- Also spelled:
- Jonas
Book of Jonah
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What is the Book of Jonah?
The Book of Jonah, found in the Old Testament among the Minor Prophets, stands out as a narrative rather than a collection of prophetic oracles. The book tells the story of Jonah, son of Amittai, who is called by God to prophesy against the wicked city of Nineveh but attempts to flee this command.
Embarking on a ship to Tarshish, Jonah faces a severe storm and is thrown overboard, subsequently swallowed by a great fish. After three days and nights in the fish's belly, he prays for deliverance and is vomited onto dry land. Obeying God's renewed command, Jonah preaches repentance in Nineveh, leading to the city's salvation. The book emphasizes God's universal mercy, extending even to foreign nations, and chastises the narrow Jewish nationalism of the time.
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Who is the main character in the Book of Jonah?
The main character in the Book of Jonah is Jonah, the son of Amittai. The Book of Jonah is a narrative about Jonah, a reluctant prophet who runs from God's summons to prophesy against Nineveh's wickedness. He boards a ship to escape God, but a severe storm arises. Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish, where he stays for three days and nights. After being vomited out, Jonah prophesies against Nineveh, leading the city to repent. God then uses a plant and its destruction to teach Jonah about divine compassion.
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Why did Jonah try to run away from God?
Jonah, a prophet in the Old Testament, attempted to evade God's command to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, a major Assyrian city, because he did not think they deserved salvation. Jonah felt as though the Assyrians deserved God's wrath. This reluctance stemmed from the contemporary Hebrew nationalism, where extending grace to non-Jewish people, especially Assyrians, was unconventional. Instead, Jonah boarded a ship to Tarshish, going in the opposite direction. Ultimately, the Book of Jonah emphasizes God's universal mercy, even towards those considered enemies.
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What happened to Jonah after he tried to escape?
After Jonah tried to escape God's command to preach repentance to Nineveh, he boarded a ship, but a severe storm arose. The sailors, realizing Jonah was the cause, threw him overboard, and the storm subsided.
A "great fish" swallowed Jonah, and he spent three days and nights in its belly, praying for deliverance. God then commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah finally went to Nineveh and successfully preached repentance, leading the king and all the inhabitants to repent. Angered by God's mercy, Jonah awaited the city's destruction, but God instead rebuked him for his lack of compassion.
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How did the people of Nineveh react to Jonah's message?
Upon hearing Jonah's warning, the king and the people of Nineveh repented, and God did not punish them. Jonah's preaching was successful, which did not please him because he felt that the Assyrians deserved Godâs wrath. Jonah was angry with God for the mercy shown to the Ninevites and fled the city to see if God would perhaps still destroy it. The author likely used the memory of the hated Assyrians to proclaim the mission of Israelâto teach all nations about the mercy and forgiveness of God.
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What lessons or themes can be learned from the Book of Jonah?
The Book of Jonah, from the Old Testament, carries themes of mercy and forgiveness. The story revolves around Jonah, who is ordered by God to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, but he resists because he believes they are undeserving of salvation.
Despite Jonah's reluctance, he eventually goes to Nineveh, and the people repent, leading God to spare the city. Jonah then becomes angry, but God uses a plant and a worm to teach him a lesson about compassion. The book ultimately illustrates that God's mercy extends to all, even those considered enemies, and highlights the importance of universal love and compassion.
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Book of Jonah, the fifth of 12 Old Testament books that bear the names of the Minor Prophets, embraced in a single book, The Twelve, in the Hebrew Bible. Unlike other Old Testament prophetic books, Jonah is not a collection of the prophetâs oracles but primarily a narrative about the man.
Jonah is portrayed as a recalcitrant prophet who flees from Godâs summons to prophesy against the wickedness of the city of Nineveh. According to the opening verse, Jonah is the son of Amittai. This lineage identifies him with the Jonah mentioned in II Kings 14:25 who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, about 785 bce. It is possible that some of the traditional materials taken over by the book were associated with Jonah at an early date, but the book in its present form reflects a much later composition. It was written after the Babylonian Exile (6th century bce), probably in the 5th or 4th century and certainly no later than the 3rd, since Jonah is listed among the Minor Prophets in the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, composed about 190. Like the Book of Ruth, which was written at about the same period, it opposes the narrow Jewish nationalism characteristic of the period following the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah with their emphasis on Jewish exclusivity. Thus the prophet Jonah, like the Jews of the day, abhors even the idea of salvation for the Gentiles. God chastises him for his attitude, and the book affirms that Godâs mercy extends even to the inhabitants of a hated foreign city. The incident of the great fish, recalling Leviathan, the monster of the deep used elsewhere in the Old Testament as the embodiment of evil, symbolizes the nationâs exile and return.
As the story is related in the Book of Jonah, the prophet Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh (a great Assyrian city) and prophesy disaster because of the cityâs excessive wickedness. Jonah, in the story, feels about Nineveh as does the author of the Book of Nahumâthat the city must inevitably fall because of Godâs judgment against it. Thus Jonah does not want to prophesy, because Nineveh might repent and thereby be saved. So he rushes down to Joppa and takes passage in a ship that will carry him in the opposite direction, thinking to escape God. A storm of unprecedented severity strikes the ship, and in spite of all that the master and crew can do, it shows signs of breaking up and foundering. Lots are cast, and Jonah confesses that it is his presence on board that is causing the storm. At his request, he is thrown overboard, and the storm subsides.
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A âgreat fish,â appointed by God, swallows Jonah, and he stays within the fishâs maw for three days and nights. He prays for deliverance and is âvomited outâ on dry land (ch. 2). Again the command is heard, âArise, go to Nineveh.â Jonah goes to Nineveh and prophesies against the city, causing the King and all the inhabitants to repent.
Jonah then becomes angry. Hoping for disaster, he sits outside the city to await its destruction. A plant springs up overnight, providing him welcome shelter from the heat, but it is destroyed by a great worm. Jonah is bitter at the destruction of the plant, but God speaks and thrusts home the final point of the story: âYou pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?â (ch. 4).
Jonah has been the subject of works by such artists as John Bernard Flannagan and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Chapter nine of Herman Melvilleâs Moby Dick is a sermon and hymn about Jonah.