Jonah himself was most likely the author of this book, writing it towards the end of his life. If this is the case, then Jonah would be writing in the third person, just as Moses did (see comments on Exodus 6:26-27). If Jonah did write it, then he must have understood God’s rhetorical question at the end of the book, which summarizes the entire book, “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:11)
Date
Jonah is mentioned only once in the OT in the book of 2 Kings (2 Kings 14:25). There we learn that Jonah is from Gath-Hepher (in Zebulan) and that he was likely a contemporary of Jeroboam II (782-753 BC). Therefore, Jonah might fit into the period between the reigns of Adad-Nirari II (810-783 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser II (745 BC). So, we might date the book somewhere between 800 and 750 BC.
The Assyrians
The Assyrians were a particularly wicked people, and God called Jonah to preach judgment against these people in their own country! This would be like Gandalf asking Frodo to criticize Sauron’s foreign policy in Mordor! This must have scared Jonah to death. Jonah only mentions the violence of Nineveh once (3:8), but Nahum explains that the Ninevites plotted evil against the Lord (Nah. 1:11), committed continual cruelty (Nah. 2:13; 3:1; 19), committed prostitution and witchcraft (Nah. 3:4), and engaged in commercial exploitation (Nah. 3:16).
We have drawings of Assyrians holding the severed heads of the nations that they conquered. OT scholar and archaeologist James Hoffmeier writes,
The size of the Assyrian army is reported to have been just over 70,000 in Tiglath-Pileser’s day, and over 200,000 during Sennacherib’s reign (705-681 BC), if their figures are reliable.[1]
This area represents the largest empire in the ancient Near East up to this time.[2]
As battles rage, the brutality of the Assyrians is on display. Soldiers are shown beheading enemy troops, while others hold up the decapitated heads of the enemy for all to see. Further victims are impaled—the Assyrian mode of capital punishment. These inhumane practices were designed to intimidate the opposition and shake the confidence of those trying to fend off the Assyrian attack… It was this Assyrian war machine that demolished and deported the Israelites and seriously debilitated Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries BC.[3]
This is comparable to footage of the Nazi’s during World War 11 or Saddam Hussein’s torture videos. The Assyrians boasted in their evil to intimidate others. It makes sense why Jonah was reluctant to preach forgiveness to these people! When he arrived home after preaching, what would his people think? (“You just allowed Assyria to get off the hook?!”) And yet, God promised to forgive these people if they repented (Jer. 18:7-8).
Themes of Jonah
Jonah shows how even the most depraved people will respond to the words of a prophet. We see this in other portions of Scripture. For instance, Nebuchadnezzar took care of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 39) and Daniel (Dan. 1-4).
Jonah shows that Jonah (Israel) is insensitive to God’s word and will. Here the prophet Jonah serves as a microcosm for the nation of Israel as a whole. By this we do not mean that Jonah is an allegory (see comments on Jonah 1:1). However, Jonah—like Israel—didn’t want to be a light to the Gentiles. He reverses the promises about God’s character (Jon. 4:2-3). The Abrahamic Covenant is at the heart of this story. God wants to bless all the nations through the election of Israel (Ps. 145:9). Ultimately, it is God’s mercy that is so offensive to Jonah.
Jonah is unique because it is the story of a prophet who doesn’t want to follow God. This is a unique book among the prophets, because it is not a collection of prophetic oracles. Instead, it is a story about a prophet’s reluctance to do God’s will. It touches a different nerve than the regular prophetic messages. But notice that God gets the first and last word in the book.
Jonah 1 (Jonah RUNS)
Summary: Jonah is commissioned to preach judgment against Nineveh in Nineveh. Instead of going to Nineveh, he goes to Tarshish, which is in the complete opposite direction (West versus East). We find out later that Jonah fled because he didn’t want these people to be rescued (4:2). It wasn’t that Jonah fled because he believed these people wouldn’t repent; he fled because he believed that they would repent.
Jonah foolishly believed that he could get away from the “presence of the Lord” (1:3; cf. Ps. 139:7-10). God can bring physical calamities or miracles to steer us into his will (1:4). These Pagans are the ones that end up praying (1:14) and sacrificing (1:16) to Yahweh.
(1:1-2) God spoke to Jonah and told him to speak out against the sin of the Ninevites. “Ninevah” apparently was very ancient (Gen. 10:11). Archaeologists date the remains of the city to at least 4,500 BC.[4]
The “wickedness” of the people had to do with their pride (Isa. 10:13) and their cruelty (Nah. 3:1, 10, 19). For more on this, see the introduction above.
(1:3) “Tarshish” most likely refers to Tartessus in Spain.[5] So, instead of going east to Assyria, Jonah went in the complete opposite direction. He foolishly wanted to be away from “the presence of the LORD” (cf. Ps. 139:7-10).
(1:4) In the ancient Near East, it was commonly held that gods ruled over the seas. For instance, the Greeks believed that Poseidon (Neptune) was the god of the sea. The Hebrew Bible repeatedly pointed out that God was sovereign over the sea, showing his superiority to the false gods (Ps. 24:2; 33:7; 65:7; 74:13; 77:19; 89:9; 114:3, 5; Isa. 27:1; 51:10; 63:11; Jer. 5:22; 31:35).
(1:5-6) Each man “cried to his god.” These men were polytheists. Since the storm didn’t subside, it makes sense that the captain believed that perhaps Jonah’s “god” wasn’t satisfied.
It’s unclear why Jonah would be able to be “sound asleep” during this storm.
(1:7) Since prayer didn’t work, these Phoenician men tried to divine who was responsible by casting lots.
(1:8) The polytheistic deities were non-moral,[6] so it isn’t that these sailors thought that Jonah had committed a sin to anger the “gods.” Instead, they asked him a flurry of questions in order to find out how he had displeased the “gods.”
(1:9) Jonah admits that he is a follower of Yahweh God. He knows that God is in control of the sea, because he is the Creator of it.
(1:10) Apparently, Jonah had told them his plan to flee from God. Their question (“How could you do this?”) is really more of a shocked assertion (i.e. “What have you done!”).[7]
(1:11) These sailors weren’t familiar with Yahweh and how to appease him. So, they ask Jonah how to proceed in satisfying Yahweh’s displeasure.
(1:12) Because Yahweh God was the Creator of the sea, Jonah wanted to be handed over to God by being thrown into the sea.
(1:13-14) The sailors weren’t sure if they should listen to Jonah. After all, this would be tantamount to murder, and they wondered if this is really what Yahweh wanted. This is why they prayed to God about Jonah’s request before throwing him overboard.
(1:15-16) These polytheistic men must have realized that they were dealing with a supreme God, who truly was the master over the sea. Even by going against God’s will, God used Jonah to reach some polytheistic men.
(Jonah 1:17) Was Jonah really swallowed (and preserved) by a whale?
Jonah 2 (Jonah PRAYS)
Summary: Jonah prays from “Sheol.” Critical theologians believe that the Hebrews thought of Sheol as a place in the underworld or ground. It is actually a place of death, as described here (v.22). This couldn’t be referring to the ground. After the prayer of thanksgiving, God “commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land” (2:10).
(2:1) Critics think that this psalm is misplaced (vv.2-9), because Jonah praises God in the past tense for saving him before he is vomited from the whale’s mouth (v.1o). However, Jonah is praising God for saving him from drowning by being in the whale.[8]
(Jonah 2:1) Was Jonah in the belly of a FISH or a whale?
(2:2) Jonah equates “Sheol” with death. God rescued him by sending the fish (whale?) to save him.
(2:3-4) While he was in the water, Jonah prayed to God and to the “temple.” This shows that he was trusting in God’s rescue, rather than his own strength. As a Hebrew man, this may have been Jonah’s first time on a sea voyage.
(2:5-6) Jonah must have sunk very far into the water. Surely, Jonah uses hyperbole in this prayer, but it must have been hyperbolic of a dire situation.
(2:7-8) As he was about to die, he thought of the sailors trusting in their idols.[9] This is interesting because Jonah was drowning while trusting in God, while the sailors were comfortable despite trusting in idols. This shows that our circumstances shouldn’t dictate our beliefs.
(2:9) While drowning, Jonah seems to be recommitting his life to God.
(2:10) Commentators note[10] that this fish was more obedient to God’s command than Jonah was.
Jonah 3 (Jonah PREACHES)
Summary: God speaks to Jonah a “second time” (3:1). Jonah preaches a simple message that reaches far and wide in Ninevah. Even the king repented and God held back his judgment.
(3:1) God graciously gave Jonah a “second” chance. We don’t deserve second chances, but in his mercy, God often gives them.
(3:2) The “great” city refers to its size—not its political importance.[11] It had at least 120,000 people (Jon. 4:11). God didn’t want Jonah to deviate from what he wanted said (“proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you”). It is as if God is saying, “Jonah, repeat after me…”
(3:3) The “three day” walk could refer to circling the outside. Ellison writes, “Diodorus Siculus (first century BC) gave the circumference of the city as approximately sixty miles,”[12] though the inner wall was only eight miles. Jonah is likely thinking of the greater surrounding city, or perhaps walking throughout the city for three days.
(Jonah 3:3) How could Nineveh be this big?
(3:4) Jonah gave the simplest message. There was nothing complicated about what he said. And yet, because God supported it, it resulted in over a hundred thousand wicked people turning to God.
(3:5) The sackcloth and fasting is associated with mourning or repentance in the OT.
(3:6) The message spread so far that it made it to the king himself.
(3:7-8) The people and even the animals were told to mourn and turn to God. Herodotus mentions a similar event occurring in Persia after the death of Masistus: “[The people] shaved their heads, cut the manes of their horses and mules and abandoned themselves to such cries of grief that the whole of Boeotia was loud with the noise of them” (Histories 9.24).[13]
(3:9-10) What did God see in the actions or “deeds” of the Ninevites? He specifically saw that the people trusted in the goodness of God to reward those who seek him (Heb. 11:6).
(Jonah 3:10) How can God change his mind, if he is immutable?
(Jonah 3:10) Did repentance alone cover the sins of these people?
Jonah 4 (Jonah COMPLAINS)
Summary: Jonah still hoped that God would destroy the city (4:5). God’s mercy extends to the Ninevites, and even to the animals. If Jonah had compassion for the plant, then how much more should God have compassion on the people of Nineveh?
(4:1) A hyper literal translation of this verse would read: “But it was evil to Jonah with great evil.”[14] Ellison notes that the term “evil” was typically used for the Ninevites, but here it is being used of God’s prophet.[15] Why was Jonah so “angry” or literally “evil”? Verse 2 tells us…
(4:2) Jonah was angry with God because God was so gracious! (citing Exodus 34:6-7) God is “abundant in lovingkindness” (ḥeseḏ). Jonah knew that if he preached in Nineveh that God would forgive them, and this angered him. He originally fled to Tarshish because he knew that God would forgive the evil people of Ninevah, and Jonah wanted nothing to do with it.
(4:3) Jonah is not suicidal. He has no plan to kill himself. Instead, he asks God to take his life, rather than taking his own life (cf. 1 Kin. 19:4).
(4:4) When we consider Jonah’s request, this is not a harsh reply from God.[16]
(4:5) It’s possible that Jonah hoped the Ninevites had a pseudo-repentance, and he wanted to have a good view of God’s judgment. However, Ellison argues that Jonah waited around to see if God would reveal something about this confusing incident to him.[17]
(4:6) This “plant” is most likely the Palestinian castor oil plant (Ricinus communis),[18] and it gave him some shade. The average temperature in Mesopotamia during the hot season is 110 degrees Fahrenheit.[19]
This plant supernaturally grew overnight (v.10).
(4:7) This could be a collective of worms, or it could simply show that God uses the big fish and the small worm to accomplish his purposes.[20]
(4:8) These types of winds are called “siroccos,” and they raise the temperature another 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit![21]
(4:9) It’s possible that Jonah loved this plant because of its shade or because it was aesthetically pleasing in the arid desert.[22]
(4:10-11) Jonah was compassionate to a plant (v.10). How much more should God have compassion over people and animal life? (v.11)
What is the final message? The account ends on a cliffhanger. If Jonah truly wrote the book, then it implies that he left this open for a reason. Like Jonah, we need to reflect more fully on the character and love of God—namely, that God is far more loving than we are.
[1] Hoffmeier, James Karl. The Archaeology of the Bible. Oxford: Lion, 2008. 105.
[2] Hoffmeier, James Karl. The Archaeology of the Bible. Oxford: Lion, 2008. 105.
[3] Hoffmeier, James Karl. The Archaeology of the Bible. Oxford: Lion, 2008. 105.
[4] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 368). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[5] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 369). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[6] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 371). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[7] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 372). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[8] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 376). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[9] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 377). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[10] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 378). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[11] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 380). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[12] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 380). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[13] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 383). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[14] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 384). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[15] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 385). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[16] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 386). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[17] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 387). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[18] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 387). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[19] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 387). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[20] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 387). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[21] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 387). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
[22] Ellison, H. L. (1986). Jonah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 388). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.