A large subject is like a mountain, which no beholder ever sees entire: if he climbs it he discovers only selected aspects; if he stands off, he sees but an outline and from one side only; if he flies over it, he flattens it out.- Jacques Barzun
These boast in names alone,Because they are called children of the upright;It suffices them that they thinkThey are named the sons of Jacob;By pious titles which they put onThey foolishly believe they shall be justified.Their name is spread abroad through the world,with their sinful actions.They think they are righteous children,On account of (their father) Abraham,But that they have on them the name of IsraelIs but the pride of words.- “The Repentance of Nineveh,” Part X, 142-154
Had Jonah been born into a Romance culture, his parents might have named him Columbus. Each of these seafarers entered history as “The Dove.” Christopher Columbus, of course, inherited his surname. The Latin word columbidae now designates the entire pigeon family. The Hebrew equivalent yownah has passed from Western use except as a proper name. Across a score of centuries, the Genoese explorer was to be reminded more than once of his link with the Hebrew seafarer. When Columbus faced the stormy seas, he took heart from the example of Jonah’s miraculous preservation. But more of that story later.
The meaning of Jonah’s name is the single point of the Biblical account that has provoked little controversy. The Hebrew word transliterated Jonah occurs 50 times in the Old Testament. Whenever translated it becomes dove or pigeon — on that, there is no disagreement. The remaining instances refer to Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet. So it is not surprising to find the statement in most commentaries that the prophet was named for a bird.
lf this be so, what kind of bird is a yownah? The Old Testament Hebrew writers were careful to distinguish between the wild, migratory turtledove (designated tor) which wintered in Egypt and the rock dove or common pigeon, always nearby.[9] It is this latter specie (probably Columba livia or Columba schimperi) which may have been Jonah’s natal omen.
Some scholars hear in the soft, moaning call of a dove the onomatopoetic source of its name — yo-o-naah. That call was familiar among the rocky cliffs of the Promised Land from Dan in the north, south to Beersheba. Even today in Galilee’s Wadi Hammat (Pigeon Valley), the birds roost and nest by the thousands in fissures to be safe from preying hawks. There in the crannies, blue-gray plumage is good protective coloring, though the sheen of green and lilac neck feathers can betray.
But in the eighth century BCE, the life of a yownah held other perils. Moses had stipulated at Yahweh’s command that either the turtledove or the rock dove could be used as a temple sacrifice (Leviticus 5:6-10). This provision was primarily for the poor farmer or the herdsman who might not own the animals he tended. The tor migrated away part of the year and the yownah alone was left to the fowler. So, by sling and snare, by net and throwing-stick, the birds were taken for sacrifice. Even small birds captured in the nest were acceptable. In fact the only safe place for a yownah was within the precincts of a holy place.
The dove is presented in the Bible as a symbol of gentleness, affection, humility, and even folly. But it had other connotations that were probably not unknown to the prophet’s parents. The Canaanite use of the dove as a symbol of fertility is familiar to archaeologists. Statues, shrines, and figurines of the goddess Ishtar depict her suckling a dove and a serpent. Some etymologists trace the origin of the word yownah to a common root with another meaning “intoxicated passion.” In their view the bird received such a name through its fecundity and the warmth of its mating habits. Yayin yownah (roughly, “lovey dovey”) would have been too attractive an alliteration to escape the attention of Jonah’s young playmates.
But the primary Biblical imagery of the dove is one of peace. This is true in Hebrew history from Noah (Genesis 8:6) to the Messiah (Matthew 3:16-17). The judgment of Yahweh is past and reconciliation is complete. The dove returns with an olive branch in its beak.
This excursion into the meaning and use of the word yownah is necessary before attempting to answer the question: If Jonah was named by his parents, why did they choose such a strange name? St. Jerome gives a straightforward answer. It was because of the prophet’s “complaining and mourning nature” — but whether this conclusion is based principally on Jerome’s interpretation of the character of the adult Jonah is not clear.
The point is undeniable that the ancients had a far greater preoccupation with the idea of name than we do today. This goes much deeper than the simple difference in standards for choosing among personal names that a culture finds acceptable. The Sumerian creation epic, antedating both Hebrew and Babylonian versions, begins with the thought that to be unnamed is equivalent to nonexistence: “When the heavens above were yet unnamed, and no dwelling beneath was called by a name … when no name had been recorded … ”
The parallel in Genesis finds Yahweh delegating to Adam the privilege of naming the created things as a symbol of human control (Genesis 2:19-20). The concept that knowledge of a name insured some measure of influence over destiny is thus deeply ingrained in these ancient cultures. The immediate corollary is that one’s personal name must be carefully given and preferably have religious overtones. Also, such a name should not be unnecessarily disclosed, since the enemy who knows my name may share in the control of my fate.
Particularly among the Egyptians, the name was part of the person, in some ways equivalent to the concept of the soul. Many elect Egyptians had two names — a great or true name and a little or good name. Only the little name was made public — the great name was disclosed only to deity. A tomb inscription of a high Ptolemaic period makes this clear: “He was named Imhotep, but he was called Petubaste.”
Although partly traceable to this Egyptian influence, the Hebrew enveloped this duality with deeper religious significance. Abram had been to Egypt before he became Abraham, but the Hebrew writer ascribes the occasion to a special revelation of El Shaddai, the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1-5). Later, Jacob becomes Israel after wrestling with a messenger direct from Yahweh (Genesis 32:24-30).
In almost every ancient Near Eastern civilization, the search for divine favor through a “proper” name was progressively reduced to a formula. Particularly among the elite, each name becomes a grammatical sentence, either fully expressed or implied, containing two or three elements.[10] Almost a century ago, George and Henry Rawlinson analyzed the names listed in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions then available. In nearly a thousand names, the formula is confirmed with but slight exception. There is a noun in the nominative case, followed by a verb, and then a noun in the objective case. In addition, over two-thirds of the combinations have the name of a god as the initial noun. Of 39 kings, only three have names of secular character. Modern scholarship would increase the proportion of names invoking divine favor.
But what of Hebrew names? A study of a list of Biblical names, particularly after the advent of the monarchy, will show a similar disposition to include forms of Yah, El, Adonai, and even Baal and Am. To make the application to the case of Jonah, we can detail the names given to those designated as prophets (nabiy). Of 61 named prophets, in 38 of them the reference to Deity is direct and in 26 implied. Those names remaining — Aaron, Moses, and Habakkuk — are of non-Hebrew derivation. The meanings of Jeduthun and Jerimoth are uncertain, although they are both compound names. Only Iddo[11] and Jonah are left.
Running counter to the names of divine incantation with Assyrian or Egyptian overtones was the choice of a name from the natural surroundings — particularly from those objects that had special meaning for the tribe or family. About 1890, Dr. Robertson Smith traced these influences of totemism in Hebrew culture. Undeniably, 33 Biblical names are derived from animals.
Based on the legacy of a dying Jacob (Genesis 49:1-28), Judah is a lion’s whelp; Issachar, a strong ass; Dan, a serpent; Naphtali, a hind; Benjamin, a wolf. Those with totem names would be particularly blessed. However, animist names are principally from pre-monarchial Israel. There may have been residual totemism in frontier Galilean villages since they were exposed to a similar (and stronger) Syrian tendency.[12] It is not necessary to ascribe Jonah’s name solely to totemism to admit that for a Hebrew to retain such simplicity would align him with conservative and traditional elements.
Archaeological evidence gives further confirmation from the time of Jeroboam II, the king most closely linked to Jonah. Diggings at Samaria have uncovered potsherds (termed ostraca by archaeologists) which are thought to be receipts for corn, wine, and oil consigned to the king’s treasury. The names of both farmers and palace officials appear, and most are theophoric compounds. There is complete absence of direct totem names.
Another Biblical use of the word yownah occurs in the title of Psalm 56. Its meaning is so idiomatic that the phrase appears without translation in the King James Version — Yownah 'elam rechoqiym. Depending on the rendering of the second word, the meaning is “The Cry of the Dove in the Distant Terebinth (Turpentine) Tree” or “The Silent Dove Among Strangers.” Its use in the title of the Psalm is probably to define the melody or meter of the song. Perhaps David’s thoughts were on his boyhood when he memorialized his fear of capture by the Philistines. Some think the melody he used was a Hebrew lullaby. Did Jonah’s mother croon the song to her baby? Perhaps on such a fancy was the future prophet named, departing from the usual practice of assigning serious names. When Jonah’s parents named him on the eighth day after his birth, did they have in mind a bird or a song, or did they give him an unknown name that was changed to Jonah later because of his experiences? We cannot be certain. There is some further Assyrian evidence to be heard, but that will have to wait until Chapter 11. We will find that it is quite plausible that the name Jonah is a variation on the name of the Assyrian demigod Oannes, which means “recovered from the water.”
There is more to be explored in the full name of the prophet: Yownah ben Amittai. Is the provincialism of the son’s name a heritage from the father, Amittai? Here again the translation should be simple, but it is not. The link to 'emeth (truth) seems direct. Although there is nothing in the Bible to justify the early tradition, both St. Jerome and Pseudo-Epiphanius mention a supposed connection between Elijah and Jonah based on the words of t...