Study Notes for Jonah
1:1–3 Jonah’s Commissioning and Flight. This episode records Jonah’s call to prophesy and his flight from that call. Two questions drive the plot: (1) What will happen to the Ninevites? and (2) What will happen to Jonah?
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:1 Son of Amittai means “son of my faithfulness.” Jonah will remain the object of God’s faithful love.
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:2 Nineveh was on the east bank of the Tigris River, more than 500 miles (805 km) northeast of Israel. Great is used 14 times in Jonah. Nineveh was an important city (see 3:3). evil. The Ninevites were evil, and they were headed for disaster (see esv footnote).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:3 Tarshish was somewhere in the western Mediterranean—the opposite direction from Nineveh. From the presence of the LORD is repeated to emphasize Jonah’s reason for going to Tarshish. Went down is also a euphemism for death (e.g., Gen. 37:35). Each step away from the presence of the Lord is one step closer to “going down” to death.
FACT
Tarshish was probably a city on the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea, which would have represented the very western edge of the known world in Jonah’s time. Jonah foolishly thought this far-off land would take him “away from the presence of the LORD” (1:3).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:4–16 Jonah and the Pagan Sailors. These verses tell of Jonah’s encounter with pagan sailors. It raises the question, Who truly fears the Lord—Jonah, or the pagans? At the beginning and end the sailors “fear” (vv. 5, 16); in the middle Jonah claims to “fear” the Lord (v. 9) while the sailors actually fear (v. 10a).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:6 Arise, call out echoes God’s command in v. 2. not perish. A pagan, not Jonah, is concerned that people not die.
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:9–10 made the sea. God created the very seas Jonah tries to use to flee. Jonah knows now that he cannot escape God’s presence (v. 3).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:15 The sailors’ actions are in harmony with God’s. As God had hurled the wind onto the sea (vv. 4–5) to start the storm, the sailors now hurl Jonah into the sea to stop the storm (v. 12).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:16 feared the LORD exceedingly. What started as a general fear (v. 5) grew into an intense fear (v. 10) and matured into the fear—that is, the reverent worship—of the Lord (v. 16).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:17–2:10 Jonah’s Grateful Prayer. Jonah’s prayer (2:2b–9) is framed by an introduction (1:17–2:2a) and a conclusion (2:10).
JONAH—NOTE ON 1:17 appointed. This is the first of four uses of “appoint” that highlight God’s sovereign control over creation (compare 4:6–8). Fish is a general word for a sea creature, which cannot be identified further. However, a large whale such as a sperm whale could easily swallow a man whole. three days and three nights. This likely describes the actual number of days, or parts of three days (compare 1 Sam. 30:12; 2 Kings 20:5, 8). The number three has associations with return from death or near-death. Perhaps this is why Jesus compared the time between his own death and resurrection to Jonah’s time in the fish (Matt. 12:40).
JONAH—NOTE ON 2:1 Finally, Jonah prayed. He did not pray for God to save the pagan sailors, but he did thank God for saving him.
JONAH—NOTE ON 2:2 Sheol refers to the realm of the dead. Jonah did not literally pray from Sheol but describes his near-death experience (see Ps. 30:2–3).
JONAH—NOTE ON 2:3–4 you cast me. Jonah knew that God was working sovereignly through the sailors (1:15).
JONAH—NOTE ON 2:6 you brought. Jonah’s salvation was by grace alone.
JONAH—NOTE ON 2:8–9 Salvation belongs to the LORD. Jonah knows that God is the sovereign source of salvation (see 4:1–4).
3:1–3a Jonah’s Recommissioning and Compliance. The fourth episode parallels 1:1–3 and focuses on the question, “What will happen to the Ninevites?” (see note on 1:1–3).
FACT
Nineveh was located along the Tigris River, across from what is now the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. Its location at the intersection of important trade routes made it strong and wealthy.
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:1–2 The second time underscores God’s determination to get his message to the Ninevites and to use Jonah to take it to them.
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:3b–10 Jonah and the Pagan Ninevites. The fifth episode parallels the second (1:4–16) and focuses on how the pagan Ninevites, just like the pagan sailors, respond to God’s word. The structure follows the pattern of repentance found elsewhere in the OT: (1) message of divine judgment (3:3a–5); (2) account of human repenting (vv. 6–9); and (3) record of divine relenting (v. 10). Compare 1 Sam. 7:3–14; Joel 1–2.
The City of Nineveh
Nineveh, which was situated at the confluence of the Tigris and Khoser rivers (modern-day Mosul, Iraq), was first settled in the seventh millennium B.C. According to the Bible, Nimrod was the founder of the city (Gen. 10:11). Major excavations took place under the direction of Henry Layard from 1845 to 1854. The diagram pictures the results of those excavations, especially as they reflect the period of the Assyrian Empire (1420–609 B.C.). Around 1000 B.C. there occurred a great revival of Assyrian power, and Nineveh became a royal city. It was a thriving city during the first half of the first millennium, and contained such luxuries as public squares, parks, botanical gardens, and even a zoo. One of the great archaeological finds of the period is the library of King Ashurbanipal (669–627 B.C.; called Osnappar in Ezra 4:10). The size of the city was approximately 1,850 acres. The book of Jonah reflects the flourishing nature of Nineveh at this time (3:1–5). Nineveh eventually fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 B.C. The invading armies dammed the rivers that supplied water to the city, causing a flood that broke through one of the perimeter walls, giving the foreign armies access to the city.
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:3b an exceedingly great city (see 1:2; 3:2; compare esv footnote, “a great city to God”). Nineveh is important to God and will receive his great compassion. three days’ journey in breadth. The phrase may refer to the time it would take Jonah to walk across the city, preaching his message.
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:4 Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! Although the warning sounds like a promise, a condition was implied. If the people repent, God will relent (see v. 9; 4:2).
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:6 The word that reached the king of Nineveh was the “word” of the Lord (see 1:1; 3:1, 3). The “king of Nineveh” was probably not the king of Assyria, since Nineveh was not an Assyrian capital in Jonah’s day.
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:7–8 issued a proclamation. It is likely that v. 5 and vv. 6–9 are in topical rather than chronological order. By putting the people’s response ahead of the king’s order, the author underscores that they are responding to Jonah’s message, not just to the king’s command. The Ninevites each turn from his evil way, whereas the Israelites did not (see 2 Kings 17:13–14).
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:9 Who knows? expresses hope that God may turn and relent. The phrase we may not perish marks the third time a pagan has been concerned that people not perish (compare 1:14 and note on 1:6).
JONAH—NOTE ON 3:10 turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster. “Evil” and “disaster” translate the same Hebrew word (see note on 1:2). The repetition of the same word shows the close connection between human action and divine response. God did not carry out the threatened disaster, because the Ninevites repented of their evil (see note on 3:4).
Jonah
God called the prophet Jonah to travel to the city of Nineveh and to speak out against it. Nineveh was an Assyrian city, part of an empire known for its cruelty, that had long threatened Israel. The last thing Jonah wanted was for these particular people to experience the mercy and compassion of the God of Israel. Therefore he rejected the Lord’s call and tried to travel as far as he possibly could in the opposite direction from Nineveh! After three days and three nights in the belly of a large fish, however, Jonah repented and went to Nineveh. He delivered a prophetic message against the city, just as the Lord had commanded. Much to Jonah’s surprise, the people of Nineveh repented, and the Lord relented from his plans to destroy them. Jonah learned that God is ready to show mercy to all who will turn their hearts to him. (Jonah 3:6–10)
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:1–4 Jonah’s Angry Prayer. The sixth episode parallels the third (1:17–2:10) and focuses on Jonah’s self-centeredness and hypocrisy. Both episodes have the same structure: (1) Jonah “prayed to the LORD” (1:17–2:1a and 4:1–2a); (2) Jonah’s prayer (2:1b–9 and 4:2b–3); and (3) “the LORD spoke/said” (2:10 and 4:4).
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:1 it displeased Jonah exceedingly. In the previous episode (see 3:10) the pagans got rid of their “evil” and God got rid of the “disaster” he had threatened. The pagans are in harmony with God, but Jonah is not. He is now characterized by “displeasure” (or “evil”).
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:2 This is Jonah’s second prayer. The repetition of prayed to the LORD (see 2:1) invites the reader to compare the two. gracious God . . . relenting from disaster. Ironically, this great confession of God’s compassionate nature (see Ex. 34:6–7; Ps. 145:8) is the cause of Jonah’s anger. When Jonah received steadfast love, it filled him with thanksgiving (Jonah 2:8). When God extended the same love to the Ninevites, it filled Jonah with anger.
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:3 My life translates the Hebrew for “my soul,” and to live translates the Hebrew for “my life.” These two expressions occur in Jonah’s first prayer, where he is grateful that his “life” was brought up from the pit (2:6) and that his fainting “life/soul” was revived (2:7). When God extends the same mercy to the Ninevites, Jonah wishes his “life” and “soul” to be taken.
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:5–11 Jonah’s Lesson about Compassion. The seventh and final episode has no parallel and thus stands out as the climax of the story.
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:6 the LORD God appointed. This is the second use of the verb “appoint” (see note on 1:17). Discomfort (or “evil”; see esv footnote and note on 1:2) refers both to Jonah’s outer “discomfort” and to his inner “evil.” Jonah was exceedingly glad. The grammar of this phrase is identical to that at the beginning of 4:1 (“It displeased Jonah exceedingly”). This highlights the contrast between Jonah’s anger at the salvation of the Ninevites and his joy at his own salvation.
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:9 angry for the plant. God questions the justice of Jonah’s anger over the destruction of the plant (v. 4).
JONAH—NOTE ON 4:10–11 perished. Finally Jonah expresses concern over something perishing. Sadly, it is only the plant, not the 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their left, which means that they were untaught regarding moral or spiritual issues.