Jonah

About this book

Jonah is a short story about a prophet who runs the wrong way. God sends him to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, a brutal empire that threatened Israel. Jonah boards a ship heading in the opposite direction, a storm strikes, and the sailors, who pray to their own gods, end up showing more reverence for the Lord than his prophet does. Thrown overboard, Jonah is swallowed by a great fish, prays from inside it, and is delivered. He finally preaches in Nineveh, and the whole city, from the king down, turns from violence. Then the story turns on Jonah himself, who is angry that God showed mercy. The book ends not with an answer but with a question from God, left open for the reader. Jewish tradition reads Jonah on the Day of Atonement. Christians have often read the three days in the fish as a sign pointing to Jesus. Some readers take the book as straight history, others as a carefully shaped parable; all agree on its point, that God's compassion reaches farther than ours.

Author

Not named in the book; tradition connects it with the prophet Jonah son of Amittai, mentioned in 2 Kings.

Date

The prophet lived in the eighth century BC; scholars differ on whether the book was written then or after the exile.

Audience

Israel, who needed to see that God cares about enemies too, and any reader tempted to hoard mercy.

Themes

Outline

1. 1:1–1:16Jonah flees and the storm comes
2. 1:17–2:10The great fish and Jonah's prayer
3. 3:1–3:10Nineveh hears and repents
4. 4:1–4:11Jonah's anger and God's question

Key verses