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撮要

在十二卷小先知書中，約拿書是十分獨特的一卷。全卷書一共四章，其中除了第二章「約拿的禱告」以外，其他三章基本上都是以敘事文體(narrative)寫成的。約拿書一章1至3節，是約拿故事的第一回合，記載耶和華的話第一次臨到約拿，吩咐他去尼尼微傳道。可是，約拿卻違命，上船要逃往他施。上帝的召命與先知的逃亡，為約拿的整個故事揭開了序幕。約拿書一章4至16節(一章17節，在希伯來文版本是二章1節)，是約拿故事的第二回合，記述約拿在船上的情況，包括船長、水手(外邦人)對風浪的反應。兩個回合的經文，既充滿重複的字眼，兼具省略、諷刺的特點，並且加插了不少對話，充分反映敘事文體的寫作特色。

ABSTRACT

The book of Jonah is a unique one among the twelve minor prophetical books. It is composed of four chapters. Except for “The Prayer of Jonah” in chapter two, the genre of the other three is narrative. Jonah 1:1-3 is the first round of the Jonah Story. It records how the word of Yahweh came to Jonah,commanding him to go to preach to the Ninevites. But Jonah resisted God’s command. Instead, he boarded on a ship sailing to Tarshish.The call of the Lord and the escape of the prophet raise the curtain on the entire Jonah Story. Jonah 1:4-16 (1:17 is 2:1 in the original Hebrew version) is the second round of the Jonah Story. It records what happens to Jonah in the boat, as well as the response of the captain and the sailors (being Gentiles) to the storm. The scriptural verses in the two rounds are full of repetition of words, gap, irony and dialogue, that fully reflects the characteristics of the narrative genre.

原載於《建道學刊》25期（2006年1月），頁3-28。