76 BRENT A. STRAWN Just as the foreigners know how to repent and fast, Israelite-style, in chapter 3, so also they know how to divine and pray, equally Israelite-style, in chapter 1. Both presentations put the reluctant prophet to shame. Moreover, the fact that the Hebrew Bible not infrequently involves religious officials, including prophetic figures in the casting of lots (see, e.g., Lev 16,8-10; Josh 14,1-2; 21:1-4; 1 Sam 10,20-24; Neh 10,35; 1 Chronicles 24-26; cf. Luke 1,9), adds yet more support to seeing in 1,7 the narrator’s sympathetic presentation of the sailors but negative portrayal of Jonah 33. So it comes as no real surprise that the sailors’ right(eous)ly- conducted lot casting reveals the problem person in question: the runaway prophet himself! Candler School of Theology Brent A. STRAWN Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A. SUMMARY Several considerations suggest that the sailors’ lot casting in Jonah 1 is unusual and meant to be both surprising and literarily delightful. The most important of these is the correspondence between the sailors and the Ninevites within the book’s rhetorical structure. This correspondence suggests that the sailors’ lot casting is a particularly Israelite practice with the sailors themselves appearing as adepts in Israelite ritual activity. That depiction corresponds to the Ninevites’ ability to know precisely how to repent in chapter 3. In both cases, the foreigners are portrayed in particularly pious ways in contrast to the reluctant prophet. Cf. ARNOLD, “Necromancy and Cleromancy”, esp. 207-213, on how 33 cleromancy is used in 1 and 2 Samuel to characterize David’s desire to seek God’s guidance in contrast to Saul, who is “forced to rely on his own instincts and intuition such as they are” (210). ARNOLD goes on to write: “The contrast is one between legitimate Yhwh-prophecy, on the one hand, and illegitimate magical ritual on the other. Saul turns to the illegitimate use of magic as a means of seeking guidance because he has closed his eyes to the prophetic word ” (211). With reference to Jonah 1 proper, see LICHTERT, “Par terre et par mer ! ”, 23; and J. HAUSMANN, “Wer ist wahrhaft gottesfürchtig? Jona 1 und sein Beitrag zur Diskussion um das Problem Israel und die Völker”, Von Gott reden. Beiträge zur Theologie und Exegese des Alten Testaments. Festschrift f ü r Siegfried Wagner zum 65. Geburtstag (eds. D. V I E W E G E R – E.- J. WASCHKE) (Neukirchen – Vluyn 1995) 105-116.