-jonah-text/ More information on The Book of Jonah]" (01 August 2014) at [http://judithwolfe.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Judith Wolfe(blog)] (accessed 01 August 2014)</ref> | |
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| ==From the publisher== | | ==From the publisher== |
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| [Editor] Brendan Wolfe tells the little-known story of how Tolkien, then at the height of his fame as the author of ''The Lord of the Rings'', agreed to join the team of Catholic writers and scholars working on a major new translation of the Bible into English in the early 1960s. The result was the Jerusalem Bible, still celebrated for its elegant, timeless English. Wolfe shows the resonances between the story of Jonah and the whale, Tolkien's contribution to the JB, and themes in his other writings. | | [Editor] Brendan Wolfe tells the little-known story of how Tolkien, then at the height of his fame as the author of ''The Lord of the Rings'', agreed to join the team of Catholic writers and scholars working on a major new translation of the Bible into English in the early 1960s. The result was the Jerusalem Bible, still celebrated for its elegant, timeless English. Wolfe shows the resonances between the story of Jonah and the whale, Tolkien's contribution to the JB, and themes in his other writings. |
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| ==Text== | | ==Planned book== |
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| '''I.''' ''Jonah rebels against his mission'' | | ''The Book of Jonah'' was intended to be published as a separate book in [[2010]] by Darton, Longman & Todd.<ref>[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Jonah-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0232527679/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291671124&sr=1-1 The Book of Jonah] at [http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Amazon.co.uk] (accessed 6 December 2010)</ref> However, for unknown reasons the publication was cancelled (apparently due to a legal controversy).<ref>[[Jason Fisher]], "[http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2010/02/sometimes-whale-wins.html Sometimes the whale wins ...]" (10 February 2010) at [http://lingwe.blogspot.com/ Lingwë (blog)] (accessed 6 December 2010)</ref> The book was intended to include a Foreword by Sir [[Anthony Kenny]].<ref>[[Jason Fisher]], "[http://lingwe.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-information-on-book-of-jonah.html More information on The Book of Jonah]" (20 May 2009) at [http://lingwe.blogspot.com/ Lingwë (blog)] (accessed 6 December 2010)</ref> |
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| 1. The word of Yahweh came to Jonah son of Amittai:
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| 2. ‘Arise’, he said, ‘go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry to them that their wickedness has come up before my face.’
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| 3. And Jonah set out, but to flee to Tarshish, away from Yahweh. He came down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish; and he paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, away from Yahweh.
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| 4. But Yahweh sent a strong wind over the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
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| 5. Then the sailors grew afraid, and each of them called upon his own god, and to lighten the ship they threw into the seas the goods that were in it. But Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship, and he had lain down and was fast asleep.
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| 6. Then the master of the crew came to him and said to him: ‘What do you mean by sleeping? Arise! Call upon your God! Maybe God will have thought for us and we shall not perish’.
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| 7. Then they said to one another: ‘Let us put it to the lot, to learn on whose account this evil has come upon us’. And they cast their lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.
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| 8. Then they said to him: ‘Tell us, what is your business, whence do you come, what is your country, and to what people do you belong?’
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| 9. And he answered them: ‘I am a Hebrew, and I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land’.
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| 10. Then the sailors were greatly afraid, and they said to him: ‘What is it that you have done?’ For they knew that he was trying to escape from Yahweh, because they had told him so.
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| 11. And they said to him: ‘What shall we do with you, so that the sea may grow calm for us?’ For the sea was rising more and more.
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| 12. He answered them: ‘Take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will grow calm for you. For I know that it is on my account that this great storm has come upon you’.
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| 13. Then the sailors began to row so as to reach the shore, but in vain, for the sea rose more and more against them.
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| 14. And they called upon Yahweh and said: ‘O Yahweh, let us not perish because of this man’s life, and do not hold us guilty of innocent blood! For you, Yahweh, have done as you pleased’.
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| 15. And laying hold of Jonah, they threw him into the sea, and the sea abated its fury.
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| 16. Then the men were greatly afraid of Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.
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| '''II.''' ''Jonah is saved''
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| 1. And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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| 2. And out of the belly of the fish he prayed to Yahweh, his God; and he said:
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| 3. Out of the affliction in which I was I called upon Yahweh,<br>
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| And he answered me;<br>
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| out of the belly of Sheol I cried.<br>
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| You heard my voice.
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| 4. You cast me into the abyss, into the heart of the sea,<br>
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| and the flood was all about me.<br>
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| All your billows and your waves<br> | |
| passed over me. | |
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| 5. And I said: I am cast out of the sight of your eyes.<br>
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| How shall I behold again<br>
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| your holy Temple?
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| 6. The waters were all about me even to my throat,<br>
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| the abyss encompassed me.<br>
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| The seaweed was wrapped about my head.
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| 7. at the roots of the mountains.<br>
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| I went down into the countries beneath the earth,<br>
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| unto the peoples of the past.[1]<br>
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| But you raised up my life from the pit,<br>
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| Yahweh, my God.
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| 8. Even while my soul fainted within me,<br>
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| I remembered Yahweh,<br>
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| And my prayer came before you<br>
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| into your hold Temple.
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| 9. Those who serve worthless idols<br>
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| forfeit the grace that was theirs.
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| 10. But I with voice of praise<br>
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| will sacrifice to you.<br>
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| The vow that I have made I will fulfil.<br>
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| From Yahweh comes salvation.
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| 11. And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the shore.
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| '''III.''' ''The Conversion of Nineveh and God’s pardon''
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| 1. And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time:
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| 2. ‘Arise’, he said, ‘go to Nineveh, the great city, and say to them what I tell you to say’.
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| 3. And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: three days it took to cross it.
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| 4. And Jonah went on into the city, going a day’s journey; and he preached in these words: ‘Only forty days more, and Nineveh will be destroyed’.
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| 5. And the people of Nineveh believed the word of God; and they proclaimed a fast and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest to the least among them.
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| 6. Word of this reached the ears of the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, and put off his robe, and put on sackcloth, and sat upon ashes. | |
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| 7. Then it was heralded in Nineveh, and by decree of the king and his chiefs it was proclaimed: ‘Men and beasts, herds and flocks, shall no taste anything, nor shall they eat, nor shall they drink water.
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| 8. Men and beasts shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall call upon God with all their might; and every one shall turn from his evil ways and from the wickedness that his hands have done.
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| 9. Who knows if God will not relent and change his purpose, if he will not put behind him the heat of his anger, so that we may not perish?’
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| 10. And God saw what they did to turn from their evil ways. Therefore God changed his purpose concerning the evil that he prophesied to them, and he did not do it.
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| '''IV.''' ''The grievance of the prophet and God’s answer to him''
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| 1. But Jonah was greatly aggrieved by this, and he was angry.
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| 2. And he prayed to Yahweh and said: ‘Ah! Yahweh, is this not just as I said when I was still in my own country? For this reason I fled first to Tarshish: because I knew that you are a God of gentleness and pity, slow to anger, abounding in mercy, relenting from evil.
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| 3. So Yahweh, pray take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’
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| 4. And Yahweh answered: ‘Have you good reason to be angry?’
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| 5. Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made for himself an arbour and sat under it in the shade, to see what would happen in the city.
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| 6. Then Yahweh God appointed a colocynth to grow up over Jonah, so that it might cast a shade upon his head and relieve his discomfort; and Jonah had great delight in the colocynth.
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| 7. But the day after at the coming of dawn God appointed a worm to smite the colocynth, and it withered.
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| 8. And when the sun rose, God appointed a burning wind from the east, and the sun smote Jonah’s head, so that he was overcome; and he begged for death, and said: ‘It is better for me to die than to live’.
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| 9. And God said to Jonah: ‘Have you good reason to be aggrieved because of the colocynth?’ And he answered: ‘I have indeed good reason to be angry, even to death’.
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| 10. And Yahweh answered: ‘You grieve for this colocynth, which cost you no labour, and which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night, and in a night has perished. And I forsooth should not grieve for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well!’
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| [1] Or: I descended into a region whose bars were shut upon me for ever.
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Jonah}} | | {{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Jonah}} |
| {{title|italics}} | | {{title|italics}} |
| | [[Category:Manuscripts by J.R.R. Tolkien]] |
| [[Category:Publications by title]] | | [[Category:Publications by title]] |
| [[Category:Unpublished books]] | | [[Category:Unpublished books]] |
