Jonah

Part One: Introduction to Jonah

The Prophet

Jonah, whose name means "dove," was "the son of Amittai" (1:1) from Gath-hepher in the territory of Zebulun (2 Kings 14:25; Joshua 19:13), a village in Galilee only a few miles from Nazareth. He prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 BC), when he foretold that Israel's borders would be restored, "according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet" (2 Kings 14:25). That prophecy came true. Jonah was a popular, patriotic prophet in a prosperous time, a contemporary of Amos and Hosea, ministering around 780-760 BC.

A Different Kind of Prophetic Book

Unlike the other prophetic books, Jonah is mainly a story about the prophet, not a collection of his sermons. His entire recorded message to Nineveh is a single sentence: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (3:4). The book reveals God's heart through Jonah's experience and through his resistance. It is also the only book of the Bible that ends with a question, a question God asks Jonah and every reader (4:11).

Was Jonah a Real Person, and Did This Really Happen?

Some treat the book as a parable or legend because of the great fish. But Scripture presents Jonah as a historical prophet (2 Kings 14:25), and Jesus treated the events of the book as real history. He compared His own death, burial and resurrection to Jonah's three days in the fish, and said that "the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas" (Matthew 12:40-41). Real people who did not exist could not rise in judgment. The book itself presents the fish as a miracle that God "prepared" (1:17). For those who believe in the God who raised Jesus from the dead, there is no difficulty in believing that He preserved Jonah.

Nineveh and Assyria

Nineveh, on the east bank of the Tigris River (opposite modern Mosul in Iraq), was one of the great cities of Assyria, founded long before by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11-12). It is called "that great city" four times (1:2; 3:2; 4:11) and "an exceeding great city of three days' journey" (3:3), which may refer to the size of the greater city district or to the time needed to preach throughout it. Assyria was the most feared empire of the age, notorious for its cruelty to conquered peoples: impaling, flaying and mass deportation. Within a few decades it would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel (722 BC). It is no surprise that a patriotic Israelite prophet did not want God to show it mercy.

Assyrian records show that during this period the empire was weakened by revolts, plague outbreaks (around 765 and 759 BC), and a total eclipse of the sun (763 BC), which was considered an ill omen. Some have suggested that these events may have prepared the city to listen to a foreign prophet's warning, though the Bible itself attributes their repentance to God's word.

Purpose and Theme

Jonah reveals the wideness of God's mercy. God cares not only for Israel but for all nations, even Israel's worst enemies. He is "a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (4:2), ready to forgive any who repent. The book also exposes the sin of a narrow, self-centred heart in God's own servant, who wanted grace for himself but judgment for his enemies. It shows God's sovereignty over nature and nations, His patience with a disobedient prophet, and the power of repentance.

Salvation is of the LORD.

Jonah 2:9

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah 4:11

What God "Prepared"

God's sovereign control runs through the book. He sent or "prepared" each element of nature to accomplish His purpose:

Everything in creation obeyed God: the wind, the sea, the fish, the plant, the worm and the pagan sailors and Ninevites. Only the prophet of God resisted.

Outline of Jonah

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Chapter 1 — Running from God

The Call and the Flight (1:1-3)

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Jonah 1:1-2

God sees the wickedness of every nation, not only Israel's (Genesis 18:20-21). But Jonah did the opposite of what God said:

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 1:3

Nineveh lay about 500 miles to the east; Tarshish, probably Tartessus in Spain, lay over 2,000 miles to the west, the far end of the known world. Jonah was not ignorant of God's omnipresence (he confesses God made the sea and the dry land, 1:9); he was trying to escape God's service and call (compare Psalm 139:7-10). Notice his path: he "went down" to Joppa, "went down" into the ship, went "down into the sides of the ship" (1:5), and finally "went down to the bottoms of the mountains" (2:6). Running from God is always a downward path. And disobedience has a cost: "he paid the fare thereof."

The Storm (1:4-10)

"But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken" (1:4). The pagan sailors, experienced men, were terrified; "every man cried unto his god," and they threw the cargo overboard (1:5). Meanwhile Jonah was "fast asleep" in the hold (1:5). The captain woke him: "What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not" (1:6). The pagans were praying; the prophet was sleeping. The sailors cast lots to find the cause, "and the lot fell upon Jonah" (1:7; Proverbs 16:33). Questioned, he confessed:

I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

Jonah 1:9

The irony is sharp: he claimed to fear the God who made the sea while fleeing from Him across it. "Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this?" (1:10). Disobedient believers bring trouble not only on themselves but on those around them.

Jonah Cast into the Sea (1:11-16)

As the sea grew rougher, Jonah said, "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you" (1:12). The sailors showed more compassion than Jonah had for Nineveh: they "rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not" (1:13). Then they prayed to the LORD: "We beseech thee, O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee" (1:14). "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging" (1:15).

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Jonah 1:16

Even through Jonah's disobedience, God brought pagan sailors to fear and worship Him. They moved from crying "every man unto his god" (1:5) to calling on "the LORD" (1:14) and offering Him sacrifices. God's purpose to save the nations cannot be stopped by His servant's reluctance.

The Great Fish (1:17)

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17

The fish was not God's punishment but His rescue. Jonah expected to drown; God preserved him. Jesus called this "the sign of the prophet Jonas" and applied it to His own death and resurrection (Matthew 12:39-40).

Chapter 2 — Praying to God

Jonah's Prayer from the Fish (2:1-9)

"Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly" (2:1). His prayer is full of phrases from the Psalms, showing a mind steeped in Scripture:

I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

Jonah 2:2-3

(Compare Psalm 120:1; 18:4-6; 42:7.) "Hell" here is Sheol, the realm of the dead; Jonah felt he was as good as dead. "Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple" (2:4; Psalm 31:22). He describes sinking through the waters, seaweed wrapped around his head (2:5), down "to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God" (2:6).

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

Jonah 2:7-9

Those who cling to worthless idols give up the mercy that could be theirs. Jonah now praised God and promised to keep his vows. His conclusion is one of the great statements of Scripture: "Salvation is of the LORD." Salvation is God's work from beginning to end, not man's achievement (Psalm 3:8; Ephesians 2:8-9). The name Jesus means "the LORD is salvation."

Notice that Jonah gave thanks before he was delivered from the fish. Faith praises God for His promised deliverance even before it arrives.

Delivered (2:10)

"And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land" (2:10). The fish obeyed God's word instantly.

Chapter 3 — Running with God

The Second Call (3:1-4)

And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

Jonah 3:1-2

God is the God of the second chance. He did not abandon His disobedient servant but recommissioned him (compare Peter after his denial, John 21:15-19). The message was the same; Jonah's response was different: "So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD" (3:3). He was told to preach only "the preaching that I bid thee": the messenger must deliver God's message, not his own. Entering the city a day's journey, he cried:

Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Jonah 3:4

Five Hebrew words, with no mention of mercy, yet God used them powerfully. Forty is often a number of testing in Scripture (the flood, Israel in the wilderness, Jesus' temptation).

Nineveh Repents (3:5-9)

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jonah 3:5

It is one of the greatest revivals in history. The people "believed God": their repentance began with faith. The king heard, rose from his throne, removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes (3:6). He decreed that neither man nor beast should eat or drink, that all should be covered in sackcloth, "and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands" (3:7-8). Their repentance was practical: they turned from violence, the very sin for which Assyria was infamous. "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" (3:9; compare Joel 2:14). They had no promise, only hope in God's character.

God Relents (3:10)

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Jonah 3:10

God "repented" means He relented from the judgment He had threatened. This does not mean God changed His character or made a mistake. His warnings of judgment carry an unspoken condition: "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation... to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them" (Jeremiah 18:7-8). God's unchanging character is to show mercy to the repentant (Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11).

Chapter 4 — Angry with God

Jonah's Anger (4:1-4)

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

Jonah 4:1

God's greatest mercy made His prophet furious. Then Jonah revealed why he had run away in the first place:

And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

Jonah 4:2

Jonah quoted God's own self-revelation to Moses (Exodus 34:6) as a complaint. He fled not because he feared Nineveh but because he feared God would forgive Nineveh. He wanted mercy for Israel and for himself (he had just been rescued from the fish!) but not for his enemies. "Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live" (4:3), echoing Elijah's despair (1 Kings 19:4). God answered gently with a question: "Doest thou well to be angry?" (4:4).

The Gourd, the Worm and the Wind (4:5-9)

Jonah went out east of the city, built a shelter, and sat to see what would happen, perhaps hoping God would still destroy it (4:5). "And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd" (4:6). The only time Jonah is said to be glad in the whole book is over his own comfort. The next morning "God prepared a worm," which destroyed the plant (4:7), and then "a vehement east wind," and the sun beat on Jonah's head until he fainted and again wished to die (4:8). God asked, "Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?" Jonah answered, "I do well to be angry, even unto death" (4:9).

God's Final Question (4:10-11)

Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah 4:10-11

Jonah cared more about a plant that gave him shade than about 120,000 people, possibly the city's young children, who could not tell right from left, or the whole population in their moral ignorance. God cares even for the animals. If Jonah grieved over a plant he had not made, how much more should God, the Creator, care for the people He made?

The book ends with God's question unanswered. We do not know how Jonah responded. The question is left for every reader: Do you share God's compassion for the lost, even for your enemies?

Part Three: Christ in Jonah

The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

When the religious leaders demanded a sign, Jesus answered:

An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Matthew 12:39-41

Jonah's "death" in the sea and return to life after three days pictured Christ's death, burial and resurrection. (In Jewish reckoning, any part of a day counted as a day; Jesus was in the tomb part of Friday, all of Saturday and part of Sunday, "the third day," Matthew 16:21; 1 Corinthians 15:4.) The resurrection is the great sign that validates Christ's claims (Romans 1:4). And if Nineveh repented at Jonah's brief warning, how much more should people repent at the message of Christ, "a greater than Jonas."

Jonah and Jesus Compared

Peter, Son of Jonah, at Joppa

Jonah fled from God's call to the Gentiles from the port of Joppa (1:3). Eight centuries later, at the same city of Joppa, the apostle Peter, called "Simon Bar-jona" ("son of Jonah," Matthew 16:17), received a vision teaching him that God was opening the door of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 10:5-48). Peter at first resisted, but then obeyed and went to the Gentile household of Cornelius. The church concluded, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18), the very lesson Jonah resisted learning.

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies and Signs

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Jonah 1:3 — Running from God

No one can truly escape God's presence (Psalm 139:7-12), but we can try to run from His will. Disobedience always costs ("he paid the fare"), always takes us down, and often brings storms on others. Yet God pursues His runaway servants in love.

Jonah 1:4-16 — The Witness of a Disobedient Believer

The pagan sailors prayed while the prophet slept. They showed more concern for Jonah's life than he showed for Nineveh. Yet when Jonah finally confessed the truth about God, they came to fear and worship Him. God can work even through flawed servants, but the disobedient believer's witness is often an embarrassment.

Jonah 2:9 — Salvation Is of the LORD

This is the theme of the book and of the whole Bible. Jonah could not save himself from the sea; Nineveh could not save itself from judgment; the sailors could not save themselves from the storm. God alone saves, and He saves whom He will, even the most unlikely people (Titus 3:5).

Jonah 3:1-2 — The God of the Second Chance

God gave Jonah a second opportunity to obey. Failure need not be final. Moses, David, Peter and John Mark all received second chances. But the second chance is a call to obey this time.

Jonah 3:5-10 — True Repentance

Nineveh's repentance shows its marks: believing God's word, humbling themselves, crying out to Him, and turning from their evil ways and violence. God responded to their changed lives with mercy. Repentance is not just sorrow, but turning (Acts 26:20).

Jonah 4:1-11 — The Heart of God and the Heart of His Servant

Jonah knew God's character perfectly well and still resented it. He loved mercy for himself and judgment for his enemies. God's patient questions expose every heart that cares more about personal comfort than the eternal destiny of people. God's compassion reaches to the ignorant, the wicked and even the animals. The unanswered question invites every reader to align his heart with God's.

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Jonah

1. God's Sovereignty over Creation

Wind, sea, fish, plant, worm and sun all obey Him (1:4, 17; 2:10; 4:6-8).

2. God's Compassion for All Nations

God cares for Gentiles as well as Israel, even for Israel's enemies (4:11; Genesis 12:3).

3. Salvation Is God's Work

"Salvation is of the LORD" (2:9).

4. The Futility of Running from God

No one can escape His presence or His purposes (1:3-4; Psalm 139:7-10).

5. God's Discipline and Restoration of His Servants

God pursued, disciplined and restored His disobedient prophet (1-3).

6. The Power of Repentance

God responds to genuine repentance with mercy (3:10; Jeremiah 18:7-8).

7. God's Unchanging Character

He is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abundant in kindness (4:2; Exodus 34:6).

8. The Danger of a Narrow, Selfish Heart

God's servants can resent His grace toward others (4:1-3; Luke 15:25-32).

9. The Value of Every Soul

God values every person, and even the animals He created (4:11).

10. The Sign of Resurrection

Jonah's deliverance points to the death and resurrection of Christ (Matthew 12:40).

Part Seven: Connections — How Jonah Links to the Rest of the Bible

Jonah in the New Testament

Jonah in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Jonah Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• You cannot outrun God (1:3).
• Disobedience always costs, and always leads down (1:3, 5; 2:6).
• Your disobedience can bring storms on others (1:4, 12).
• Don't sleep while others perish (1:5-6).
• Live consistently with what you confess about God (1:9).
• God can bring good even out of His servants' failures (1:16).
• Pray from the depths; God hears (2:1-2).
• Remember the LORD when your soul faints (2:7).
• Idols rob you of God's mercy (2:8).
• Give thanks before the deliverance comes (2:9).
• Salvation is God's work, not yours (2:9).
• Accept God's second chance and obey (3:1-3).
• Preach the message God gives, not your own (3:2).
• No one is beyond the reach of repentance (3:5-10).
• Repentance means turning from evil (3:8, 10).
• Rejoice when God shows mercy to others (4:1).
• Examine whether your anger is justified (4:4, 9).
• Care more for people than for your own comfort (4:10-11).
• Share God's compassion for the lost, even your enemies (4:11; Matthew 5:44).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Jonah is the story of a prophet who ran from God and a God who would not let him go. Called to warn the cruel city of Nineveh, Jonah fled the other way because he knew God was gracious and might forgive his enemies. God sent a storm, and pagan sailors came to fear the LORD; He prepared a great fish, and from its belly Jonah learned that "Salvation is of the LORD." Given a second chance, Jonah preached a single sentence, and the whole city, from king to beggar, believed God and turned from violence, and God spared them. But the prophet sat angry outside the city, more upset over a withered plant than over 120,000 souls, and the book ends with God's question still hanging in the air. Jesus took up this story as the sign of His own death and resurrection: as Jonah was three days in the fish, so the Son of man would be three days in the heart of the earth. A greater than Jonah has come, not running from the lost but running toward them, not angry at mercy but dying to provide it, and calling every nation to repent and believe.

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah 4:11