But this is also why Jesus is one greater than Jonah, and why Simon is “son of Jonah.”That was a great post, very enjoyable to read -- and a lot of interesting exposition on the equivalences between Jesus and Jonah and Peter and Jonah, particularly the latter part concerning Peter's Jonah-like mission to Jerusalem... but...
(And I just know that you're gonna sigh and smack your head against your keyboard)... it still doesn't say anything to contradict the International Bible Encyclopedia's observation that "Iona" may well be a contraction of "Ioannes".
I.E., if Bob's father generally goes by "Bill"; and Sam feels that, in reference to some point he is trying to make on Bob's behalf, he can drive the point home by using the formal "William"; that doesn't change the fact that "Bill" is just a contraction of "William". See what I mean?
"it still doesn't say anything to contradict the International Bible Encyclopedia's observation that "Iona" may well be a contraction of "Ioannes"."
Notice they use that all important word "MAY"!!
However, I would contend that they posit this solution because of sloppy scholarship - they have missed the significance of the typology of Jonah (many if not most scholars - Catholics included!- do miss the significance.)
I think the onus should be on the IBE to provide some grounds for their suggestion - e.g. point to one single instance in the whole bible where "Iona" and "Ioannes" are clearly used of the same person.
P.S. I haven't ignored the remainder of your earlier post - I am just trying to find if I have some resources that are easily locatable! ;)