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Annotated Bibliography of Jonah

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This bibliography does not include most versions of or commentaries on 2 Kings 14:25, Tobit 14:3-8, Sirach 49:10, Luke 11:29-32, Matthew 12:38-42, 16:1-4. These passages also mention Jonah son of Amittai, but extensive literature exists on each. Jonah is also often mentioned with particular regard to the oracles against the city of Nineveh in Nahum and Zephaniah 2:13-15, and to the mention of the city in Genesis 10:11, 2 Kings 19:36 and Isaiah 37:37. Sometimes also in connection to the city of Tarshish (Genesis 10:4-5, 1 Kings 10:22, 22:48, 2 Chronicles 9:21, 20:36, Psalms 48:7, 72:10, Isaiah 2:16, 23:1-14, 60:9, 66:19, Jeremiah 10:9, Ezekiel 27:12, 25, 38:13). The psalm of Jonah 2:2-9 is also Canticle 6 in Eastern Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox, tradition, and formerly also within many Catholic traditions (sometimes alternating with Habakkuk), but the relevant literature has not yet been included, and a full treatment apart from works focused on these Odes or Canticles requires a Bibliography of the Psalter.

His father Amittai is also strongly linked to the Book of Jonah. And Nineveh, Tarshish and Joppa are directly relevant and are rarely unaccompanied by at least a mention of Jonah; Jonah is especially frequent in literature on Tarshish, while Nineveh is especially relevant to the story. A relatively comprehensive bibliography on Nineveh would be too long. YHWH, Elohim and Dagon are likewise relevant. Although Jonah always appears in exhaustive works on those deities, a similar problem exists for YWHW and Elohim as for Nineveh. The Hebrew and Assyrian ethnicities are likewise relevant to the study of Jonah, and especially relationships between the two, but the Book of Jonah is not the only religious text in which they feature prominently even within the same collection (Nahum), with much of that literature finding a more fitting place in bibliographies focused on the historical texts (chiefly those of the Deuteronomist and the Chronicler).

As it stands, this bibliography encompasses mostly Christian literature, with forays into Jewish and Islamic literature for a more panoptic effect and links for further research should the urge ever come to anyone to "complete" this venture or at least carry it out in greater detail. Script-related difficulties slow progress on those fronts. Within Jewish literature, Jonah already features extensively already in the Talmud (i.e. Eruvin, Ta'anit, Megillah, Nedarim, Sanhedrin). And Yunus is one of the most prominent figurs in Islam. Even the Christian fathers have not been thoroughly searched, let alone the appearances of Jonah in liturgical use, for example as Ode 6. The bibliography is also missing most non-English translations of the Book of Jonah itself outside of select continents. The two major bibliographies of Jonah were not incorporated into this bibliography (the Bibliography on the Book of the Twelve Prophets on Zotero by Schart and colleagues and Bibliography on the Book of Jonah (1800-2014) by David Bouillon). Nor was the more comprehensive Index Theologicus, let alone WorldCat. Most homilies on Jonah remain in manuscript form and most printed homilies on Jonah have yet to be catalogued as such.

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