V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah.  The value and message of the book of Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary character of the book has been misunderstood.  It was never intended by its author to be regarded as a historical narrative.  Its hero Jonah, the son of Amittai, according to ii Kings 14:25, lived during the reign of Jeroboam ii (780-740 B.C.), and predicted the wide extension of the territory of southern Israel; but the Jonah of the story is evidently a type of the Jew of the Persian and Greek periods.  By showing the pettiness of his attitude toward the heathen the author sought to broaden the vision and quicken the conscience of his fellow-Jews.  The portrait is remarkably vivid and suggestive.  Jonah fled from Jehovah’s land and took refuge in the sea, not because he feared the Ninevites, but, as he plainly declares later, because he feared that, if he did preach to the Assyrian foes of his race, Jehovah would repent and spare them.  In the scene in the midst of the raging tempest the piety of the heathen Sailors and their zeal in sparing the guilty Israelite stand forth in favorable contrast to Jonah’s action in refusing to carry out Jehovah’s command.  The Ninevites, clad in sackcloth, repenting for their sins, and craving Jehovah’s forgiveness, are far more attractive than the sullen prophet, complaining because Jehovah has spared the heathen foes of his race and later upbraiding Jehovah because of the destruction of the gourd that for a time had protected his head from the burning sun.  Jehovah’s concluding remonstrance voices the message of the book.  Like the New Testament parable of the Prodigal Son, the story of Jonah presents in graphic form the unbounded love of the heavenly father and contrasts it sharply with the petty jealousies and hatred of his favored people.  It was a call to Israel to go forth and become a missionary to all the world and a protest against the nation’s failure to perform its God-given task.

VI.  The Book of Ecclesiastes.  Very different is the spirit and purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes.  It evidently comes from one of the many wisdom teachers who flourished during the Greek period and it speaks in the name of Solomon.  It is an essay on the value of life.  In its original form its thought was so pessimistic that it has been supplemented at many points by later editors.  These insertions include (1) proverbs commending wisdom and praising the current wisdom teachings, and (2) the work of a pious scribe, a forerunner of the later Pharisees, who sought to correct the utterances of the original writer (who is commonly designated as Koheleth) and to bring them into accord with current orthodoxy.  The language and style of the book are closely akin to those of the Chronicler and the author of the book of Esther.  It also contains several Persian and possibly one Greek word.  The book in its earlier form was evidently known to Ben Sira, the author of