SOURCE: Smith, George Adam. “The Book of Jonah,” “The Great Refusal,” and “The Great Fish and What It Means—The Psalm.” In The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. II, pp. 493-541. New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1898.

In the following excerpt, Smith discusses the date of composition of Jonah, the nature of its narrative, and its intended purpose; he also provides an exposition of the book.

The Book of Jonah is cast throughout in the form of narrative—the only one of our Twelve which is so. This fact, combined with the extraordinary events which the narrative relates, starts questions not raised by any of the rest. Besides treating, therefore, of the book's origin, unity, division and other commonplaces of introduction, we must further seek in this chapter reasons for the appearance of such a narrative among a collection of prophetic discourses. We have to ask...