JONAH mourned over his withered gourd as over a departed friend. Was he angry? God inquired. Yes, said Jonah, angry to death. How strange, God replied softly, that the prophet would mourn one gourd in which he had invested neither time nor labour, but could not understand why God felt sorry for a city of sixscore thousand* helpless souls who could not tell wrong from right, and even felt sorry for their cattle.
And there the story abruptly breaks off.
The Book of Jonah is read right through in synagogues every year on the Day of Atonement, which is appropriate given the theme of repentance and of unconditional forgiveness. The tale teaches us that all the world belongs to God’s care,* even the wicked and animals, and that God will have mercy and compassion on whomever he pleases.* But most of all it teaches that when called upon to sound unwelcome truths in the ears of a wicked Nineveh, our good name must not mean more to us than goodness.*
That is 6 × 20 × 1000 or 120,000.
See Psalm 24:1: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.’
See Exodus 33:19, quoted by St Paul in Romans 9:15.
This faintly Dickensian turn of phrase comes from Herman Melville’s Fr Mapple in ‘Moby Dick’. Charles Dickens could hardly have bettered it, though. See also Ps 56:11 and Philippians 2:7-8.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Call. Promise. Tale.
2 Cause. Come. Ear.
3 Frank. Nor. Repent.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Confusables Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Prepositions Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below may be followed by one or more prepositions. Compose your own sentences to show which they might be. Some prepositions are given underneath.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Careful. 2. Angry. 3. Labour. 4. Careless.
Selected Prepositions
About. Against. Among. At. By. For. From. In. Into. Of. On. Out. Over. Through. To. Towards. Upon. With.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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