Jonah's Prayer (2:3–10): An Integral Part of the Book of Jonah

Most scholars of the Book of Jonah believe that the poem in 2:3-10 is a late interpolation to the book and is not an integral part of it. This opinion is based on various points, the main and strongest being that the poem is a prayer of thanksgiving and not a lament. A prayer of lament is what is expected when Jonah is trapped in the belly of the large fish. Even scholars who interpret the book synchronically often agree that the psalm is a latter addition. Yet, according to this consensus, it is unclear why the editor did not select a poem better suited to the context of the narrative. The question of the origins of the poem will be investigated in the context of the book as a whole. An analysis of the aim of the Book will shed new light on the form of the poem and its place in the composition as a whole. In this paper, I will claim that poem is an integral part the Jonah story, and that there is no reason to attribute it to a separate author, and that only such an approach adequately explains the unique features of the poem. An analysis of the rhetoric of the poem will reinforce this conclusion.