The book of Jonah is a literary masterpiece. The use of repetitions, word plays, and literary features abound in Jonah 1, which structurally support the meaning of the words. Although not comprehensive, several literary devices will be identified with a brief explanation of their impact on interpretation moving verse-by-verse through the chapter.
The author uses asyndeton in verse 2. YHWH’s command “get up, go” omits the conjunctions and provides a hurried effect that supports the message that Jonah ought to respond rapidly. In Jonah’s response to YHWH’s call in verse 3, a relatively complex use of repetition occurs. Kevin Youngblood identifies a chiastic structure that begins with Jonah fleeing, going down, and procuring a ship and then reverses order using the repetition of two key words: Tarshish and descended.[1]

Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah (Guides to Biblical Scholarship Old Testament)
The chiasm highlights the contrast between YHWH’s call to obedience and Jonah’s response of disobedience. Furthermore, the presence of YHWH that sandwiches the verse provides irony since Jonah is literarily stuck inside the presence of YHWH, which he is attempting to flee. Phyllis Trible identifies three wordplays in verse 4: prosopopoeia, onomatopoeia, and assonance.[2] The prosopopoeia occurs when the inanimate ship “feels” threatened and the onomatopoeia and assonance occur when pronouncing לְהִשָּׁבֵֽר חִשְּׁבָ֖ה, which sounds like water crashing against the ship with a similar internal vowel structure. The wordplay emphasizes the dangerous nature of the storm.
A larger chiastic structure encompasses the preponderance of the chapter. Youngblood identifies the chiasm beginning with YHWH’s involvement, the futility of ignoring YHWH, and the recognition of YHWH’s power followed by a reversal that highlights YHWH’s mercy and sovereignty.[3] Aristotle suggests that literary resolution occurs through reversal and discovery.[4] Accordingly, within the chiastic structure, the repetition of the lemma טוּל identifies important potential reversals or turning points. For example, YHWH flings a great wind attempting to turn Jonah, the mariners fling the equipment attempting to stop the storm, and finally, the mariners fling Jonah to reverse the course of the storm. Furthermore, the repetition of the lemma יָרֵא is used of the mariners three times, which provides both an irony, as the pagan mariners rather than the Israelite feared YHWH, and Aristotelian discovery, whereby the mariners fear in verse 16 provides literary resolution.
Several additional literary devices are evident. First, asyndeton occurs a second time in verse 6 and mirrors the same structure as in verse 1, “get up, call out,” which again conveys urgency. Second, the mariners cast lots in verse 7 and the final phrase, “fell on Jonah,” provides emphasis by placing the culprit at the end of the clause. Third, Trible notes alliteration that expresses urgency in verse 8 in the “particles mah and m in the four questions.”[5] Fourth, irony is evident in verse 9, as Jonah acknowledges the power of YHWH as creator of the sea and land, yet simultaneously attempting such power. Fifth, Trible also identifies an interesting, more difficult to recognize, play on consonants in verse 13 between the words לְהָשִׁ֛יב (l, h, s, y, b) and אֶל־הַיַּבָּשָׁ֖ה (l, h, y, b, s), which lays stress upon the sailors attempt to land safely.[6] Finally, Youngblood recognizes a more sweeping literary feature of contrast between the mariners and Jonah.[7] For example, the mariners fear YHWH, and Jonah flees from YHWH; the mariners attempt to live, and Jonah attempts to die; the mariners pray, and Jonah remains silent; and the pagan mariners end up worshipping YHWH, and Jonah the Israelite ends up rejecting YHWH. The contrast between the mariners and Jonah provides tension that accentuates YHWH’s sovereignty and mercy.
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[1] Kevin J. Youngblood, Jonah: God’s Scandalous Mercy, ed. Daniel I. Block, 2nd ed., Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 129.
[2] Phyllis Trible, Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah, ed. Gene M. Tucker, Old Testament Series (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1994), 132.
[3] Youngblood, Jonah, 70.
[4] Aristotle, Poetics, vol. 23 of Aristotle in 23 Volumes, trans. W. H. Fyfe (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1932), 1452a–2b.
[5] Trible, Rhetorical Criticism, 140.
[6] Trible, Rhetorical Criticism, 145–46.
[7] Youngblood, Jonah, 70.
Bibliography
- Aristotle. Poetics. Vol. 23 of Aristotle in 23 Volumes. Translated by W. H. Fyfe. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1932.
- Trible, Phyllis. Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah. Edited by Gene M. Tucker. Old Testament Series. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1994.
- Youngblood, Kevin J. Jonah: God’s Scandalous Mercy. Edited by Daniel I. Block. 2nd ed. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.