I am producing a series of short videos in which I will discuss some of my writing projects. First up is my forthcoming article in the Bulletin for Biblical Research 18.2 (2008) entitled, “How Big Was Nineveh? Literal versus Figurative Interpretation of City Size.” This will be a multi-part series–here’s the first one:
P.S. The last word is a bit hard to hear; it’s “idiom.”
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It has somewhat of an M. Night Shamaylan quality.
So I’m a tad confused as to which phrase we’re speaking of…the phrase that says Nineveh was an exceedingly great city or the phrase that says it was a three day journey from Jonah’s place of abyssal regurgitation?
The phrase that I treated was the “three day journey.” Your interpretation that this phrase referred to the trip from the regurgitation to Nineveh is similar to that of David Marcus but I don’t think it should be favored–not many people take this view and so I treat it in a footnote of my article. Hint: the Greek tradition is pretty unambiguous that Marcus’ interpretation is unlikely.
I’m curious to know why you don’t think my interpretation should be favored… I opened up the New English Translation of the Septuagint to verse 3 and there doesn’t seem to be anything that would unambiguously suggest the three day journey refers to something other than Jonah’s journey. Even there it describes this “three day journey” right after describing Jonah getting up and going to Nineveh (which by strange coincidence is a journey). It seems, rather, that in a book which has hitherto been concerned with describing Jonah’s journey (telling us how he fled away from Nineveh, out of the “presence”, toward Tarshish, down into a ship, against YHWH’s command, and into the deep), that at this crucial juncture where things turn around narratively, we should expect a description of his journey toward Nineveh just as it has been so careful to tell us about the journey away from there. I would be surprised if the author of Jonah suddenly and spontaneously took it upon their self to tell us something about the dimensions of a city, something which is not at all the concern of the deity’s call to Jonah, Jonah’s own concern, or the concern of the narrative.
This makes some sense, but what about the 1 day’s journey mentioned in the next verse? What is that talking about?
I appreciate your correction of Nineveh ki as more likely a city not a region. Two points that could further this and be footnoted (although your example from S.’s Annals is good). We have other evidence of places that are clearly cities which use KI, not URU ie: KA.DINGER.KI for Babylon. Second, the use of Nineveh in Assurbanipal’s Egyptian Campaign (Prism A) seems to also indicate a city. First since the “quick messenger came to me in Ninevah” (NINA KI) in line 62 and Assurbanipal returns to NINA KI in line 117. I think it more likely a messenger goes to the city of the king to deliver a message, not the region, and a king returns to his city not to a region. I find this a helpful example since KI, URU and KUR are used throughout the inscription. To hammer home the point it would be nice to give a suggested date for the book of Jonah and have the uses of KI and URU in the texts you cite correspond generally to the same time period.
All the best in your scholarly work.
S.