'n Eksegeties-hermeneutiese ondersoek van die Jonagegewens in Mattheus 12:38ev

Abstract

The  New  Testament  interpretation  of  the  "sign  of Jonah"  (Math  i2:38jJ)
cannot be  applied as  a  criterion  to  legitimate  the  historical authenticity  of
the  story  about  Jonah  and  the  great  fish  in  the  Old  Testament.  it  is,
however,  possible  to  recognise  the  authority  of  Jesus'  citation  in Matthew
i2:38ff  and simultaneously quash  the  historical authenticity of  the  evidence
about Jonah  and  the  great fish.  Matthew  created a  new  authoritative  text
with  an  exegitical method  inherent  in  his  own  context  and  never  tried  to
verify the historical authenticity of  the  evidence about Jonah  and the  "three
days  and  three  nights"  in  the  belly  of  the fish.  Matthew  i2:38ff as well as
the  story  about Jonah  in  The  Book of  Jonah  should  each  be  expounded  in
its own historical,  literary and theological context.