The Book of
Background
The pagan Assyrians, long-standing enemies of Israel, were a dominant force among the ancients from about 885 to 665 B.C. Old Testament accounts describe their forays against Israel and Judah in which they ravaged the countryside and carried away captives. Assyrian power was weaker during Jonah’s time, and Jeroboam II was able to reclaim areas of Palestine from Hamath southward to the Dead Sea, as had been prophesied by Jonah (2 Kin. 14:25).
Author and Date
The matters of author and date of Jonah are closely related. If Jonah wrote the book, then it would obviously date during the reign of Jeroboam II in the early eighth century, approximately 793–753 B.C. If a narrator wrote the book, it could have been written any time after the incident described therein.
Of those who hold to an author other than Jonah (usually referred to as a narrator), some date the book in the late eighth century or early seventh, based on the dates for the preexilic reign of Jeroboam II. Others prefer a postexilic date after the destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C., some as late as the third century B.C. This contention is based upon 3:3, which says that Nineveh was a great city. Those who support the preexilic dating explain that this could be merely a literary form used in telling the story, or that Nineveh was in existence, but not a great city.
Jonah
As indicated in 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah was the son of Amittai and a native of Gath Hepher, a village 3 miles northeast of Nazareth, within the tribal borders of Zebulun. Prophesying during the reign of Jeroboam II and immediately preceding Amos, he was a strong nationalist who was fully aware of the havoc the Assyrians had wrought in Israel over the years. Jonah found it difficult to accept the fact that God would offer mercy to Nineveh of Assyria when its inhabitants deserved severe judgment.
He was the only prophet sent to preach to the Gentiles. Elijah was sent to Zarephath to live for a season (1 Kin. 17:8–10) and Elisha journeyed to Damascus (2 Kin. 8:7), but only Jonah was given a message of repentance and mercy to preach directly to a Gentile city. His reluctance to preach at Nineveh was based upon a desire to see their decline culminate in a complete loss of power. Also he feared that God would show mercy, thus extending the Assyrians’ opportunity to harass Israel.
Jonah’s name means “Dove” or “Pigeon.” Dispositionally, he is represented as strong-willed, fretful, pouting, hasty, and clannish. Politically, it is obvious that he was a loyal lover of Israel and a committed patriot. Religiously, he professed a fear of the Lord as God of heaven, the Creator of the sea and land. But his initial willful disobedience, his later reluctant obedience, and his anger over the extension of mercy to the Ninevites reveal obvious inconsistencies in the application of his faith. The story ends without indicating how Jonah responded to God’s object lesson and exhortation.
Purpose
The book was written to emphasize that God loves all people and desires to show them mercy based upon repentance. It has been called the outstanding missionary book of the Old Testament. God declared that all nations of the Earth would be blessed through the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:3). The Scriptures reveal that Israel became very nationalistic and exclusivistic and refused to fulfill that mission. Jonah had a strong commitment to this same viewpoint. The love of God for all men was dramatically revealed to Jonah when He answered the prayers of the Gentile sailors and responded to the repentance of the pagan Ninevites. The message was further amplified by the lesson of the plant, the worm, and the east wind.
Content
The Book of Jonah, though placed among the prophets in the canon, is different from other prophetical books in that it has no prophecy that contains a message; the story is the message. That story recalls one of the most profound theological concepts found in the Old Testament. God loves all people and desires to share His forgiveness and mercy with them. Israel had been charged with revealing that message but somehow did not grasp the importance of it. This failure eventually led to extreme religious pride. In Jonah can be found the seedbed of New Testament Pharisaism.
Jonah the prophet is asked by God to arise and go eight hundred miles east to Nineveh, a city of the dreaded and hated Assyrians. His message is to be a call to repentance and a promise of mercy if they respond affirmatively. Jonah knows that if God spares Nineveh, then that city will be free to plunder and pillage Israel again. This nationalistic patriotism and his disdain that mercy will be offered to noncovenant people, prompt Jonah to decide to leave Israel and the “presence of the LORD.” No doubt he hopes that the Spirit of prophecy will not follow. Jonah is displeased and somehow convinces himself that a trip to Tarshish will relieve him of the responsibility God has placed upon him.
The trip to Tarshish soon provides evidence that Yahweh’s presence and influence are not confined to Palestine. God sends a storm to buffet the ship and causes circumstances that bring Jonah face-to-face with his missionary call. After determining that Jonah and his God are responsible for the storm, and after exhausting all alternatives, the sailors throw Jonah overboard. No doubt the sailors and Jonah assume this will end Jonah’s earthly existence; but God has prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and, after three days and nights, the fish deposits him upon land.
Again God instructs Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh to deliver the message of deliverance. This time the prophet reluctantly agrees to make the journey and declare God’s message. To his dismay the Ninevites, from the common people to the king, respond and indicate their repentance by ceremonial fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Even the animals are forced to participate in this humbling behavior.
Jonah’s heart is still unchanged and he reacts with anger and confusion. Why would God have mercy on people who had abused the nation of Israel? Perhaps hoping that the repentance is not genuine, or that God will choose another strategy, Jonah builds a shelter on a hill overlooking the city from the east. There he waits for the appointed day of judgment.
God uses this waiting time to teach a valuable lesson to Jonah. He prepares a plant to grow overnight in a location that shaded Jonah’s head. The prophet rejoices in his good fortune. Then God prepares a worm to cut the stem of the plant and cause it to wither. He further intensifies Jonah’s uncomfortable situation by preparing a hot east wind to dry Jonah’s parched body. Jonah laments the death of the vine and expresses his displeasure to God. God responds by showing the inconsistency of being concerned for a gourd, but being totally unconcerned about the fate of the inhabitants of Nineveh whom God loved.
Personal Application
Jonah’s story has much to say about the heart of God and the mission of God’s people. God desires to show His mercy and offer forgiveness to all peoples of the Earth. He has committed this ministry of reconciliation and the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18, 19) to the church. Just as Israel was commissioned to reveal God to the world (Gen. 12:3), so the church has been commissioned to go into all the world and preach the gospel (Matt. 28:18–20). When the church has the attitude of exclusiveness exhibited by Jonah and Israel, it fails to accomplish its task. But, when the church takes seriously the command of God to arise and go to the nations of the world, those people who hear the Word and respond in faith experience the mercy and forgiveness of God in life-changing, culture-impacting measure.
Christ Revealed
God’s words to Jonah in 4:10, 11 are paralleled by Jesus’ words in John 3:16. God is concerned for all the inhabitants of the Earth. It is true that Christ has a special relationship with members of His body, the church, but Christ’s love for the world was dramatically demonstrated when He died on the Cross for the sins of all mankind. John the Baptist acknowledged the universality of this love when he cried, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). God’s love for all men as taught to Jonah was demonstrated ultimately in Jesus Christ who declared a coming Day when the elect will be gathered from the north, east, south, and west (Matt. 24:31).
The Holy Spirit at Work
God’s Spirit inspired Jonah to prophesy that land and position would be recovered by Israel. This happened under the leadership of Jeroboam II (2 Kin. 14:25). When the Spirit directed Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy against the people there, the prophet refused to follow the Lord’s guidance. The Spirit of God did not cease His work, but continued to intervene in Jonah’s life and induce him to do God’s will. When Jonah relented, the Spirit worked godly sorrow in the hearts of the people and they responded to the message of judgment. When Jonah refused to accept this divine work, the Holy Spirit showed him the contrast between his concern for a gourd and God’s concern for the inhabitants of Nineveh.
Outline of Jonah
I. Determined retreat 1:1–3
A. “Arise, go to Nineveh” 1:1, 2
B. Jonah flees to Tarshish 1:3
II. Providential return 1:4—2:10
A. The Lord sends a storm 1:4–9
B. The sailors throw him overboard 1:10–16
C. The Lord prepares a great fish 1:17
D. Jonah prays 2:1–9
E. He is deposited on land 2:10
III. Successful revival 3:1–10
A. A second chance is given to “arise and go” 3:1–3
B. Jonah preaches 3:4
C. The population repents 3:5–9
D. God relents 3:10
IV. Negative reaction 4:1–11
A. Jonah is angry 4:1–5
B. God teaches a lesson 4:6–11
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 NOW the word of the LORD came to aJonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Arise, go to aNineveh, that bgreat city, and cry out against it; for ctheir wickedness has come up before Me.”
3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to aJoppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to bTarshish cfrom the presence of the LORD.
The Storm at Sea
4 But athe LORD 1sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten 1the load. But Jonah had gone down ainto the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, acall on your God; bperhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us acast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, a“Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear 1the LORD, the God of heaven, awho made the sea and the dry land.”
Jonah Thrown into the Sea
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, a“Pick me up and 1throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, abut they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.
14 Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, “We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and ado not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, bhave done as it pleased You.”
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, aand the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men afeared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.
Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And aJonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.
2 And he said:
“I acried out to the LORD because of my affliction,
bAnd He answered me.
“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
3 aFor You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
bAll Your billows and Your waves *passed over me.
4 aThen I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again btoward Your holy temple.’
5 The awaters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the 1moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my alife from the pit,
O LORD, my God.
7 “When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
aAnd my *prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.
8 “Those who regard aworthless idols
Forsake their own 1Mercy.
9 But I will asacrifice to You
With the voice of *thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have bvowed.
10 So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah Preaches at Nineveh
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, 1a three-day journey in extent.
4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then ahe cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
The People of Nineveh Believe
5 So the apeople of Nineveh *believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth aand sat in ashes.
7 aAnd he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his 1nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, *taste anything; do not let them *eat, or drink water.
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, alet every one turn from his evil way and from bthe violence that is in his hands.
9 aWho can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
10 aThen God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Jonah’s Anger and God’s Kindness
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
2 So he *prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I afled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a bgracious and merciful God, slow to anger and *abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
3 a“Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for bit is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a 1plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah 2was very grateful for the plant.
7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he *wished death for himself, and said, a“It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
10 But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which 1came up in a night and *perished in a night.
11 “And should I not pity Nineveh, athat great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons bwho cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
1:1–12 See section 1 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
1:2 See section 2 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
1:2 Great city: See note on 3:3. Wickedness: The Hebrew word is also translated “trouble,” “misery,” “difficulty,” and “harm.” God is concerned about Nineveh’s distresses and its evil ways. Its situation is extreme enough to get the attention of God.
1:3 Tarshish is considered by most to be Tartessus on the coast of southwestern Spain. As such it represents a distant place where God had not revealed Himself. Jonah is trying to escape the presence of the LORD. This indicates that he had a very localized view of God’s presence or perhaps a belief that the Spirit of prophecy would not follow him there. He begins his voyage at the port city of Joppa, about 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem, a seaport for Israel.
1:5 Probably each of the mariners (perhaps Phoenicians) has a personal god, a family god, and a national god. Jonah is fast asleep, maybe because of stress, exhaustion, and depression.
1:7 What the lots consisted of and how they were cast is unknown, but they were a common method of pagan divination as well as a method sometimes used to determine God’s will (see Lev. 16:8; Josh. 18:6).
1:9, 10 Note the inconsistency. Jonah is trying to escape the presence of the God of heaven.
1:12 Jonah volunteers to be sacrificed for the pagan sailors, an obvious change of attitude toward non-Israelites.
1:13 The hesitation of the sailors indicates a relationship with Jonah and a fear of his God.
1:14, 15 The sailors pray to Jonah’s God for forgiveness of their act of throwing him into the sea, fearing they will further antagonize Him.
1:16 The sacrifice was offered on board if animals were present; if not, when they returned to land. The significance of their sacrifice and the content of their vows are not revealed. They may merely have added Yahweh to their list of gods.
1:17 The LORD had prepared indicates God’s control of the situation. The great fish simply did what it was told. This is an obvious miracle, the precise details of which are not stated. We do not know if the fish was a specially created one or a modified whale; nor do we know how Jonah breathed for 72 hours. God likely chose that Jonah stay inside the fish for three days and three nights because that was the time ancients thought someone needed to come back from Sheol. Hence, Jonah’s return from the fish would represent a miraculous rescue from death and destruction.
Jesus confirms the veracity of this OT event and uses this incident to describe the time He would be “in the heart of the earth,” preceding His resurrection (Matt. 12:40).
2:2 The belly of Sheol: This is the inner part of the Earth, the grave, away from God’s presence. Jonah is aware of his serious, life-threatening situation.
2:6 Moorings: See the marginal note on this word. The bars of Sheol were also in the land of the dead beneath the great deep. From the pit refers to Sheol.
2:8 The person who has regard for idols cannot appropriate the mercy God desires to bestow.
2:9—3:2 See section 2 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
2:9 As with the sailors, Jonah’s vow is not revealed. The mercy of God is revealed in salvation (deliverance) for Jonah.
2:10 The dry land is not identified, but it was probably on the coast of Israel. Arab tradition says it was north of Israel on the coast of Syria.
3:3–9 See section 3 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
3:3 The city of Nineveh was approximately 800 miles east of Israel on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, opposite the city of Mosul in modern Iraq. Its walls were over 100 feet high and wide enough for three chariots to ride abreast. Nineveh was: The theory that the book was not actually written until after the destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C. rests upon the tense of this verb. An exceedingly great city can also be translated “a city important to God,” a designation reinforcing the theological import of Jonah’s charge. Various theories have been advanced concerning Nineveh as a city requiring three days to traverse: 1) it was approximately 60 miles across, thus requiring three 20-mile travel days; 2) it was approximately 60 miles in circumference; 3) it required one day for the immigration process, one day for visiting and business, and one day for legal exiting, thus requiring three days to accomplish everything were a person to visit Nineveh.
3:4 How did Jonah preach this terse, yet powerful, message? Some scholars believe the Aramaic language was included in his education. Perhaps he spoke this short declaration phonetically, as have some modern short-term missionaries.
3:5, 6 Sackcloth: A baglike garment made of coarse cloth and worn as a symbol of mourning or repentance. Ashes were also a sign of mourning and repentance. A fast can be: abstinence from both food and water (absolute fast); abstinence from food only (normal fast); abstinence from certain kinds of food (partial fast). This biblical practice is employed frequently and ought not to be denigrated as a superstitious or outdated practice for believers today (see Luke 5:35; Acts 13:2, 3; 2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27).
3:5 One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict/convince people of their sin (John 16:7–11), which was done in a powerful, pervasive way in this instance.
3:9, 10 God’s message of judgment always has the intent of repentance and reconciliation. Nineveh’s repentance releases God’s mercy (God relented).
3:10 See sections 2 and 3 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
4:1–4 See section 1 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
4:1–3 These verses clearly define Jonah’s reason for fleeing: he is angry that God should even conceive of sparing Nineveh, a noncovenant enemy of Israel.
4:2 See section 4 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
4:2 Jonah finds it difficult to separate his patriotism and misguided theology from his knowledge of the character of God.
4:4 The didactic aspect of this book comes clearly into view in this and following verses. God desires to teach His prophet a lesson concerning the value of all men, the wideness of divine mercy, and the wrongness of Jonah’s theology.
4:5–11 See section 4 of Truth-In-Action at the end of Jon.
4:5 Jonah’s isolated vantage point on the east side of the city provides an ideal situation for God’s instruction.
4:6 God prepared a plant: This was probably a bottle-gourd plant, which grows very quickly and has large palmlike leaves.
4:9 By this point the prophet Jonah has flagrantly disobeyed God (1:1–3), has exercised and defended anger against God (4:4, 9), and has wished for his own death (4:3, 8, 9). Rather than allowing this extreme behavior to discredit him as a prophet, and rather than viewing ourselves as immune to such wrong reactions, these details should underscore the extent to which the Ninevites were Jonah’s enemy. After a brief pause to imagine the worst threat someone could pose against us or the worst injury someone could inflict upon us, then we are ready to ask ourselves, “Would I be willing to invest myself in God’s forgiveness of them?”
4:10 Jonah had pity on an insignificant portion of God’s creation.
4:11 Jonah’s misplaced values become painfully obvious. God challenges him to consider the value of the Ninevites. Who cannot discern between their right hand and their left is an idiom indicating that the Ninevites, though not morally innocent, were helpless to know how to escape their plight before God. Without a prophet, they would remain trapped in their wickedness. Similarly, without a witness, someone today might remain trapped in their wickedness.
CHAPTER 1
1 Lit. hurled
1 Lit. from upon them
1 Heb. YHWH
1 Lit. hurl
a [Prov. 21:30]
a [Matt. 12:40]
CHAPTER 2
1 foundations or bases
* See WW at 2 Chr. 6:20.
1 Or Lovingkindness
CHAPTER 3
1 Exact meaning unknown
a [Deut. 18:22]
* See WW at 2 Chr. 20:20.
a 2 Chr. 20:3; Dan. 3:29; Joel 2:15
1 Lit. great ones
a 2 Sam. 12:22; Joel 2:14; Amos 5:15
a Ex. 32:14; Jer. 18:8; Amos 7:3, 6
CHAPTER 4
b Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:5, 15; Joel 2:13
a 1 Kin. 19:4; Job 6:8, 9
1 Heb. kikayon, exact identity unknown
1 Lit. rejoiced with great joy
1 Lit. was a son of a night
* See WW at Judg. 5:31.