Misplaced Pages

#352647

117-644: Yizhar Harari was born in Jaffa , then under Ottoman rule, to Haim and Yehudit Harari . He studied political science and journalism at the University of Paris and then law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and economics and political science in London , and was certified as a lawyer. His son, Haim Harari , is a physicist. His nephew, Yuval Ne'eman , was also a physicist who went into politics. In 1933, he worked as

234-426: A type for Jesus Christ. Jonah being in swallowed by the giant fish was regarded as a foreshadowing of Jesus's crucifixion and Jonah emerging from the fish after three days was seen as a parallel for Jesus emerging from the tomb after three days. Saint Jerome equates Jonah with Jesus's more nationalistic side, and justifies Jonah's actions by arguing that "Jonah acts thus as a patriot, not so much that he hates

351-582: A "king". According to scholars, no human could realistically survive for three days inside a fish, and the description of the livestock in Nineveh fasting alongside their owners is "silly". Some of these points are countered in the aforementioned lecture of Donald Wiseman. The motif of a protagonist being swallowed by a giant fish or whale became a stock trope of later satirical writings. Similar incidents are recounted in Lucian of Samosata 's A True Story , which

468-575: A Jewish visitor, L.A. Frankl , found sixty-five Jewish families living in Jaffa, 'about 400 soul in all.' Of these four were shoemakers, three tailors, one silversmith and one watchmaker. There were also merchants and shopkeepers and 'many live by manual labour, porters, sailors, messengers, etc.' Until the mid-19th century, Jaffa's orange groves were mainly owned by Arabs, who employed traditional methods of farming. The pioneers of modern agriculture in Jaffa were American settlers, who brought in farm machinery in

585-438: A candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark,

702-404: A few tents covered with reeds, where pilgrims seek shelter from the heat of the sun. The sea enters the town, forming a poor and shallow harbor: it is dangerous to remain there long for fear of being driven onshore by a gust of wind. When any pilgrims disembark there, interpreters and other officers of the sultan instantly hasten to ascertain their numbers, to serve them as guides, and to receive, in

819-474: A heap of ruins when he visited in 1598. Botanist and traveller Leonhard Rauwolf landed near the site of the town on 13 September 1575 and wrote "we landed on the high, rocky shore where the town of Joppe did stand formerly, at this time the town was so demolished that there was not one house to be found." (p. 212, Rauwolf, 1582) The 17th century saw the beginning of the re-establishment of churches and hostels for Christian pilgrims en route to Jerusalem and

936-457: A hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" The Book of Jonah (Yonah יונה) is one of the twelve minor prophets included in the Hebrew Bible. According to one tradition, Jonah was the boy brought back to life by Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings. Another tradition holds that he was

1053-765: A journalist for Haaretz newspaper in London. He was a delegate to several Zionist Congresses, a member of the Zionist Actions Committee. From 1945 to 1949 he was a member of the Supreme Committee to Manage Illegal Immigration. He was a member of Supreme Command of the Haganah and later a lieutenant colonel in the IDF . He was elected to the first through fourth Knessets for the Progressive Party , which later merged into

1170-443: A pirate base. In the 3rd century CE, Jaffa was known by the name Flavia Ioppe , potentially indicating an honorary designation under Flavian rule . Despite the devastation and loss of life during the revolt, Jaffa maintained a Jewish population. Inscriptions from the early 2nd century indicate Jewish involvement in local governance. Further evidence includes Jewish epitaphs dating from the 3rd to 6th centuries, some from members of

1287-632: A popular pilgrimage site and a symbol of unity to Jews, Christians, and Muslims across the Middle East. On July 24, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) destroyed the mosque containing the tomb as part of a campaign to destroy religious sanctuaries it deemed to be idolatrous . After Mosul was taken back from ISIL in January 2017, an ancient Assyrian palace built by Esarhaddon dating to around

SECTION 10

#1732855047353

1404-559: A prominent idea in Jewish thought. This concept is developed in the Book of Jonah: Jonah, the son of truth (the name of his father "Amitai" in Hebrew means truth ), refuses to ask the people of Nineveh to repent. He seeks the truth only, and not forgiveness. When forced to go, his call is heard loud and clear, and the people of Nineveh repent ecstatically, "fasting, including the sheep," and the Jewish text

1521-457: A sharp elbow or bend behind the opening, such that not even a human arm would be able to pass through it. Therefore, Jonah could not have been swallowed by a whale shark. Sperm whales , however, appear to be a different matter: They regularly eat giant squid , so presumably one could swallow a human. Similar to a cow, sperm whales have four-chambered stomachs. The first chamber has no gastric juices but has muscular walls to crush its food. On

1638-522: A three-year truce between the two armies. In 1229, Frederick II signed a ten-year truce in a new Treaty of Jaffa . He fortified the castle of Jaffa and had two inscriptions carved into city wall, one Latin and the other Arabic. The inscription, deciphered in 2011, describes him as the "Holy Roman Emperor" and bears the date "1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah." In March 1268, Baibars ,

1755-495: A whale. In English some translations use the word "whale" for Matthew 12:40, while others use "sea creature" or "big fish". In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, naturalists , interpreting the Jonah story as a historical account, became obsessed with trying to identify the exact species of the fish that swallowed Jonah. In the mid-nineteenth century, Edward Bouverie Pusey , professor of Hebrew at Oxford University , claimed that

1872-409: A while. The Quran never mentions Jonah's father, but Muslim tradition teaches that Jonah was from the tribe of Benjamin and that his father was Amittai . Jonah is also mentioned in a few incidents during the lifetime of Muhammad . Quraysh sent their servant, Addas , to serve him grapes for sustenance. Muhammad asked Addas where he was from and the servant replied Nineveh. "The town of Jonah

1989-402: A wooden spoon, which turned out to be a cornucopia . Nineveh 's current location is marked by excavations of five gates, parts of walls on four sides, and two large mounds: the hill of Kuyunjik and hill of Nabi Yunus. A mosque atop Nabi Yunus was dedicated to the prophet Jonah and contained a shrine, which was revered by both Muslims and Christians as the site of Jonah's tomb. The tomb was

2106-473: Is a large harbour frequented by all the ships coming to Filastin, and from it they set sail to all lands. Between it and Ar Ramlah the distance is 6 miles, and it lies west of Ar Ramlah." In 1432, Bertrandon de la Broquière observed that Jaffa was in ruins, with only a few tents standing. He wrote: "At Jaffa, the pardons commence for pilgrims to the Holy Land ... at present, it is entirely destroyed, having only

2223-514: Is an ancient Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv-Yafo , Israel , located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on the Mediterranean coastline. Excavations at Jaffa indicate that the city was settled as early as the Early Bronze Age . The city is referenced in several ancient Egyptian and Assyrian documents. Biblically, Jaffa is noted as one of

2340-467: Is asked for a sign by some of the scribes and the Pharisees . Jesus says that the sign will be the sign of Jonah : Jonah's restoration after three days and three night inside the great fish prefigures his own resurrection . He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in

2457-446: Is called Dhul-Nūn (Arabic: ذُو ٱلنُّوْن ; meaning "The One of the Fish"). In 4:163 and 6:86, he is referred to as "an apostle of Allah". Surah 37:139–148 retells the full story of Jonah: And verily, Jonah was among the messengers. [Mention] when he ran away to the laden ship. Then (to save it from sinking) he drew straws (with other passengers). He lost and was thrown overboard. Then

SECTION 20

#1732855047353

2574-402: Is critical of this. The Book of Jonah also highlights the sometimes unstable relationship between two religious needs: comfort and truth. Twelfth-century Jewish rabbi and explorer Petachiah of Regensburg visited Jonah's tomb during his visit to the Holy Land, and wrote: "There is a beautiful palace built over it. Near it is a pleasure garden wherein all kinds of fruit are found. The keeper of

2691-506: Is debated, given the term leistai (pirates) was often used pejoratively in this period. Jaffa was annexed to Syria by Pompey but later restored to Judaea by Julius Caesar , reaffirming Jewish access to the sea through their traditional port. In 39 BCE, Herod captured Jaffa from Antigonus , though control fluctuated until Octavian returned it to Herod after the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra . After Herod's death, Jaffa, along with Strato's Tower (Caesarea), Sebaste , and Jerusalem,

2808-715: Is made to Jose ben Halafta (2nd century) traveling through Jaffa. Jaffa seems to have attracted serious Jewish scholars in the 4th and 5th century. The Jerusalem Talmud (compiled 4th and 5th century) in Moed Ketan references Rabi Akha bar Khanina of Jaffa; and in Pesachim chapter 1 refers to Rabi Pinchas ben Yair of Jaffa. The Babylonian Talmud (compiled 5th century) in Megillah 16b mentions Rav Adda Demin of Jaffa. Leviticus Rabbah (compiled between 5th and 7th century) mentions Rav Nachman of Jaffa. The Pesikta Rabbati (written in

2925-497: Is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked" (Luke 11:27 - King James Version): And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, "This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of

3042-678: The Council of Ephesus in 431 CE. A very small number of its Greek or Latin bishops are known. Early Christian texts describe Jaffa as a modest settlement, with varying accounts of its prosperity and state of preservation. The New Testament account of Saint Peter bringing back to life the widow Dorcas (recorded in Acts of the Apostles , 9:36–42 , takes place in Jaffa, then called in Greek Ἰόππη ( Latinized as Joppa ). Acts 10:10–23 relates that, while Peter

3159-903: The Hebrew text reads dag gadol (דג גדול) or, in the Hebrew Masoretic Text , dāḡ gāḏōl (דָּ֣ג גָּד֔וֹל), which means "great fish". The Septuagint translates this phrase into Greek as kētei megalōi (κήτει μεγάλῳ), meaning "huge fish". In Greek mythology , the same word meaning "fish" ( kêtos ) is used to describe the sea monster slain by the hero Perseus that nearly devoured the Princess Andromeda . Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis grandis in his Latin Vulgate . He translated koilia kétous , however, as ventre ceti in Matthew 12:40: this second case occurs only in this verse of

3276-693: The Israeli Liberal Party , for which he was elected to the fifth Knesset. During the fifth Knesset he refused to accept his party's merger into Gahal and, along with six other members (including Moshe Kol ), formed the Independent Liberals party. In 1968, Harari resigned from the Independent Liberals and joined the Labor Party , which merged into the Alignment , for which he was elected to

3393-582: The Mahmoudiya Mosque and the public fountain known as Sabil Abu Nabbut . During the 1834 Peasants' revolt in Palestine , Jaffa was besieged for forty days by "mountaineers" in revolt against Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt . In 1820, Isaiah Ajiman of Istanbul built a synagogue and hostel for the accommodation of Jews on their way to their four holy cities - Jerusalem, Hebron , Tiberias and Safed . This area became known as Dar al-Yehud (Arabic for "the house of

3510-556: The New Testament of Christianity , Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah" and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah" when referring to his resurrection . Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as a type of Jesus. Jonah in Islam is regarded as a prophet and the narrative of Jonah appears in a surah of the Quran named after him, Yūnus . Many modern Bible scholars suggest

3627-570: The New Testament . At some point cetus became synonymous with "whale" (the study of whales is now called cetology ). In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe" and the word kétos (Greek) or cetus (Latin) in Matthew 12:40 as "whale". Tyndale's translation was later incorporated into the Authorized Version of 1611. Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2 has been most often interpreted as

Yizhar Harari - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-532: The diaspora , along with references in Talmudic sources to scholars associated with Jaffa. Archaeological findings from the 2nd and 3rd centuries reveal structures destroyed by fire, possibly linked to regional unrest. During the first centuries of Christianity , Jaffa was a fairly unimportant Roman and Byzantine locality, which only in the 5th century became a bishopric . The new religion arrived in Jaffa relatively late, not appearing in historical records until

3861-572: The 17th century and early 18th century, the species of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation by naturalists , who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Some modern scholars of folklore , on the other hand, note similarities between Jonah and other legendary religious figures, like the Indian yogi Matsyendranatha "Lord of the Fishes", the Sumerian king Gilgamesh , and

3978-538: The 1850s and 1860s, followed by the Templers and the Jews. From the 1880s, real estate became an important branch of the economy. A 'biarah' (a watered garden) cost 100,000 piastres and annually produced 15,000, of which the farming costs were 5,000: 'A very fair percentage return on the investment.' Water for the gardens was easily accessible with wells between ten and forty feet deep. Jaffa's citrus industry began to flourish in

4095-404: The 20th century, where Falastin and Al-Difa' newspapers were established. After the 1948 Palestine War , most of its Arab population fled or were expelled , and the city became part of then newly established state of Israel, and was unified into a single municipality with Tel Aviv in 1950. Today, Jaffa is one of Israel's mixed cities , with approximately 37% of the city being Arab. The town

4212-480: The 9th century) in chapter 17 mentions R. Tanchum of Jaffa. Several streets and alleys of the Jaffa Flea Market area are named after these scholars. In 636 Jaffa was conquered by Arabs. Under Islamic rule, it served as a port of Ramla , then the provincial capital. Al-Muqaddasi ( c.  945 /946 – 991) described Yafah as "lying on the sea, is but a small town, although the emporium of Palestine and

4329-529: The Book of Jonah as an intentional work of parody or satire . If this is the case, then it was probably admitted into the canon of the Hebrew Bible by sages who misunderstood its satirical nature and mistakenly interpreted it as a serious prophetic work. Jonah himself may have been a historical prophet; he is briefly mentioned in the Second Book of Kings : He restored the border of Israel from

4446-406: The Book of Jonah is fictional, and at least partially satirical. The character of Jonah son of Amittai may have been based on the historical prophet of the same name who prophesied during the reign of King Amaziah of Judah , as mentioned in 2 Kings . Although the creature that swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase "large fish". In

4563-447: The Book of Jonah must have been authored by Jonah himself and argued that the fish story must be historically true, or else it would not have been included in the Bible. Pusey attempted to scientifically catalogue the fish, hoping to "shame those who speak of the miracle of Jonah's preservation in the fish as a thing less credible than any of God's other miraculous doings". The debate over

4680-538: The Book of Jonah was anything other than a literal, historical account. Jonah ( Arabic : يُونُس , romanized :  Yūnus ) is the title of the tenth chapter of the Quran . Yūnus is traditionally viewed as highly important in Islam as a prophet who was faithful to God and delivered His messages. Jonah is the only one of Judaism 's Twelve Minor Prophets to be named in the Quran. In Quran 21:87 and 68:48 , Jonah

4797-441: The Book of Jonah was not written by Jonah, Calvin declared that the Book of Jonah was Jonah's personal confession of guilt. Calvin sees Jonah's time inside the fish's belly as equivalent to the fires of Hell , intended to correct Jonah and set him on the path of righteousness. Also, unlike Luther, Calvin finds fault with all the characters in the story, describing the sailors on the boat as "hard and iron-hearted, like Cyclops' ",

Yizhar Harari - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-400: The Book of Jonah, stating that the "experiences of all the prophets except Moses were visions, not actualities." The later scholar Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1509), however, argued that Jonah could have easily survived in the belly of the fish for three days, because "after all, fetuses live nine months without access to fresh air." Teshuva – the ability to repent and be forgiven by God – is

5031-578: The British took the city in the 1917 Battle of Jaffa , and under their watch, as part of Mandatory Palestine , ethnic tensions culminated in the 1921 Jaffa riots . As an Arab majority city in the Ottoman era, Jaffa became known starting from the 19th century for its expansive orchards and fruits, including its namesake Jaffa orange . It was also a Palestinian hub for journalism in Mandatory Palestine in

5148-557: The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee set up a sub-committee on the Constitution. Several Basic Laws have been enacted since, and yet Israel still has no formal constitution. Jaffa Jaffa ( Hebrew : יָפוֹ , romanized :  Yāfō , pronounced [jaˈfo] ; Arabic : يَافَا , romanized :  Yāfā , pronounced [ˈjaːfaː] ), also called Japho , Joppa or Joppe in English,

5265-503: The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee the preparation of a proposed constitution for the state. The constitution will be made up of chapters, each of which will constitute a separate basic law. The chapters will be brought to the Knesset, as the Committee completes its work, and all the chapters together will constitute the constitution of the state." Following the passing of this resolution,

5382-462: The Elder associated the name with Iopa, daughter of Aeolus , god of the wind. The medieval Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi referred to it as Yaffa . Ancient Jaffa was built on a 40 metres (130 ft) high kurkar sandstone ridge, with a broad view of the coastline, giving it a strategic importance in military history. The tell of Jaffa, created through the accumulation of debris and landfill over

5499-541: The Galilee. During the 18th century, the coastline around Jaffa was often besieged by pirates and this led to the inhabitants relocating to Ramla and Lod , where they relied on messages from a solitary guard house to inform them when ships were approaching the harbour. The landing of goods and passengers was notoriously difficult and dangerous. Until well into the 20th century, ships had to rely on teams of oarsmen to bring their cargo ashore. On 7 March 1799, Napoleon captured

5616-452: The Greek hero Jason . Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa (sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe ). He sets sail for Tarshish . A huge storm arises and

5733-401: The Jews"); and was the basis of the Jewish community in Jaffa. The appointment of Mahmud Aja as Ottoman governor marked the beginning of a period of stability and growth for the city, interrupted by the 1832 conquest of the city by Muhammad Ali of Egypt . By 1839, at least 153 Sephardic Jews were living in Jaffa. The community was served for fifty years by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi miRagusa . In

5850-481: The Jews, including Straton's Tower , Apollonia , Iamnia , and Gaza . Archaeological evidence from this period is limited but includes remnants of walls, tombs from the early first century BCE, and hoards of coins. Incidents of piracy before the Roman conquest are mentioned by Josephus , who accused Aristobulus of instigating raids and acts of piracy. These claims are echoed by Diodorus and Strabo, though their reliability

5967-450: The Ninevites, as that he does not want to destroy his own people." Other Christian interpreters, including Saint Augustine and Martin Luther , have taken a directly opposite approach, regarding Jonah as the epitome of envy and jealousness, which they regarded as inherent characteristics of the Jewish people. Luther likewise concludes that the kikayon (plant) represents Judaism, and that

SECTION 50

#1732855047353

6084-506: The Roman and Byzantine periods. Archaeological remains from the Roman period are mainly found near the harbor, including rich finds like terra sigillata , a bread or cheese stamp, and coins. In the early stages of the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE, Cestius Gallus sent forces to Jaffa, where the city was destroyed and its inhabitants indiscriminately killed. Josephus writes that 8,400 inhabitants were massacred. Subsequently,

6201-404: The afternoon, the prisoners of Jaffa were marched off in the midst of a vast square phalanx formed by the troops of General Bon... The Turks, walking along in total disorder, had already guessed their fate and appeared not even to shed any tears... When they finally arrived in the sand dunes to the south-west of Jaffa, they were ordered to halt beside a pool of yellowish water. The officer commanding

6318-416: The belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here." In Luke, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah in an eschatological prophecy, after a woman in the crowd suddenly exclaims, "Blessed

6435-514: The best pomegranates . Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( Hebrew : יוֹנָה Yōnā , lit.   ' dove ' ) is a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible hailing from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE . He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah , one of the minor prophets , which details his reluctance in delivering

6552-528: The blessed minaret, as well as the gate of this mosque...in the year 666 of the Hijra [1268 CE]. May God have mercy upon him and upon all Muslims. Abu'l-Fida (1273–1331), writing in 1321, described "Yafa, in Filastin" as "a small but very pleasant town lying on the sea-shore. It has a celebrated harbour. The town of Yafa is well fortified. Its markets are much frequented, and many merchants ply their trades here. There

6669-528: The bodies of those already dead had to be pulled away so as to finish off those unfortunate beings who, concealed under this awful and terrible wall of bodies, had not yet been struck down. Many more died in an epidemic of bubonic plague that broke out soon afterwards. Residential life in the city was reestablished in the early 19th century. The governor who was appointed after the devastation brought about by Napoleon, Muhammad Abu-Nabbut , commenced wide-ranging building and restoration work in Jaffa, including

6786-551: The book are characterized by their militancy, but his name ironically means "dove", a bird which the ancient Israelites associated with peace. Jonah's rejection of God's commands is a parody of the obedience of the prophets described in other Old Testament writings. The king of Nineveh's instant repentance parodies the rulers throughout the other writings of the Old Testament who disregard prophetic warnings, such as Ahab and Zedekiah . The readiness to worship God displayed by

6903-624: The boundaries of the tribe of Dan and as a port through which Lebanese cedars were imported for the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem . Under Persian rule, Jaffa was given to the Phoenicians . The city features in the biblical story of Jonah and the Greek legend of Andromeda . Later, the city served as the major port of Hasmonean Judea . However, its importance declined during the Roman period due to

7020-524: The centuries, made the hill even higher. The city as such was established at the latest around 1800 BCE. Jaffa is mentioned in an Ancient Egyptian letter from 1440 BCE. The so-called story of the Taking of Joppa glorifies its conquest by Pharaoh Thutmose III , whose general, Djehuty , hid Egyptian soldiers in sacks carried by pack animals and sent them camouflaged as tribute into the Canaanite city, where

7137-558: The city is mentioned in several Zeno papyri . The area was transferred to Seleucid control after the Battle of Paneas in 198 BCE. Around 163–162 BCE, during the Maccabean revolt , the inhabitants of Jaffa invited the local Jews onto boats, subsequently sinking them and drowning hundreds. In retaliation, Judas Maccabeus attacked Jaffa, setting the harbor on fire, destroying ships, and killing many inhabitants, though he did not attempt to hold

SECTION 60

#1732855047353

7254-450: The city was resettled by Jews expelled from neighboring regions, who used it to disrupt maritime commerce between Egypt and Syria . As the Romans, led by Vespasian , approached Jaffa, those Jews fled to sea but were devastated by a storm, killing 4,200 people. Those who reached shore were killed by the Romans, who subsequently destroyed Jaffa again and stationed troops to prevent its reuse as

7371-426: The city, crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown." After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast. The king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer and repentance. God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time. The entire city is humbled and broken, with

7488-516: The city. By 147 – 146 BCE, his brother Jonathan Apphus expelled the garrison of Seleucid king Demetrius II from Jaffa but did not conquer the city. In 143 BCE, Simon Thassi established a garrison in Jaffa, expelled the non-Jewish inhabitants to prevent them from collaborating with the Seleucid commander Tryphon, and fortified the city. During the operations of Antiochus VII Sidetes in Judaea, he demanded

7605-450: The collection of Imam Bukhari , says that Muhammad said "One should not say that I am better than Jonah". Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, an older contemporary of Muhammad, taught that, had Jonah not prayed to Allah, he would have remained trapped inside the fish until Judgement Day, but, because of his prayer, Jonah "stayed only a few days within the belly of the fish". The ninth-century Persian historian Al-Tabari records that, while Jonah

7722-657: The construction of Caesarea . Jaffa was contested during the Crusades , when it presided over the County of Jaffa and Ascalon . It is associated with the 1192 Battle of Jaffa and subsequent Treaty of Jaffa , a truce between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin , as well as a later 1229 peace treaty . In 1799, Napoleon also sacked the town in the Siege of Jaffa , and in the First World War

7839-403: The contents of the Book of Jonah are ahistorical. Although the prophet Jonah allegedly lived in the eighth century BCE, the Book of Jonah was written centuries later during the time of the Achaemenid Empire . The Hebrew used in the Book of Jonah shows strong influences from Aramaic and the cultural practices described in it match those of the Achaemenid Persians. Some scholars regard

7956-503: The early 1850s, HaLevi leased an orchard to Clorinda S. Minor , founder of a Christian messianic community that established Mount Hope, a farming initiative to encourage local Jews to learn manual trades, which the Messianics did in order to pave wave for the Second Coming of Jesus. In 1855, the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore bought the orchard from HaLevi, although Minor continued to manage it. American missionary Ellen Clare Miller, visiting Jaffa in 1867, reported that

8073-411: The entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah , according to the word of the LORD , the God of Israel , which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai , the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher . In a lecture delivered in 1978 and published in 1979, Assyriologist Donald Wiseman defended the plausibility of many aspects of the story, supporting "the tradition that many features in

8190-443: The fable hits you right between the eyes", and concludes that the Book of Jonah is a polemic against "the Israelite people's hate and envy towards all the other nations of the earth." Albert Eichhorn was a strong supporter of Michaelis's interpretation. John Calvin and John Hooper regarded the Book of Jonah as a warning to all those who might attempt to flee from the wrath of God. While Luther had been careful to maintain that

8307-400: The faith of His Prophet...Sultan of Islam and the Muslims, Baybars...who came out with his victorious army on the 10th of the month of Rajab from the land of Egypt, resolved to carry out jihad and combat the intransigent infidels . He camped in the port city of Jaffa in the morning and conquered it, by God's will, in the third hour of that day. Then he ordered the erection of the dome over

8424-478: The first half of the 7th century BCE was discovered beneath the ruined mosque. ISIL had plundered the palace of items to sell on the black market , but some of the artifacts that were more difficult to transport still remained in place. Other reputed locations of Jonah's tomb include: The story of a man surviving after being swallowed by a whale or giant fish is classified in the catalogue of folktale types as ATU 1889G. Many Biblical scholars hold that

8541-476: The fish in the Book of Jonah played a major role during Clarence Darrow 's cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial in 1925. Darrow asked Bryan "When you read that ... the whale swallowed Jonah ... how do you literally interpret that?" Bryan replied that he believed in "a God who can make a whale and can make a man and make both of them do what He pleases." Bryan ultimately admitted that it

8658-522: The fish swam up alongside the Leviathan and Jonah threatened to leash the Leviathan by its tongue and let the other fish eat it. The Leviathan heard Jonah's threats, saw that he was circumcised , and realized that he was protected by the Lord , so it fled in terror, leaving Jonah and the fish alive. The medieval Jewish scholar and rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1092–1167) argued against any literal interpretation of

8775-555: The fish that swallowed Jonah was created in the primordial era and the inside of its mouth was like a synagogue ; the fish's eyes were like windows and a pearl inside its mouth provided further illumination. According to the Midrash , while Jonah was inside the fish, the fish told him that its life was nearly over because soon the Leviathan would eat them both. Jonah promised the fish that he would save them. Following Jonah's directions,

8892-469: The fourteenth chapter of the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit , the conclusion of which finds Tobit's son, Tobias, rejoicing at the news of Nineveh's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus in apparent fulfillment of Jonah's prophecy against the Assyrian capital. In the New Testament , Jonah is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew and Luke . In Matthew, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah when he

9009-548: The judgment of God to the city of Nineveh (near present-day Mosul ) in the Neo-Assyrian Empire . After he is swallowed by a large sea creature ( Hebrew : דג גדול , romanized :  dāḡ gāḏol , lit.   'large fish') and then released, he returns to the divine mission. In Judaism , the story of Jonah represents the teaching of repentance in Judaism , the ability to repent to God for forgiveness. In

9126-412: The just, son of Amittai !" Muhammad exclaimed. Addas was shocked because he knew that the pagan Arabs had no knowledge of the prophet Jonah. He then asked how Muhammad knew of this man. "We are brothers," Muhammad replied. "Jonah was a Prophet of God and I, too, am a Prophet of God." Addas immediately accepted Islam and kissed the hands and feet of Muhammad. One of the sayings attributed to Muhammad, in

9243-417: The last quarter of the 19th century. E.C. Miller records that 'about ten million' oranges were being exported annually, and that the town was surrounded by 'three or four hundred orange gardens, each containing upwards of one thousand trees'. Shamuti or Shamouti oranges, aka " Jaffa oranges ", were the major crop, but citrons , lemons and mandarin oranges were also grown. Jaffa had a reputation for producing

9360-524: The late 1880s. The most successful enterprises were metalworking factories, among them the machine shop run by the Templers that employed over 100 workers in 1910. Other factories produced orange-crates, barrels, corks, noodles, ice, seltzer, candy, soap, olive oil, leather, alkali, wine, cosmetics and ink. Most of the newspapers and books printed in Ottoman Palestine were published in Jaffa . In 1859,

9477-890: The modern Gregorian calendar ). In the Armenian Apostolic Church , moveable feasts are held in commemoration of Jonah as a single prophet and as one of the Twelve Minor Prophets . Jonah's mission to the Ninevites is commemorated by the Fast of Nineveh in Syriac and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Jonah is commemorated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church on 22 September. Christian theologians have traditionally interpreted Jonah as

9594-502: The modern term " Gush Dan " for the center of the coastal plain). The Israelites did not manage to take Jaffa from the Philistines. Jaffa is mentioned four times in the Hebrew Bible : as the northernmost Philistine city by the coast, bordering the territory of the Tribe of Dan ( Joshua 19:46 ); as port-of-entry for the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's Temple ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ); as

9711-475: The name of their master, the customary tribute." In 1515, Jaffa was conquered by the Ottoman sultan Selim I . In the census of 1596, it appeared located in the nahiya of Ramla in the liwa of Gaza . It had a population of 15 households, all Muslim . They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3 % on various products; a total of 7,520 akçe . The traveller Jean Cotwyk (Cotovicus) described Jaffa as

9828-404: The narrative exhibit an intimate and accurate knowledge of Assyria which could stem from an historical event as early as the eighth century B.C.", concluding that "the story of Jonah need not be considered as a late story or parable". The views expressed by Jonah in the Book of Jonah are a parody of views held by members of Jewish society at the time when it was written. The primary target of

9945-423: The penitence of the Ninevites as "untrained", and the king of Nineveh as a "novice". Hooper, on the other hand, sees Jonah as the archetypal dissident and the ship he is cast out from as a symbol of the state. Hooper deplores such dissidents, decrying: "Can you live quietly with so many Jonasses? Nay then, throw them into the sea!" In the eighteenth century, German professors were forbidden from teaching that

10062-453: The people (and even the livestock) wearing sackcloth and ashes. Displeased by this, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that God would turn from the threatened calamities. He leaves the city and makes a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed. God causes a plant (in Hebrew a kikayon ) to grow over Jonah's shelter to give him some shade from

10179-506: The place whence the prophet Jonah embarked for Tarshish ( Jonah 1:3 ); and again as port-of-entry for the cedars of Lebanon for the Second Temple of Jerusalem ( Ezra 3:7 ). In the late 8th century BCE, Sennacherib , king of Assyria , recorded conquering Jaffa from its sovereign, the Philistine king of Ashkelon . After a period of Babylonian occupation , under Persian rule , Jaffa

10296-419: The pleasure garden is a Gentile. Nevertheless, when Gentiles come there he gives them no fruit, but when Jews come he gives them a friendly reception, saying, Jonah, son of Amittai, was a Jew, therefore it is due to you to partake of what is his, and then gives to the Jews to eat thereof." Petachiah did not provide details about the exact location of the tomb. In the Book of Tobit Jonah is mentioned twice in

10413-562: The port of Ar-Ramlah . It is protected by a strong wall with iron gates, and the sea-gates also are of iron. The mosque is pleasant to the eye, and overlooks the sea. The harbour is excellent". Jaffa was captured in June 1099 during the First Crusade , and was the centre of the County of Jaffa and Ascalon , one of the vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . One of its counts, John of Ibelin , wrote

10530-722: The principal book of the Assizes of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Saladin conquered Jaffa in 1187. The city surrendered to King Richard the Lionheart on 10 September 1191, three days after the Battle of Arsuf . Despite efforts by Saladin to reoccupy the city in the July 1192 Battle of Jaffa , the city remained in the hands of the Crusaders. On 2 September 1192, the Treaty of Jaffa was formally signed, guaranteeing

10647-401: The sailors on the ship and the people of Nineveh contrasts ironically with Jonah's own reluctance, as does Jonah's greater love for kikayon providing him shade than for all the people in Nineveh. The Book of Jonah also employs elements of literary absurdism ; it exaggerates the size of the city of Nineveh to an implausible degree and incorrectly refers to the administrator of the city as

10764-402: The sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and says that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail, and they eventually throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors offer sacrifices to God. After being cast from

10881-477: The satire may have been a faction whom Morton Smith calls "Separationists", who believed that God would destroy those who disobeyed him, that sinful cities would be obliterated, and that God's mercy did not extend to those outside the Abrahamic covenant . McKenzie and Graham remark that "Jonah is in some ways the most 'orthodox' of Israelite theologians – to make a theological point." Jonah's statements throughout

10998-793: The seventh Knesset. He was chairman of the House Committee during the first Knesset, and was also member of the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee and the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. Harari is best known as initiator of the Harari Resolution ( הַחְלָטַת הֲרָרִי ‎; also referred to as the Harari Proposal ) of 13 June 1950, a landmark in Israeli constitutional law . According to this proposal "the First Knesset assigns to

11115-404: The ship, Jonah is swallowed by a large fish, within the belly of which he remains for three days and three nights. While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed. God commands the fish to vomit Jonah out. God again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and prophesy to its inhabitants. This time he travels there and enters

11232-448: The size and habits of the great white shark correspond better to the representations of Jonah's experiences, normally an adult human is too large to be swallowed whole. The development of whaling from the 18th century onwards made it clear that most, if not all, species of whale are incapable of swallowing a human, leading to much controversy about the veracity of the biblical story of Jonah. In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translations),

11349-624: The soldiers emerged and conquered it. The story predates the story of the Trojan horse , as told by Homer , by at least two centuries. The city is also mentioned in the Amarna letters under its Egyptian name Ya-Pho ( Ya-Pu, EA 296, l.33 ). The city was under Egyptian rule until around 1200 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible , Jaffa is depicted as the northernmost Philistine city, bordering the Israelite territories – more specifically those of Tribe of Dan (hence

11466-516: The son of the woman of Shunem brought back to life by Elisha in 2 Kings and that he is called the "son of Amittai " ( Truth ) due to his mother's recognition of Elijah's identity as a prophet in 1 Kings. The Book of Jonah is read every year, in its original Hebrew and in its entirety, on Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement – as the Haftarah at the afternoon mincha prayer. According to Rabbi Eliezer ,

11583-425: The south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. No man, when he hath lighted

11700-693: The sultan of the Egyptian Mamluks , conquered Jaffa simultaneously with conquering Antioch . Baibars's goal was to conquer Christian crusader strongholds . An inscription from the White Mosque of Ramla , today visible in the Great Mosque of Gaza , commemorates the event: In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate ,...gave power to his servant...who has trust in him...who fights for Him and defends

11817-516: The sun. Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant's root and it withers. Jonah, exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him. But God said to Jonah: "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" And he said: "I do. I am angry enough to die." But the LORD said: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight, and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than

11934-475: The surrender of Jaffa among other cities. Simon negotiated a settlement by agreeing to pay a smaller tribute. Simon's capture of Jaffa is praised in 1 Maccabees because of the city's strategic importance as a port. In the Hasmonean period, the city was fortified and served as the main port of Judaea. Under Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus (103 – 76 BCE), Jaffa was one of several coastal cities controlled by

12051-425: The town had a population of "about 5000, 1000 of these being Christians, 800 Jews and the rest Moslems". The city walls were torn down during the 1870s, allowing the city to expand. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Jaffa had swelled considerably. A group of Jews left Jaffa for the sand dunes to the north, where in 1909 they held a lottery to divide the lots acquired earlier. The settlement

12168-487: The town in what became known as the Siege of Jaffa , breached its walls, ransacked it, and killed scores of local inhabitants as a reaction to his envoys being brutally killed when delivering an ultimatum of surrender. Napoleon ordered the massacre of thousands of Muslim soldiers who were imprisoned having surrendered to the French. Napoleon's deputy commissioner of war Jacques-François Miot described it thus: On 10 March 1799 in

12285-420: The troops then divided the mass of prisoners into small groups, who were led off to several different points and shot... Finally, of all the prisoners there only remained those who were beside the pool of water. Our soldiers had used up their cartridges, so there was nothing to be done but to dispatch them with bayonets and knives. ... The result ... was a terrible pyramid of dead and dying bodies dripping blood and

12402-479: The whale engulfed him while he was blameworthy. Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah, He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection . But We cast him onto the open (shore), (totally) worn out, and caused a squash plant to grow over him. We (later) sent him (back) to (his city of) at least one hundred thousand people, And they believed, so We allowed them enjoyment for

12519-703: The whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." Jonah is regarded as a saint by a number of Christian denominations. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is on 21 September, according to the Martyrologium Romanum . On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar , Jonah's feast day is on 22 September (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian calendar ; 22 September currently falls in October on

12636-452: The worm which devours it represents Christ. Luther also questioned the idea that the Book of Jonah was ever intended as literal history, commenting that he found it hard to believe that anyone would have interpreted it as such if it were not in the Bible. Luther's antisemitic interpretation of Jonah remained the prevailing interpretation among German Protestants throughout early modern history. J. D. Michaelis comments that "the meaning of

12753-417: Was assigned to Archelaus ' ethnarchy in Judaea. The construction of Herod's superior harbor at Caesarea diminished Jaffa's regional importance. Josephus's accounts indicate that Jaffa had city status, administering surrounding districts, reflecting continued regional significance. However, he adds that the harbor at Jaffa was inferior to that of Caesarea . The population of the city during this period

12870-659: Was governed by Phoenicians from Tyre. Jaffa is not mentioned in Alexander the Great 's coastal campaign, but during the Wars of the Diadochi , Antigonus Monophthalmus captured Jaffa in 315 BCE. Ptolemy I Soter later destroyed it in 312 BCE. Despite this, Jaffa was resettled and became a Ptolemaic mint site in the third century BCE. Archaeological evidence from this period includes a watchtower and numerous stamped amphora handles. Additionally,

12987-560: Was in Jaffa, he had a vision of a large sheet filled with "clean" and "unclean" animals being lowered from heaven, together with a message from the Holy Spirit telling him to accompany several messengers to Cornelius in Caesarea Maritima . Peter retells the story of his vision in Acts 11:4–17 , explaining how he had come to preach Christianity to the gentiles . In Midrash Tanna'im in its chapter Deuteronomy 33:19 , reference

13104-433: Was inside the fish, "none of his bones or members were injured". Al-Tabari also writes that Allah made the body of the fish transparent, allowing Jonah to see the "wonders of the deep" and that Jonah heard all the fish singing praises to Allah. Kisai Marvazi , a tenth-century poet, records that Jonah's father was seventy years old when Jonah was born and that he died soon afterwards, leaving Jonah's mother with nothing but

13221-499: Was known at first as Ahuzat Bayit, but an assembly of its residents changed its name to Tel Aviv in 1910. Other Jewish suburbs to Jaffa had already been founded since 1887 , with others following until the Great War . In 1904, rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864–1935) moved to Ottoman Palestine and took up the position of Chief Rabbi of Jaffa. In the 19th century, Jaffa was best known for its soap industry. Modern industry emerged in

13338-509: Was mentioned in Egyptian sources and the Amarna letters as Yapu . Mythology says that it is named for Yafet (Japheth), one of the sons of Noah , the one who built it after the Flood . The Hellenist tradition links the name to Iopeia , or Cassiopeia , mother of Andromeda . An outcropping of rocks near the harbor is reputed to have been the place where Andromeda was rescued by Perseus. Pliny

13455-412: Was necessary to interpret the Bible, and is generally regarded as having come off looking like a "buffoon". The largest of all whales – blue whales – are baleen whales which eat plankton ; and "it is commonly said that this species would be choked if it attempted to swallow a herring ." The largest of all fishes – the whale shark — has a large mouth, but its throat is only four inches wide, with

13572-498: Was predominantly Jewish. Strabo , writing in the early 1st century CE, describes Jaffa as a location from which it is possible to see Jerusalem , the capital of the Jews, and writes that the Jews used it as their naval arsenal when they descended to the sea. Excavations suggest urban expansion during the Hellenistic period under Ptolemaic rule, followed by contraction under Seleucid and early Roman rule, and renewed expansion later in

13689-463: Was written in the second century CE, and in the novel Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia , published by Rudolf Erich Raspe in 1785. Though art and culture often depicts Jonah's fish as a whale , the Hebrew text, as throughout scripture, refers to no marine species in particular, simply saying "great fish" or "big fish". While some biblical scholars suggest

#352647