The greatest example of a missionary / evangelist in the Old Testament is the prophet Jonah. Although all the major and minor prophets were known for speaking the word of God, and several of the prophets spoke the word of God to foreign nations, the story of Jonah’s message to the wicked city of Nineveh and the city’s subsequent repentance stands unique in the history of Israel. The main point of the book of Jonah is that when a person or a city repents, God responds to their repentance with mercy and kindness. This exegesis paper will examine Jonah 3 in depth and will apply the principles learned from the passage to today’s evangelist.
The story of Jonah is well known by every child who attends Sunday school. Jonah the prophet is commanded by God to go preach in the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah is scared so he runs in the opposite direction by getting on a boat headed for Tarshish. Nineveh is 500 miles to the east of Israel and Jonah caught a boat to Tarshish which is probably in modern day Spain, 2,000 miles to the west from where God told him to go.[1] God sends a storm and when the sailors find out that Jonah’s disobedience has caused the storm, they throw him overboard. God in His mercy sends a large fish that swallows Jonah. After three days, the fish spits Jonah out on a beach. Again God commands Jonah to go preach in Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys and preaches in the streets of Nineveh about the soon coming judgment of God. In response to his preaching, the entire city repents and God decides not to destroy them. Jonah gets mad that God has shown compassion to the people of Nineveh and pouts. God causes a vine to grow to give Jonah shade and then sends a worm that kills the vine. Jonah is angry that the vine has died and God uses it as an object lesson to show why he decided not to destroy Nineveh.
Nineveh was the capital of the kingdom of Assyria, a large empire during the time of the Israelite kings. [1] The ruins of Nineveh lay across the river from the modern day city of Mosul, in northern Iraq. The book of Jonah calls Nineveh “a great city” and indeed it was the greatest city of its day. The total area of Nineveh was about seven square kilometers and there were fifteen large gates in its walls. Eighteen canals brought water to the city. Archeologists say it contained between 100,000 and 150,000 people making it one of the largest cities of its day. Jonah 4:11 mentions a population of 120,000.
The city of Nineveh was a sinful city. The city was known for debauchery and violence. The Assyrians impaled enemies on stakes at the entrance to their towns. They collected heads and hung as decorations from trees in the king’s garden. They tortured people by cutting off their nose or ears, blinding them, or cutting off their arms. They piled up skulls as a warning to anyone who would oppose their rule. They skinned their victims and used the skin as a decoration on their city walls.[2] It is probable that theft and murder was common in the city.
The city of Nineveh was sinful like Las Vegas, violent like inner city Chicago, and militarily aggressive like Baghdad under Saddam Hussein. God’s command to Jonah to go in preach in Nineveh was equivalent to God telling a modern day preacher to go preach in Mosul, which is currently under the control of ISIS. Jonah was worried his head would be chopped off. The repentance of the king of Nineveh is like Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (the head of ISIS) repenting, publically turning from Islam, and announcing that he is now serving the Christian God. The repentance of Nineveh was a true miracle.
Jonah 1-2 is about what happens when Jonah disobeys the Lord. Jonah 3 reveals what happens when Jonah is obedient. Jonah 4 gives God an opportunity to explain his actions to Jonah. The key chapter in this story for the evangelist is Jonah 3. Jonah publically preaches a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh and the entire city, from the king all the way down to the animals, responds by fasting and praying for God to relent. This chapter gives the evangelist an Old Testament picture of how God can move in a foreign city when an evangelist is obedient to preach a message of repentance. Thus, this post will focus on the exegesis of Jonah chapter 3.
Historical and Literary Context and Analysis
Authorship
Jonah is a Hebrew name that means “dove.” [3] His father was named Amittai. According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah was a prophet from the city of Gath Hepher, “a village near Nazareth” [4] during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel during the 8th century B.C. King Jeroboam was a sinful king of Israel and he reigned for forty-one years. “He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.” (2 Kings 14:25). Jeroboam took back land from the kingdom of Syria, he also took Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah.
The book is named after the prophet Jonah. The book is written in third person but only Jonah could have possibly known some of the details that are recorded.[5] Only Jonah would know what the Lord said to him (Jonah 1:1, 3:1, 4:4, 4:9, 4:10-11). Only Jonah would know about the ordeal inside the whale (Jonah 2). Only Jonah would know about the vine (Jonah 4). Either Jonah wrote this in third person or someone heard his story and wrote it down. Unlike the other minor prophetic books, Jonah is narrative, instead of “long prophetic oracles.”[6]
Date
Jonah was written during a time when Nineveh was a great city (Jonah 3:2). It was written during the time of the Minor Prophets. According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah lived during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel, during the 8th Century B.C.
Timeline
784-748 B.C. – King Jeroboam II rules in Israel.[7] Jonah, if written by Jonah, was written during this time period.
722 B.C. – Samaria destroyed by Assyria
727-698 B.C. King Hezekiah rules in Judea
700 B.C. – Hezekiah attacked by Sennacherib, king of Assyria
612 B.C. – Nineveh destroyed
Audience
The intended audience of Jonah are people from the Northern kingdom of Israel in the years before they were destroyed by the Assyrians. The date one places on the book really affects the question of audience. Some would date the book after the fall of Assyria because of the prediction that Assyria would fall, but this view requires an a priori dismissal of the miraculous role of a prophet. If prophecy can really happen, then Jonah could have been written before the fall of Assyria. If the book was written after the fall of Assyria, then it could have been a tale meant to teach the Jewish people during the Babylonian captivity.
Genre
Jonah is included with the minor prophetic books of the Old Testament even though it differs significantly from the other Minor Prophets. Most of the minor prophetic books consist of prophetic pronouncements, but Jonah is more of a historical narrative. There are some who dismiss Jonah as historical narrative and consider it to be more of a parable. [8] The reason it is dismissed as historical narrative is because of the unbelievable nature of the miracles recounted in the book. It has also been called “mythology, allegory, [and] commentary (or Midrash)”[9] The book of Jonah reads like a historical narrative, but because of skepticism concerning the story of Jonah being eaten by the big fish, some think Jonah is more of a parable. Jesus seems to consider Jonah a historical story that really happened (Matthew 12; Luke 11).
Purpose
The main theme of the book if Jonah is repentance. In the first half of the book, Jonah repents. In the third chapter, Nineveh repents. Finally, even God repents (relents).
Another theme of Jonah is the compassion and mercy of God. God shows mercy to Jonah, God shows mercy to the evil city of Nineveh, and then God teaches Jonah another object lesson about His mercy. The writer of Jonah is teaching his readers a lesson about the nature of God and the value of repentance. “The purpose of Jonah is didactic.”[10]
Jonah 3:1-10: Jonah Preaches in Nineveh
Exegesis of Jonah 3
Jonah 3:1-2
“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
As mentioned above, Nineveh was a “great city.” The greatest king of Nineveh was Sennacherib (700 B.C.) who besieged Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah. He built a magnificent palace in the middle of Nineveh the ruins of which exist to this day. It’s dimensions are 1,650 foot × 794 foot and it contained over eighty rooms. Just the foundation is made up of approximately 160 million bricks. It was full of sculptures and stone carvings. Sennacherib was murdered by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37) in 681 b.c. Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C. [11] after the death of king Ashurbanipal. It was attacked by an alliance of kingdoms including Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians. The book of Nahum prophesies the destruction of Ninaveh (Nahum 1:14; 3:7, 18). Zephaniah 2:13-15 also predicts the destruction of Nineveh saying that it will become “utterly desolate.” So, the period of repentance because of the preaching of Jonah only lasted for a short time.
Jonah 3:3-4
“Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.”
There is a problem concerning the size of the city. The author of Jonah seems to think that Nineveh is so big that it took three days to walk all the way through it. However, the ruins of Nineveh are available to be measured today and this phrase is in no way accurate. The city of Nineveh was big but it was not that big. Walking three days might be the equivalent of sixty miles. It is possible that the author is referring to a larger area that was controlled by Nineveh, or the author could be exaggerating the size of the “great” city, or the author was never there to actually see the size of the city and accidently exaggerates, or the author may have meant something different by this phrase. The three-day journey could be referring “not only to Nineveh proper but to the entire administrative district of Nineveh”[12] a distance that could be sixty miles around. [13] Or as the NIV translates the phrase, it could be referring to Jonah’s three-day visit. [14]
Different translators handle the dilemma differently. The literal translation should be “it took three days to walk around it.” The Hebrew word used here is mahălak that means “walk or journey.” The “word denotes movement in general, although usually of people.”[15] The Revised Standard Version and English Standard Version read “three days’ journey in breadth.” The New Living Version translates the phrase as “it took three days to see it all.” The New International Version reads, “a visit required three days” (Jonah 3:3). Given that the ruins of Nineveh that are available to see today would not require a three-day journey, the NIV translation of this verse is entirely reasonable.
Jonah 3:4-5
“Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”
Jonah takes a day traveling throughout the city. His message is simple, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Jonah includes no call to repentance, no hint that God may have mercy on the people of Nineveh. He does not even tell them how the city will be overthrown. He simply proclaims a barebones message of condemnation and judgment. The term “forty days” was often used by the Hebrews to designate an indeterminate period of time. It is like saying, “Soon, God is going to overthrow your city.”
During this time period in the Assyrian history, the nation had experienced a temporary setback. They had lost some battles and their economy was not doing well. They were already looking for solutions and Jonah came preaching at the right time. The “Assyrian religion, like that of most Near Eastern nations, was polytheistic.”[16] When they first responded, they probably did not respond to the Creator of the universe, to the One True God. No, they probably felt they were responding to an angry god from a rather insignificant neighboring people. Yet, they responded by fasting and by putting on sackcloth.
To Jonah’s surprise, the Ninevites believed God. The passage does not say that they believed Jonah, rather they believed the One who had sent Jonah. To a Hebrew reading this story, this development must come as a major surprise. The Jews were trained from birth to believe God, but here a foreign people believe God with almost no grounds for doing so.
All of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. Some have called this “the greatest revival in history.” It truly is remarkable that God was able to use the evangelistic preaching of a flawed preacher like Jonah to bring the entire city of Nineveh to repentance. If God can use a man like Jonah, He can use anyone.
It is not known why the people responded in the way they did. Jonah was the most surprised of all. Jonah knew the people of Nineveh were a violent people. He fully expected them to imprison him, torture him, or put him to death. This fear was the reason he ran away in the opposite direction in the first place. At the very least, he expected them to laugh at him. The response of irreligious people today provides a glimpse of what Jonah expected would happen. A street preacher in Las Vegas can expect to be mocked, ridiculed, and to have things thrown at him.
Jonah 3:6-9
“When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
Apparently, it took some time before the news of what was happening reached the king of Nineveh. The king’s response is another miracle. He could have felt threatened by Jonah’s preaching and ordered him to be killed. The last thing a king wants is for his city to be weakened. But, the king chooses to also humble himself before God.
There is a nice chiastic effect in verse seven:
The king rose from his throne.
Took off is royal robes.
Covered himself with sackcloth.
And sat down in the dust.
The king issues a proclamation in his name and in the name of all of his nobles. He commands the whole city, including the animals, to go on a complete fast from both food and water.
He commands the people to call urgently on God and to turn from their evil ways and their violence. Amazingly, the king had no assurance that public repentance would stay the hand of God. Jonah certainly gave no hope of forgiveness in his preaching. Yet, the king still gives the command to repent. He says, “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” It seems that the king of Nineveh had more faith in the goodness of God then the prophet Jonah did. The original readers are probably meant to think, “If the evil king of an evil city is willing to repent, how much more should I, an Israelite, also be willing to repent?”
Jonah 3:10
“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”
The Revised Standard Version says, “God repented.” The English Standard Version says “God relented.” The English Standard Version reads, “he changed his mind.” The Contemporary English Version says, “he had pity.” The Hebrew word is nāḥam which means to “be sorry, repent, regret, be comforted, comfort. [17] The origin of the root seems to reflect the idea of “breathing deeply,” hence the physical display of one’s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort. [18] The root word nḥm is often used to refer to God’s repentance. When men repent, the word šûb is more commonly used. When men repent, they “turn away” from their sin. But, God can repent too (Gen 6:6–7: Ex 32:14; Jud 2:18; I Sam 15:11). “…such language seems inconsistent, if not contradictory, with certain passages which affirm God’s immutability…When nāḥam is used of God, however, the expression is anthropopathic and there is not ultimate tension.[19] From humanities limited viewpoint, it only appears that God has repented.
Can God repent or change His mind? In Malachi 3:6, God says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” But Jonah, God changes His mind in response to the repentance of the people. The nature of God’s immutability must be addressed when dealing with the book of Jonah. In Numbers 23:19-20, the prophet Balaam says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it,” and “God is not a man … that he should repent” (I Sam 15:29), and “The lord has sworn and will not change his mind” (Ps 110:4).
However, the situation in Jonah where a city repents and earns a reprieve from God is mentioned in Jeremiah 18:7-8 where God says, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.” This shows that God promises to change His mind in response to the repentance of His people. In Jonah, this same flexibility is shown to the people of Nineveh.
Application
So, what lessons can an evangelist learn from Jonah 3? First, God is the God of a second chance. When God gives an instruction, He expects to be obeyed. When someone like Jonah takes a detour, God brings him back to his starting point and gives the same instruction again. The first verse of chapter three is so powerful, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” Thank God for second chances to obey.
Second, God is a God of compassion. In Jonah, God sends a “great storm,” then He sends a “great fish.” Jonah finally visits a “great city.” But, the real theme of this book is a great God who has compassion on everyone who repents. Sometimes the evangelist feels like he has to preach hard against sin, but when preaching, it is important to remember the compassion of God for those who are lost. God is compassionate even when the church might preach condemning messages. Some evangelists take Jonah’s example as a “doom and gloom” preacher and preach straight judgment. But, Jonah’s message was not the right message, nor was it preached from the right attitude, even though God used it to impact the entire city. The entire point of the book is God’s compassion, not his judgment. It would be better to use this book as a text explaining God’s grace then as a text to justify the preaching of judgment.
Third, everyone needs to repent. The biggest theological issue dwelt with in Jonah 3 is repentance. To this day, in Jewish synagogues, Jonah “is read publicly by Jews on the Day of Atonement to mirror the experience of the repentant worshipers.”[20] Jonah is given a message by God to preach to the people of Nineveh. It is a short message, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” Jonah does not even mention repentance or the possibility of God changing His mind. But, in response to Jonah’s preaching, the entire city repents. They fast and they put on sackcloth and ashes. From the least to the greatest, from the king to the animals, they all repent of their wrongdoing. In response to this amazing repentance, God Himself relents from His promise to destroy the city. If even God repents, how much more does flawed humanity need to repent? Hyper-grace preachers sometimes say that the believer does not need to repent, but the fourth chapter of Jonah provides a picture of a preacher who desperately needs to repent of his wrong attitude. Even the believer needs to repent now and then.
Fourth, repentance is a miracle that is needed in the world today. Most pastors preach about Jonah as an amazing story of a man who was swallowed by a whale. This is a big miracle, but the real miracle in Jonah is not the great fish but the repentance of a great city. That is where the real miracle lies. Being swallowed by a great fish and surviving is a big miracle. It is one of the most well known miracles in the Bible. But the greatest miracle in the book of Jonah is the repentance of an entire city. In today’s culture, people would never wear sackcloth and ashes, but genuine repentance still produces a change in a person’s heart and actions. For example, someone who repents today might make restitution to those he has wronged. Also, someone who repents might make a radical change in the way he or she acts. An alcoholic might stop drinking. A sex addict might make a commitment to stay away from sexual encounters. A person who uses bad language might clean up his vocabulary. Repentance is more than saying a prayer, it involves a change in one’s actions.
Fifth, those who receive mercy should also give mercy. The Assyrians had been flexing their muscles and intimidating all their neighbors. Jonah probably knew people who had been killed or sold into slavery by the Assyrians. This is why Jonah is so resentful when God chooses to forgive the Ninevites. But, he forgets that God has shown mercy to him. In the first half of the book, God is merciful toward Jonah despite his disobedience and in the second half of the book, God is merciful to the entire city of Nineveh. Jonah is happy to receive mercy but resentful when mercy is given to another group who clearly deserves to be punished. Jonah’s motto might be, “Mercy for me, but not for thee.” When Jonah refuses to go preach in Nineveh and God retrieves him and mercifully delivers him, Jonah is thankful. Yet when Jonah preaches in Nineveh and the people repent and are mercifully spared, Jonah is angry. [21] It should have been easier for one who had received mercy to extend mercy to others. In like manner, the evangelist should extend mercy, forgiveness, and grace when he or she preaches. Every evangelist is simply a sinner saved by grace. It is good to remember this fact from time to time.
Sixth, the story of Jonah has another lesson for the evangelist but one must look in the New Testament to find it. Jesus said, “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection, the story that should be at the center of every evangelist’s messages. Preaching about Jonah can actually serve as a segue into preaching about Jesus.
Jonah is a missionary / evangelist but his story is more an example of what not to do as an evangelist. At the beginning of the story, Jonah runs away from the people God has called him to preach to. Later, Jonah preaches a message of destruction and condemnation to the people of Nineveh. He never imagined that God could actually forgive the evil Ninevites. Finally, Jonah becomes resentful when God does forgive the Ninevites. In contrast to Jonah, the evangelist today should joyfully go where God sends him, preach a message of forgiveness, and rejoice when people are saved.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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[1] Clendenen, E. R. (2003). Jonah, Book Of. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, & T. C. Butler, Eds.)Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Clendenen, E. R. (2003). Jonah, Book Of. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, & T. C. Butler, Eds.)Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Payne, D. F. (1996). Jonah. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[4] Clendenen, E. R. (2003). Jonah. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, & T. C. Butler, Eds.)Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Jon). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[6] Payne, D. F. (1996). Jonah. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[7] Negev, A. (1990). In The Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York: Prentice Hall Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[8] Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary. San Francisco: Harper & Row. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[9] Payne, D. F. (1996). Jonah, Book Of. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[10] Payne, D. F. (1996). Jonah, Book Of. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[11] Payne, D. F. (1996). Jonah, Book Of. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[12] Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 257). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[13] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Jon 3:3). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[14] Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, pp. 257–258). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[15] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 498 הָלַך. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[16] Browning, D. C., Jr. (2003). Assyria. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler, Eds.)Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[17] Wilson, M. R. (1999). 1344 נָחַם. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[18] Wilson, M. R. (1999). 1344 נָחַם. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[19] Wilson, M. R. (1999). 1344 נָחַם. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press. n.p., Logos Bible Software Version 5.2 2014.
[20] Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
[21] Clendenen, E. R. (2003). Jonah, Book Of. In (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, & T. C. Butler, Eds.) Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
