The Shaping of Jonah
This imaginary exchange of correspondence between his editor and Jonah, the fifth in line of the twelve minor prophets, reminds us of the literary process of transcribing prophecy to prose. Authors always tend to be suspicious of editors; witness the dire anathema pronounced by the author of the Apo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publ.
1977
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| In: |
Theology today
Year: 1977, Volume: 34, Issue: 3, Pages: 305-310 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This imaginary exchange of correspondence between his editor and Jonah, the fifth in line of the twelve minor prophets, reminds us of the literary process of transcribing prophecy to prose. Authors always tend to be suspicious of editors; witness the dire anathema pronounced by the author of the Apocalypse against all meddling redactors (Rev. 22:18-19). But sometimes editors and publishers are needed to get immortal narratives into print. Biblical scholars are usually so busy scrutinizing the text, or disputing about hermeneutical methodology, that the rest of us may be completely unaware of the initial state of manuscript copy-editing. Anyway, here is a witty, and scholarly, fantasy about the writing of Jonah, one of the fantastic biblical books. The correspondence comes to us through the good graces of Professor Brevard Childs of Yale Divinity School. Mary Katharine Deeley is a graduate student at Yale, working with Dr. Childs in Old Testament studies. She is an alumna of Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois, and she has taught religion in a parochial high school. We hope our readers are not confused as to who is who among authors, editors, publishers, and literary entrepreneurs. After a reading of the correspondence, perhaps a fresh perusal of the Book of Jonah is in order. It's a little book with a big message—one that Jesus applied to himself (Matt. 12:40). |
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| ISSN: | 2044-2556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Theology today
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/004057367703400312 |