Editing Jonah (section)

====Post-Biblical views====
[[File:Jonah.jpg|thumb|left|[[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] [[icon]] of Jonah, 16th century ([[Iconostasis]] of [[Kizhi]] [[monastery]], [[Karelia]], Russia)]]
Other Christian interpreters, including [[Saint Augustine]] and [[Martin Luther]], have taken a directly opposite approach,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=23–25}} regarding Jonah as the epitome of envy and jealousness, which they regarded as inherent characteristics of the Jewish people.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=25}} Luther likewise concludes that the ''kikayon'' (plant) represents Judaism,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=23–24}} and that the worm which devours it represents Christ.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=24}} Luther also questioned the idea that the Book of Jonah was ever intended as literal history,{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=19}} commenting that he found it hard to believe that anyone would have interpreted it as such if it were not in the Bible.{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=19}} Luther's [[antisemitic]] interpretation of Jonah remained the prevailing interpretation among German Protestants throughout early modern history.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=24–26}} [[J. D. Michaelis]] comments that "the meaning of the fable hits you right between the eyes",{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=25}} 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."{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=25}} [[Albert Eichhorn]] was a strong supporter of Michaelis's interpretation.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=25–26}}

[[John Calvin]] and [[John Hooper (bishop)|John Hooper]] regarded the Book of Jonah as a warning to all those who might attempt to flee from the wrath of God.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=32–33}} While Luther had been careful to maintain that the Book of Jonah was not written by Jonah,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} Calvin declared that the Book of Jonah was Jonah's personal confession of guilt.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} 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.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=34–36}} Also, unlike Luther, Calvin finds fault with all the characters in the story,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} describing the sailors on the boat as "hard and iron-hearted, like [[Cyclopes|Cyclops']]",{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} the penitence of the Ninevites as "untrained",{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} and the king of Nineveh as a "novice".{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=33}} Hooper, on the other hand, sees Jonah as the [[archetype|archetypal]] [[dissident]]{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=39–40}} and the ship he is cast out from as a symbol of the state.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=39–40}} Hooper deplores such dissidents,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=39–40}} decrying: "Can you live quietly with so many Jonasses? Nay then, throw them into the sea!"{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=40}} In the eighteenth century, German professors were forbidden from teaching that the Book of Jonah was anything other than a literal, historical account.{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=19}}