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The Book of Jonah is a book in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh.
The book gives an account of the prophet Jonah and the well-known story in which God tells Jonah to prophesy to the people of Nineveh to persuade it to repent or face destruction. Jonah attempts to run the other direction, is thrown from a ship in a storm, swallowed by a giant fish, and transported to Nineveh. He decides to take the hint and preaches to the city. The population is so moved by the warning that there is a general call to fasting and repentance which satisfies God enough to spare the city from destruction. Jonah is angered by God's mercy until God rebukes him about the need for him to show mercy.
This book professes to give an account of what actually took place in the experience of the prophet. Some scholars interpret the book as a parable or allegory about God's mercy for all people, and not as a history. Many others see it as actual historical fact.
It is traditionally believed that the book was written by Jonah himself. It gives an account of
- his divine commission to go to Nineveh, his disobedience, and the punishment following (1:1-17);
- his prayer and miraculous deliverance (1:17-2:10);
- the second commission given to him, and his prompt obedience in delivering the message from God, and its results in the repentance of the Ninevites, and God's long-sparing mercy toward them (ch. 3);
- Jonah's displeasure at God's merciful decision, and the rebuke tendered to the impatient prophet (ch. 4).
Nineveh was spared after Jonah's mission for more than a century.
The story also in appears in the Qur'an, wherein Jonah is called Yunus (see Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an).
An interesting note of trivia is that Jonah is the only book in the Bible that does not mention wine.
Popular understanding of the story of Jonah holds that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and as a result the story has been ridiculed because this is generally considered to be impossible. This is not what the story states, however, but mentions that he was swallowed by “a great fish” which is an accurate translation of the Hebrew dag gadol.
The story of Jonah (abridged)
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the LORD” (1:1-3)
To escape God’s command, he boarded a boat on its way across the Mediteranean to Spain, on the other side of the known world.
A storm threatened to destroy the vessel, when Jonah instructed the others on board to throw him overboard as a way to save them from sinking. Reluctantly, they took his advice and threw him into the sea, thereby saving their lives.
“But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” (1:17)
“And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (2:10)
“Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh… (3:3)
On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.’” (3:4)
When the people of Ninevah repented in response to Jonah’s prophecy, God “had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened” (3:10).
“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.” (4:1)
Jonah complained to God that he had always known that God would forgive the people when they repented. Jonah had wanted them destroyed, and was so upset that he wanted to die.
“But the LORD replied, ‘Have you any right to be angry?’” (4:4)
“…Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (4:11)
External links
- Jonah, from The Holy Bible, Revised Standard version (at the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library)
- Study notes on the Book of Jonah Dr Tim Bulkeley
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)