The book of jonah is a book of the neviim prophets in the hebrew bible. Jonah went at once to nineveh in accordance with the lords command. This book also shows gods foreign mission program was in existence centuries prior to the great commission of matt. This summary of the book of jonah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of jonah. The old testament book of jonah, contains four chapters, and fortyeight verses. Jonah 1 kjv now the word of the lord came unto bible. The book of jonah includes the famous story of the great fish often erroneously thought of as a whale has led many to dismiss this book as merely a biblical fish story. The book of jonah is the fifth book in the christian canons and the jewish tanakh.
Let me share with you seven great lessons from the book of jonah. Which is a bummer because the concept of a modern day retelling of jonah fascinated me. In the book, jonah is called upon by god to prophesy the judgment of nineveh. Key personalities include jonah, the captain and the ships crew and the people of nineveh. Although the author of jonah is never identified in the book itself, jonah himself has traditionally been identified as the author. It tells of a hebrew prophet named jonah son of amittai who is sent by god to prophesy the destruction of nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. The book of jonah was likely written between 793 and 758 b. T he book of jonah is an old testament story which tells about how the prophet jonah refused to follow the lord.
Written by the prophet jonah, son of amittai, around 785760 b. So instead, jonah ran away from god and went in a ship towards. God directs jonah, jonah disobeys jon 1 god has compassion on jonah jonah 2 jonah preaches to nineveh, nineveh repents jonah 3 god has compassion on nineveh, but jonah does not jonah 4 but it gets more interesting if we look beyond the chapter layer. The book of jonah is unique among the books of the prophets. All of nature obeys god in this book but a prophet of god does not. Unlike other old testament prophetic books, jonah is not a collection of the prophets oracles but primarily a narrative about the man. I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that i may be found pure bread. It is said to be about the prophet jonah of gathhepher in zebulon, who lived in the eight century during the reign of israels king jeroboam ii. Our online the book of jonah trivia quizzes can be adapted to suit your requirements for taking some of the top the book of jonah quizzes. Jonah is commanded to go east to nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point 1. The book tells the story of the prophet jonah, who was called by god to go to the heathen city of nineveh, which god would soon destroy if they did not repent. H people were curious about dylans favorite activities. Read the book of jonah 101 amazing facts you didnt know fun facts and trivia tidbits quiz game books by g whiz available from rakuten kobo. Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one days walk, and proclaimed.
The title of the book is the name of the main character, jonah. Beautifully balanced, deep and profound jonah s adventure opens a window into the heart of god. The book is replete with irony, wherein much of its humor lies. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonahs character is anything but dovelike. But his life changes when he becomes father to a son, and he. Faith faith forsaking all i take him ignatius, in the arena, before the wild lions reach him, said. The book is anonymous, and there are no indicators elsewhere in scripture to identify the author.
Unlike most other prophetic parts of the ot, this book is a narrative account of a single prophetic mission. However, jonah tries to escape his mission and sails for tarshish. However, after setting aside the clumsy, uneven way the book tried to echo the biblical story, i attempted to read the novel on its own terms. Its treatment of that mission is thus similar to the accounts of the ministries of elijah and elisha found in 1,2 kings. It is one of trei asar the twelve prophets in the tanakh, and in christian tradition as oi dodeka prophetai or ton dodekapropheton, greek for the twelve prophets. It is believed to be reflective of the yahwist or jahwist tradition. There is also no known author for the book of jonah. The book of jonah quizzes online, trivia, questions. The foundational source for the book was likely jonahs own telling of the story after his return from nineveh. In the new testament, no other old testament prophet is named by jesus more than the prophet jonah. Jonah is read every year by the jews on the day of atonement yom kippur.
The book of jonah started out entertaining, quickly became disturbing, then got even darker, became kind of boring, and wound up to be quite moving. The book of jonah is narrative history and a prophetic oracle. Jonah was a disobedient prophet who is punished but forgiven, and then carries out gods message. Nineveh was an enormously large city a three days walk across. It is the story of a man who throws everything away because of visions he develops, and a woman who has everything taken from. Concern for the salvation of all people, including ones enemies, is the proper attitude for people of god. Apocalypse explained ae 538 11 particulars in the book of jonah are historical, and yet prophetical, involving and representing such arcana, as do all the other historicals of the word. The book of jonah demonstrates the sovereignty of the almighty as he employs his creation to accomplish the divine plan.
The book of jonah is a debut that heralds great promise. Full text in english of the book of jonah my jewish. The purpose of this book is to show that god is a merciful and gracious god. This book has an almost entirely narrative content. Jonah has only four chapters, which makes it easy to outline the book chapterbychapter.
Nineveh was the main city of the assyrians who were the enemies of jonahs country of israel. With shrewd allusion, finely wrought characters and a pulsing, pageturning narrative, feldman works new and inventive wonders from an ancient template. The book of jonah was written in the fifth century during the postexilic era. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. Jonah and the whale is a favorite story among children.
A book for jonah alvin independent school district. The book is named after its principal character, whose name means dove. The main theme of the book of jonah is gods sovereignty over all people and his divine plan to extend his gift of mercy and salvation beyond israel to include the gentile nations. Jonah stays 3 days inside the whale and jonah cried out to god. Literary characteristics unlike most other prophetic parts of the ot, this book is a narrative account of a single prophetic mission. Out of the belly of sheol i cried, and you heard my voice. The message of the book of jonah christian articles. Although the book is written in the third person, the traditional view is that jonah is the author of the book, and there is no persuasive reason to theorize about an unknown author. Book of jonah encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. The book of jonah seems like christian bookstore fiction with cool, edgy sex and swearing. It is an important book to both religious traditions christianity and jewish because of its message of doom upon israels longtime enemy.
How long was it to be before the city jonah had a message for was overthrown. Finally, the book of jonah vividly demonstrates that out of all gods vast and. A comprehensive database of the book of jonah quizzes online, test your knowledge with the book of jonah quiz questions. Did you know that feldman views the relationship between god and jonah a complicated and troubled one. Set in the reign of jeroboam ii 786746 bc, it was probably written in the postexilic period, some time between the late 5th to early 4th century bc. It may be read as an allegory, one of sin and repentance, with gods loving mercy and forgiveness. The book of jonah preface those of you who are familiar with the story of jonah and the whale know that jonah hopped a ship heading in the opposite direction when god commanded him to go preach to the ninevites. Gods ministry to jonah chapter 4 the bible exposition commentary, cook communications, colorado springs, 2002, p. Ac 1188 2 but then we find a startling, thoughtprovoking passage in. While jonah eventually did what he was asked to do, the book closes with showing jonah as a bitter man. He is eventually thrown away by the ships crew in the.
Date since jonah prophesied during the reign of jeroboam ii 782753. Interestingly, the book of jonah consists of only 4 chapters, 48 verses, and just over 1,300 words. In this final study of the book of jonah, you will learn what the book of jonah is all about. The name jonah means dove in hebrew, but jonah s character is anything but dovelike. The audience of the book of jonah was the people of israel and all future readers of the bible and, typically, prophets issued warnings or gave instructions to the people of israel. It is a mistake to assume that events and actions of the book are not historical in nature. Intro to jonah biblica the international bible society. Through some supernatural events, god convinced him to obey and carry out the lords plan.