Re: [asa] On Job

Another factor, besides rumors that there was something fishy about
Jonah, that could have helped him make an impact in Ninevah was that things
weren't going too well for the Assyrians just then. In fact, the phrase
"King of Ninevah" in Jonah might refer to the weakness of his nominal
control over the overall empire at that time. The historical Jonah lived at
a time whn Jereboam II and Uzziah were able to expand geographically and
commercially because no strong superpower was present. Shortly afterwards,
Assyrian strength returned.

The attitude of the sailors in Jonah 1, eager to assuage whoever up there
was really angry with somebody down there, would not be surprising to be
found among most polytheists, including the Ninevites. A strong and rapid,
though not too lasting, response to a mysterious foreign preacher does not
seem historically improbable.

I'm not sure how much weight can be put on the existence of merman-like
entities as connecting to Jonah; Dagon of the Philistines, mentioned several
centuries earlier, was portrayed as half-fish. However, it's certainly
possible that Jonah would get associated with such a deity in confused pagan
recollection.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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