�n Eksegeties-hermeneutiese ondersoek van die Jona-gegewens in Matteus 12:38ev

Abstract

An exegetic-hermeneutical research on the Jonah evidences in Matthew 12:38ff The New Testament interpretation of the �sign of Jonah� (Math 12:38ff) 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 12:38ff 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 12:38ff as well as the story about Jonah in The Book of Jonah should each be expounded in its own historical, literary and theological context.