Die boek Jona in die Ou Testament fassineer sowel geleerdes uit verskeie dissiplines, as gewone Bybel-gelowiges al vir eeue lank. Ten spyte van die beperkte lengte en verhaal-inhoud, bestaan daar 'n ongekende aantal uiteenlopende interpretasies van die Klein Profete-boek, as gevolg van die verskillende benaderingswyses waarop dit gedurende verskillende eras en in 'n verskeidenheid van intellektuele kontekste benader en gei:nterpreteer is. 'n Sinvolle ondersoek na en beoordeling van die verskillende interpretasie-benaderings, met die oog op die uiteindelike formulering van die universele boodskap van die verhaal van Jona, behoort te begin by die logiese beginpunt, naamlik
die vroee Kerkvaders.
Hierdie studie konsentreer daarom op die interpretasies en toepassings van die verhaal van Jona deur die vroee Latynse Kerkvaders van die derde tot die vyfde eeue nC. Vanwee hul hoofsaaklik nai:ef-realistiese kenhouding, het hulle oor die algemeen nie die historiese akkuraatheid van die Jona-verhaal betwyfel nie. Onder die invloed van sowel die Hebreeuse interpretasie-tradisie as die vroee Griekse Kerkvaders, het hulle Jona hoofsaaklik op tipologiese en allegoriese wyse geinterpreteer. Die uitgangspunt vir die tipologiese interpretasie, waarvolgens Jona beskou word as 'n tipe ofvoorafskaduwing van Jesus Christus (die anti-tipe), is die sogenaamde "Teken van Jona" in die Nuwe Testament. Vir die doel van hierdie studie is die Kerkvader Hieronymus se kommentaar op die boek Jona in geheel vertaal en bestudeer, as verteenwoordigend van die interpretasie-benadering van die Latynse Kerkvaders. Daarna is korter fragmente bestudeer uit die kommentare van Hilarius van Poitiers en Ambrosius van Milaan oor Bybelpassasies waarin Jona self, of aspekte uit die verhaal, figureer. Vervolgens is daar ook ondersoek ingestel na die toepassing van die Jona-verhaal in geselekteerde fragmente uit die vroeg-Christelike poesie en epistolografie.
Die gevolgtrekking waartoe hierdie studie gekom het, is dat die belangrikste bydrae deur die geselekteerde outeurs tot die corpus van Jona-interpretasies, gelee is in hul be grip en formulering van die universele genade-boodskap van Jona, en in hul toepassing van sekere kernaspekte uit die verhaal, as exempla of illustrasies, waardeur bepaalde waarhede aan die orde gestel is en spesifieke boodskappe oorgedra is. Gesien binne die bree konteks van gesofistikeerde
interpretasie-benaderings tot en literer-wetenskaplike teoriee oor die verhaal van Jona, het die vroeg-Latynse outeurs tog ook, ten spyte van hul eenvoudiger werkswyses, die kernboodskap van Jona korrek gei:nterpreteer en treffend weergegee, en deur middel van hul tipologiese
interpretasies van die verhaal, 'n sinvolle bydrae gelewer tot die eeue-lange geskilpunt rondom die historisiteit van Jona.
For many centuries the book of Jonah, one of the collection of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, has fascinated both scholars from various disciplines, as well as ordinary laymen. Due to the various ways in which it was interpreted during different eras and in different intellectual contexts, there exist a plethora of divergent interpretations of this book, in spite of its limited length and contents. With a view to formulating the universal message of the story of Jonah, a meaningful review of all these approaches should start with the early Church Fathers, the most logical startingpoint.
This study therefore concentrates on the interpretations and applications of the story ofJonah, by some of the Fathers of the Latin church from the third to the fifth century AD. Owing to their mainly naive-realistic cognitive approach, they in general did not doubt the historicity of the
Jonah-narrative. Influenced by both the Hebrew tradition and the Greek Fathers, they mainly interpreted the story of Jonah allegorically and typologically. Their typological interpretation, based on the so-called "Sign of Jonah", depicts the prophet Jonah as the type or prefiguration of
Jesus Christ (the anti-type). For this study Saint Jerome's commentary on the book of Jonah, was translated and studied in its entirety, as a useful representative of the interpretative framework of the early Latin Fathers. Some shorter fragments from Saint Hilary of Poitiers' and some of Saint Ambrose's commentaries on Biblical passages, in which Jonah or specific aspects from the story figure, were also studied. Finally some fragments from early Christian Latin poetry and epistolography were selected with a view to studying the different applications of the Jonah narrative in patristic literature.
The study arrived at the conclusion that the most important contribution of the selected Christian Latin authors to the corpus of Jonah-interpretations is in their understanding and formulation of Jonah's universal message of grace, as well as in their application of the narrative, in the form of exempla, with a view to illustrating and emphasising certain aspects or truths. Seen in the broad context of sophisticated interpretative approaches to and literary theories on the story of Jonah, the Fathers of the Latin church did interpret the message of Jonah correctly, in spite of their more simple approaches, and they conveyed this message in striking ways. In addition to this, their
typological interpretations added yet another interesting perspective to the age-long dispute about the historicity of the Jonah-narrative.
