Jonah יוֹנָה
Prophet swallowed by fish, preached to Nineveh
Who is Jonah in the Bible?
Jonah was a prophet from Gath-hepher during the reign of Jeroboam II who is best known for his account in the Book of Jonah (1:1-4:11). God commanded him to preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, but Jonah fled in the opposite direction by ship, resulting in a great storm that led the sailors to throw him overboard (1:3-15). God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, where he remained for three days and nights before being vomited onto dry land (1:17, 2:10). After preaching to Nineveh, Jonah witnessed the city's repentance and God's merciful decision to spare it, which made Jonah angry at God's compassion (3:1-4:3). Jonah's story serves as a powerful narrative about God's mercy toward all nations and a lesson on obedience, divine grace, and the limits of human judgment.
Biography
Jonah was a prophet from Gath-hepher during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel (2Ki.14.25). God called Jonah to preach against the wickedness of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (Jon.1.1-2). Jonah fled by ship in the opposite direction to Tarshish (Jon.1.3). A storm arose and the sailors, discovering it was Jonah's fault, threw him overboard (Jon.1.4-15). God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in its belly for three days and nights (Jon.1.17). Jonah prayed, and the fish vomited him onto dry land (Jon.2.1-10). God again told Jonah to preach to Nineveh (Jon.3.1-2). Jonah obeyed, and the people repented (Jon.3.3-9). God relented of the disaster he had threatened (Jon.3.10). Jonah was angry that God spared the city (Jon.4.1-3). God caused a plant to shade Jonah, then made it wither (Jon.4.5-8). God used this to rebuke Jonah's lack of pity for Nineveh (Jon.4.9-11). Jesus compared his future burial and resurrection to Jonah's time in the fish (Mat.12.39-41, 16:4; Luk.11.29-32).
Family
In Scripture
4 biblical books ; 2 with study content2 Kings 1 verse
- 2 Kings 14:25
"This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher."
Jonah 5 verses
- Jonah 1:1
"Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,"
- Jonah 1:3
"Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD."
- Jonah 1:5
"The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep."
- Jonah 1:7
"“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah."
- Jonah 1:15
"Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm."
Matthew 4 verses
- Matthew 12:39
"Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."
Study Matthew → - Matthew 12:40
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Study Matthew → - Matthew 12:41
"The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here."
Study Matthew → - Matthew 16:4
"A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away."
Study Matthew →
Luke 3 verses
- Luke 11:29
"As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah."
Study Luke → - Luke 11:30
"For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation."
Study Luke → - Luke 11:32
"The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here."
Study Luke →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | יוֹנָה | — | — |
| Greek | Greek | Ἰωνᾶς | Iōnâs | Jonas (i.e. Jonah), the name of two Israelites |
Jonah
f Israel to its ancient boundaries through the efforts of Jeroboam II. The prophet lived and labored either in the early part of the reign of Jeroboam (790-750 BC), or during the preceding generation. He may with great probability be placed at 800-780 BC. His early ministry must have made him popular in Israel; for he prophesied of victory and expansion of territory. His native village of Gath-hepher was located in the territory of Zebulun (Jos 19:13).
(2) According to the book bearing his name, Jonah the son of Amittai received a command to preach to Nineveh; but he fled in the opposite direction to escape from the task of proclaiming Yahweh's message to the great heathen city; was arrested by a storm, and at his own request was hurled into the sea, where he was swallowed by a great fish, remaining alive in the belly of the fish for three days. When on his release from the body of the fish the command to go to Nineveh was renewed, Jonah obeyed and announced the overthrow of the wicked city. When the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of the prophet, God repented of the evil He had threatened to bring upon them. Jonah was grieved that the oppressing city should be spared, and waited in the vicinity to see what would be the final outcome. An intense patriot, Jonah wished for the destruction of the people that threatened to swallow up Israel. He thought that Yahweh was too merciful to the heathen oppressors. By the lesson of the gourd he was taught the value of the heathen in the sight of Yahweh.
It is the fashion now in scholarly circles to treat the Book of Jonah as fiction. The story is said to be an allegory or a parable or a symbolic narrative. Why then did the author fasten upon a true and worthy prophet of Yahweh the stigma of rebellion and narrowness? On theory that the narrative is an allegory, J. Kennedy well says that "the man who wrote it was guilty of a gratuitous insult to the memory of a prophet, and could not have been inspired by the prophet's Master thus to dishonor a faithful servant."
(3) our Lord referred on two different occasions to the sign of Jonah the prophet (Mt 12:38-41; Lu 11:29-32; Mt 16:4). He speaks of Jonah's experience in the belly of the fish as parallel with His own approaching entombment for three days, and cites the repentance of the Ninevites as a rebuke to the unbelieving men of his own generation. Our Lord thus speaks both of the physical miracle of the preservation of Jonah in the body of the fish and of the moral miracle of the repentance of the Ninevites, and without the slightest hint that He regarded the story as an allegory.
John Richard Sampey
This little roll of four short chapters has given rise to almost as much discussion and difference of opinion as the first four chapters of Genesis. It would be presumptuous to think that one could, in a br