Overview Of The Book Of Jonah

BI-120 OL-SP Elements Of Bible Study

February 14, 2005

Jeffrey Ballein
1059 Grand Ave. #8
South San Francisco, CA
94080

ID#2056130
 Overview of the Book of Jonah

Author: Nowhere in the book of Jonah is the author mentioned. Yet, it is generally accepted

that Jonah, son of Amittai, wrote it in the third person as was common of many Old

Testament prophets (MacArthur, Quick). According to Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible

Dictionary, a theory exists claiming an unknown author wrote the book as an allegory to

chastise Israel’s narrow view of God’s redemptive love. However, evidence supporting

this theory is unconvincing. Furthermore, Christ’s use of Jonah as a literal example,

depicting His own death and resurrection, weighs in favor of a historical account

(Youngblood, Bruce and Harrison). The recording of unique, firsthand experiences such

as the fish and plant, also gives credence to Jonah’s authorship (MacArthur, Study). The

only other biblical reference to Jonah is 2 Kings 14:25, which mentions him as “His

servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher” (NASB). This

makes him a prophet from Galilee, since Gath-hepher is a couple of miles north of

Nazareth (Nelson, Complete). Jonah’s name means “dove” and his father’s name,

Amittai, means “truthful” (Feinberg 133).

Date: Most conservative scholars date Jonah’s time of ministry at (793-753 B.C.), after that of

Elisha and before that of Amos and Hosea (Youngblood, Bruce and Harrison). This

dating places Jonah as a contemporary of King Jeroboam II of Israel, and alive during the

fulfillment of his prophecy recorded in 2 Kings 14:25. However, as Charles Feinberg

notes in his commentary The Minor Prophets, “This statement as to the fulfillment of his

prophecy does not give us any certain clue as to the time of its utterance nor as to the

time of the ministry of Jonah. It has been generally assumed among conservative

students…to be in the eighth century B.C.” (Feinberg, 133).

Audience: Israel was the intended audience of the Book of Jonah. The nation was divided at

this time between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Jonah was a prophet to the

Northern Kingdom as inferred from 2 Kings 14:25. Jeroboam II was king for forty-one

years in a relative time of prosperity, regaining the territories established by David and

Solomon which were previously lost (MacArthur, Study). Israel was constantly fighting

off threats from the neighboring countries, including Assyria, explaining their dislike and

anger towards Nineveh. Yet, with all this outward prosperity the people were spiritually

impoverished and idolatrous (2 Kings 14:24; Amos 2:6-8; 6:6; Hosea 4:12-14) (Easton

E4’s).

Purpose: The message of Nineveh’s repentance was given to Israel to make them jealous of

their relationship with God. The Assyrians were long time enemies of Israel as reflected

in the attitude of Jonah (Jonah 4:2-3). God wanted Israel to become passionate about

Him and repent of their idolatry and wickedness. Seeing the mercy and love of God

outpoured to a nation that was their bitter rival should have convicted their hearts and

renewed a passion for the God of their fathers, causing them to repent as Nineveh did.

Furthermore, Israel was chosen by God to represent Him to the other nations. The book

of Jonah challenges Israel’s pride and refusal to go as His representatives to declare His

love and mercy to all the nations (Nelson, Complete). “Jonah was sent to Nineveh in part

to shame Israel by the fact that a pagan city repented at the preaching of a stranger,

whereas Israel would not repent though preached to by many prophets…(Jonah)…was

soon to learn that God’s love and mercy extends to all of His creatures, not just His

covenant people” (MacArthur, Study).

Nineveh: The city of Nineveh was founded by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11). Easton’s Bible

Dictionary describes the city as being located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River:

stretching for approximately 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Although the wall

surrounding Nineveh was only eight miles long, it was sufficient to allow 120,000 people

(Jonah 4:11) to dwell inside and within the surrounding suburbs (Youngblood, Bruce and

Harrison). Nineveh occupied “a central position on the great highway between the

Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, thus uniting the East and the West, wealth flowed

into it from many sources, so that it became the greatest of all ancient cities,” (Easton,

E4’s). Hundreds of years before Jonah, the Assyrian kings had made Nineveh the capital

city of the Assyrian empire. Ashurdan III (773-755 B.C.) was most likely the king of

Assyria at the time of Jonah’s mission (Nelson, Complete).

The city of Nineveh was well known for its idolatry and cruelty. It is described in

Nahum 3:1 as “the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage,” (NASB). God

declared that “their wickedness” (Jonah 1:2) had come up before Him and the time of

accounting had come. Spiritually appraised, the Ninevites did not “know the difference

between their right and left hand,” (Jonah 4:11 NASB). Their idolatry included the

worship of carved idols (Nahum 1:14), as well as the harlotry and sorcery (Nahum 3:4)

which was typical of the surrounding nations. The inhabitants of Nineveh may have been

prepared for the message of God’s impending judgment by 2 plagues (765, 759 B.C.) and

a solar eclipse (763 B.C.) which occurred shortly before Jonah’s arrival (Nelson,

Complete).

As was the case with Israel, Nineveh’s repentance was not long enduring. During the

rule of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (705-681 B.C.), Israel was attacked, subdued and
taxed (Youngblood, Bruce and Harrison). Nineveh became proud and said in her heart,

“I am it, and there is none besides me,” (Zeph. 2:15, NASB). In 612 B.C., Nineveh was

destroyed by the Medes and the Babylonians; “Nineveh was left in ruins (Nah. 2:10, 13)

and grazed by sheep (Zeph. 2:13–15), just as the Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament

had predicted,” (Youngblood, Bruce and Harrison). Isaiah 10:5-19 makes the point that

God judged her because of pride. Due to recent archeology, much of what is known

about Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire is a result of an incredible find of over 10,000

tablets describing the laws, history and religion of Assyria (Easton, E4’s). “These strange

clay leaves found in the royal library form the most valuable of all the treasuries of the

literature of the old world. The library contains also old Accadian documents, which are

the oldest extant documents in the world, dating as far back as probably about the time of

Abraham…these…(tablets)…serve in a remarkable manner to confirm the Old Testament

history of the kings of Israel. The appearance of the ruins shows that the destruction of

the city was due not only to the assailing foe but also to the flood and the fire, thus

confirming the ancient prophecies concerning it,” (Easton, E4’s).

 General Impressions from the Book of Jonah

1. No one can escape God.

2. God has total control over nature: wind, waves, plants, human plans, lots.

3. The book ends with a question. Obviously, understanding God’s character, the question

must be rhetorical.

4. Jonah is angry and disobedient, yet is chosen by God to be used as His instrument.

5. Everyone else in the story repents and fears God except Jonah—excluding his prayer

from the belly of the fish.

6. God desired to save Nineveh, and the sailors on the ship.

7. God was not pleased with Jonah’s angry reaction.

8. Jonah lacked compassion: for God, sailors, Ninevites.

9. Jonah does not want Nineveh to be saved.

10. God did not change His call to Jonah based on Jonah’s disobedience or obedience.

11. God re-commissions Jonah with the same call.

12. The sailors and Ninevites were unsure and unaware of God and His merciful character.

13. God is more willing to show mercy than justice and judgment.

14. Despite the sailors’ and Ninevites’ incomplete knowledge of God, they still recognized

that they were accountable and their deeds were wicked.

15. The sailors, Jonah, and the Ninevites believed and trusted in God before seeing the

promise of mercy.
 Key Terms from the Book of Jonah

1. Lord---------------------------------------------------------------------------------26
2. Jonah; Jonah’s---------------------------------------------------------------------18
3. God; god---------------------------------------------------------------------------16
4. Sea; seas----------------------------------------------------------------------------12
5. die; death; perish; perished--------------------------------------------------------9
6. Nineveh------------------------------------------------------------------------------9
7. call; called; pray; prayed----------------------------------------------------------8
8. repent; sackcloth; turn; turned; believed----------------------------------------7
9. appoint; commanded; done; go(H1980)-----------------------------------------7
10. proclamation; word----------------------------------------------------------------6
11. anger; angry-------------------------------------------------------------------------6
12. judgment; overthrown; calamity-------------------------------------------------5
13. life; live; living---------------------------------------------------------------------5
14. gracious; compassionate; compassion-------------------------------------------4
15. Tarshish------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
16. wicked; wickedness----------------------------------------------------------------3
17. flee; fleeing; fled-------------------------------------------------------------------3
18. Presence of the Lord---------------------------------------------------------------3
19. relent; relents, relented------------------------------------------------------------3
20. reason--------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
21. Storm---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
22. afraid; frightened-------------------------------------------------------------------2
23. vows; vowed------------------------------------------------------------------------2
24. proclaim; cry------------------------------------------------------------------------2
25. earnestly-----------------------------------------------------------------------------2
26. fear-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
27. fast------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
28. deliver--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
29. sleeping------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
30. Joppa---------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
31. begged-------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
 Theme: Jonah—God’s Call To Repent

Main Divisions Sub-Divisions Ref Key Words

Jonah flees God’s call 1:1-1:3
Jonah’s rebellion
1:4-1:9 Justic
discovered Flee
Repent e
1:10-
God’s Calling of Jonah Sailors try to rescue Jonah
1:14
Sailors deliver Jonah to 1:15-
Relent
God 1:16
God captures Jonah 1:17
Jonah’s recounting 2:1-2:2 Merc
Pray
Jonah’s predicament 2:3-2:6 y
Repent
Jonah’s Call to God Jonah’s cry 2:7
Jonah’s acknowledgement 2:8-2:9
Jonah’s rescue 2:10 Relent
God’s call to Nineveh 3:1-3:4 Justic
Repent
Nineveh’s response 3:5-3:9 Pray e
God’s Call to Nineveh
God relents against Merc
3:10 Relent
Nineveh y
Justic
Jonah’s angry reaction 4:1-4:4
Unrepentan e
Lesson of the plant 4:5-4:8 Ange t
God’s Call to Jonah
Jonah’s anger confronted 4:9-4:10 r Merc
God’s compassion y
4:11
displayed
 Works Cited

Easton, M.G. E4’s Easton’s Bible Dictionary. Libronix Digital Library System. CD-ROM.

The Ephesians Four Group. 2000.

Feinberg, Charles Lee. The Minor Prophets. Chicago: Moody Press. 1990.

MacArthur, John F. Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word Pub, 1997. Libronix

Digital Library System. CD-ROM.

---. The MacArthur Quick Reference Guide to the Bible: Student Edition Nashville: Word Pub.

Group. 2001. Libronix Digital Library System. CD-ROM.

The Lockman Foundation. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update LaHabra, CA: The

Lockman Foundation, 1995. Libronix Digital Library System. CD-ROM.

Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts: Old and New

Testaments. Revised and Updated Edition Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997. Libronix

Digital Library System. CD-ROM.

Youngblood, R. F., F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison, & Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nelson's New

Illustrated Bible Dictionary Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. Libronix Digital Library

System. CD-ROM.