Prophet
Jonah
The Reluctant Prophet
c. 785-760 BC
Jonah and the Whale — Pieter Lastman
Biography
Jonah's rebellion is the book's hinge. Commanded to go east to Nineveh, he flees west to Tarshish (probably Spain). A storm rises; he is thrown overboard; a great fish swallows him; after three days and three nights he is vomited onto dry land. He goes to Nineveh, preaches briefly — "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" — and the entire city, from the king to the cattle, repents in sackcloth. God relents from the announced judgment. The book's final chapter reveals Jonah's deeper problem: he did not want Nineveh to be saved. He knew YHWH was "a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster" (Jon 4:2) — and he did not want that mercy extended to the brutal Assyrians. God's closing question — "should not I pity Nineveh, that great city?" — hangs unanswered. Jesus claimed Jonah as his sign (Matt 12:39-41): three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish → three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Nineveh's repentance at Jonah's preaching becomes a witness against unbelieving Israel at Jesus's preaching: "something greater than Jonah is here."
the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah
More key verses
“Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
“you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”
“Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”
What they got right, and what they got wrong
Strengths
Eventual obedience; effective preaching once he complied; theological honesty about his own motives.
Weaknesses
Rebellion and flight from the call; anger at God's mercy to enemies; spiritual smallness.
Lessons
Prophetic calling cannot be fled. Divine mercy reaches beyond expected boundaries. The sign of Jonah is Christ's death-and-resurrection.
Spiritual significance
Jonah dramatizes both divine mercy reaching to Gentiles and the human heart's resistance to that mercy. He is the clearest OT type of Christ's death-and-resurrection.
How Jonah points to Jesus
Jonah's three-day entombment → Christ's three-day burial and resurrection (Matt 12:40). Nineveh's Gentile repentance → the Gentile mission.
Jonah in Scripture
27 verses use this name, in 4 books. Open a book to read its mentions here. Text: Berean Standard Bible. Names repeat in Scripture, some of these verses may speak of another person called Jonah.
Old TestamentNew Testamentsegment width = share of mentions
Old Testament2 books · 19 mentions
2 Kings1 mention
Jonah18 mentions
- Jonah 1:1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
- Jonah 1:3Jonah, 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 1:5The 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 1:9“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
13 further mentions in Jonah — read them in the book.
New Testament2 books · 8 mentions
Matthew5 mentions
- Matthew 12:39Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
- Matthew 12:40For 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.
- Matthew 12:41The 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.
- Matthew 16:4A 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.
- Matthew 16:17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.
Luke3 mentions
- Luke 11:29As 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.
- Luke 11:30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.
- Luke 11:32The 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 trails
that mention Jonah
Named in passing:Typology of Christ
Keep this page