| Jonah | Peter |
| Commission to the gentiles is the central theme |
Commission to the gentiles is the central theme of Acts 10 |
|
Jonah was sent to Assyrian Nineveh, a representative of the oppressor of the Jewish people |
Peter was sent to a Roman centurion, a representative of the Jewish people |
|
Joppa is the location of the prophet’s conflict with God — Jonah 1:3 |
Joppa is the location of God’s encounter with Peter — Acts 9:43 |
|
Jonah thought it a scandal that the hated gentiles might convert and be saved (Jonah’s name “is emblematic of this problem in Jewish literature”) |
Peter thought it a scandal that the hated gentiles might convert and be saved (Among the apostles Peter struggles the most with the idea of gentiles being converted) |
|
The fame of Nineveh’s wickedness ascended (άναβαίνω) to God — Jonah 1:2 (LXX) |
The fame of the piety of Cornelius’ ascended (άναβαίνω) to God — Acts 10:4 |
|
Jonah forcefully protested against God’s command |
Peter forcefully protested against God’s command |
| God commands a reluctant Jonah twice to “Get up! … Go” (1:2; 3:2 – anastëthi kai poreuthèti) | God commands a reluctant Peter twice to “Get up!” (10:13, 20 – anastas. .. kai poreuou) |
| God gives a miraculous sign to persuade Jonah — this sign of three days in the fish is crucial to the narrative (“the sign of Jonah”) (Jonah 2:1) | God gives Peter a miraculous sign — the vision of unclean foods to eat (lowered from heaven three times) — to persuade him (Acts 10:16) |
| God offers reassurance to Jonah | God offers reassurance to Peter |
| The gentiles believe (empisteuô – Jonah 3:5) — and prove to be outstandingly pious |
The gentiles believe (pisteuô — Acts 10:43) — and prove to be outstandingly pious |
| Conversion of gentiles results in hostile response (Jonah 4:1) | Conversion of gentiles results in hostile response (Acts 11:2; cf. 10:14) |
| God rebuts the hostile response (Jonah 4:2-11) | God rebuts the hostile response (Acts 11:17-18; cf. 15:13-21) |
Czachesz, István. Apostolic Commission Narratives in the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, 2002. https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/apostolic-commission-narratives-in-the-canonical-and-apocryphal-a.
Wall, Robert W. “Peter, ‘Son’ of Jonah: The Conversion of Cornelius in the Context of Canon.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 9, no. 29 (May 1987): 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064X8700902904.
Williams, C. S. C. (Charles Stephan Conway). A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. New York: Harper, 1958. http://archive.org/details/commentaryonacts0000will.
Neil Godfrey
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What a brilliant insight. Yesterday I met some Assyrian Christian people here in Western Sydney. I may see them again today and put this to them. If they have a view on it I’ll share it.