The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:
Bro. Simpson's remarkable essay is not one more attempt to put new wine into old bottles, but simply to seek how the Jonah legend has originated and grown. To that effect, the author resorts to the comparative method, which, he says, throws the older process of investigation into the shade, "as idle or vague speculation." In the very prayer which Jonah utters from the whale's belly, the Prophet represents himself as speaking "from the womb of Sheol" and even adds: "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever." Such language would hardly apply to a fish. In later iconography, Hell is often represented by the head of a sea-monster with the jaws open.

The Bible contains more than one story, which according to Bro. Simpson, has its origin in some initiatory legend of the same kind; for instance, the translation of Enoch, whose name means " the Initiate," and whom our author compares to the culture-hero of the Chaldæans, the Fish-God Oannes - also the translation of Elijah, which so closely resembles that of Enoch. Elijah, among other feats, recalls to life a Widow's son, by stretching himself three times on the body and crying to the Lord. Here again Bro. Simpson is inclined to suppose some form of ritual rather than pretended miracles. According to a Mahomedan tradition, referred to in Mirkhond, the Widow's son was Junas or Jonah, "the Companion of the Fish."

- Ars Quatuor Coronatorum [1900]
1101569103
The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:
Bro. Simpson's remarkable essay is not one more attempt to put new wine into old bottles, but simply to seek how the Jonah legend has originated and grown. To that effect, the author resorts to the comparative method, which, he says, throws the older process of investigation into the shade, "as idle or vague speculation." In the very prayer which Jonah utters from the whale's belly, the Prophet represents himself as speaking "from the womb of Sheol" and even adds: "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever." Such language would hardly apply to a fish. In later iconography, Hell is often represented by the head of a sea-monster with the jaws open.

The Bible contains more than one story, which according to Bro. Simpson, has its origin in some initiatory legend of the same kind; for instance, the translation of Enoch, whose name means " the Initiate," and whom our author compares to the culture-hero of the Chaldæans, the Fish-God Oannes - also the translation of Elijah, which so closely resembles that of Enoch. Elijah, among other feats, recalls to life a Widow's son, by stretching himself three times on the body and crying to the Lord. Here again Bro. Simpson is inclined to suppose some form of ritual rather than pretended miracles. According to a Mahomedan tradition, referred to in Mirkhond, the Widow's son was Junas or Jonah, "the Companion of the Fish."

- Ars Quatuor Coronatorum [1900]
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The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:

The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:

by William Simpson
The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:

The Jonah Legend: A Suggestion of Interpretation:

by William Simpson

Overview

Bro. Simpson's remarkable essay is not one more attempt to put new wine into old bottles, but simply to seek how the Jonah legend has originated and grown. To that effect, the author resorts to the comparative method, which, he says, throws the older process of investigation into the shade, "as idle or vague speculation." In the very prayer which Jonah utters from the whale's belly, the Prophet represents himself as speaking "from the womb of Sheol" and even adds: "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever." Such language would hardly apply to a fish. In later iconography, Hell is often represented by the head of a sea-monster with the jaws open.

The Bible contains more than one story, which according to Bro. Simpson, has its origin in some initiatory legend of the same kind; for instance, the translation of Enoch, whose name means " the Initiate," and whom our author compares to the culture-hero of the Chaldæans, the Fish-God Oannes - also the translation of Elijah, which so closely resembles that of Enoch. Elijah, among other feats, recalls to life a Widow's son, by stretching himself three times on the body and crying to the Lord. Here again Bro. Simpson is inclined to suppose some form of ritual rather than pretended miracles. According to a Mahomedan tradition, referred to in Mirkhond, the Widow's son was Junas or Jonah, "the Companion of the Fish."

- Ars Quatuor Coronatorum [1900]

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781663539328
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date: 07/24/2020
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

William Simpson (28 October 1823 – 17 August 1899) was a Scottish artist, war artist, war correspondent and author. Besides his war pictures, he covered state events, coronations, funerals, and other ceremonies. He was particularly interested in India and sketched scenes of the Kashmir Maharajas. He was a noted ethnographer and antiquarian, and wrote extensively on ancient religions, customs, and ancient artifacts. It is said that the Queen intervened to prevent him from going out to Italy in 1859, to cover the Austro-Sardinian War, for fear that he would get killed.
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