CHAPTER 1
1. Now the word of YHWH came to Yonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2. “Get up, go to Nin’weh, the great city, and make a proclamation in regard to it, because their wickedness has come up to My face.”
Proclamation: It is amazing that He offers anyone such a warning. But He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Y’hezq’el 18:32)
3. And Yonah did get up—[but] to run away from the presence of YHWH—to Tharshish. That is, he went down to Yafo and found a ship [that was] going to Tharshish, and he paid [the] fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tharshish.
Yafo (Joppa) is on the coast of Israel, which is on the west—the opposite direction from Nin’weh, which is to the east via the fertile crescent--overland. No ships could take him from Yafo to Nin’weh. Tharshish is thought to, at least idiomatically, mean, the farthest known land to the west. At times it was considered to be Spain, but as more lands were discovered, the reference “moved” further west. “Tharshish-class ships” in King Shlomoh’s day would circumnavigate the globe, returning to Israel in three-year cycles, and evidence has been found of Hebrew-language-based trade in North America, so it could be that he was aiming to go that far west! We could call Tharshish “the launching place into the unknown”—any place he would not have to deal with this. Such a ship would seem as reliable as they come. We can run from YHWH without going anywhere as well. But why was Yonah so hesitant to do what YHWH told him to do? Because Nin’weh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, which was rapidly on the rise. Israel, on the other hand, was heavily involved in idolatry, and Yonah, being a prophet, knew his nation was ripe for correction. The name of his father, Amittai, means “truthfulness”. It was in his DNA to be truthful. If he went to Nin’weh, he would have to tell them the truth about YHWH’s anger—and the possibility of His forgiveness. What if their hearts inclined to YHWH? If Assyria repented, it would be more righteous than his own homeland, and YHWH might even use it to punish and chasten Israel, which was not fulfilling what was expected of them. Assyria could also be very cruel. So he was not eager for that nation to be in a better position before YHWH than his own. John Hulley writes, “This is the obvious reason why the prophet was so aghast at the task [YHWH] had assigned him…He could hardly fail to recognize that the success of his mission…would put his own people in peril.” We can understand why he would think this assignment was just a little too much to ask of anyone, but like Moshe or Y’hezq’el, he might have done better to at least reason with YHWH about this rather than running away
4. But YHWH hurled a great wind into the sea, and there was a frightfully-great [storm] in the sea, and it seemed the ship [would] be broken to pieces.
5. Now the sailors were afraid, and [each] man called out to his own elohim, and they threw the cargo that was on the ship into the sea to lighten it from over them. But Yonah had gone down into the recesses of the hold and lain down, and he was sound asleep.
Someone lost a lot of investments when this cargo was thrown overboard. When we do not take responsibility, others will suffer as well. Mariners know what weather is common to what season, and they knew that if they went in this direction at this time of year, they should not encounter any storms. Just the fact that Yonah was not doing his job threw nature off kilter, and brought a storm out of season. The sailors wanted to cover all bases, but this group of sailors was very multiethnic. This was an international shipping line. He was sent to one nation, but was surrounded by many nations. Despite their reputation for being profane, ancient sailors were very religious. They were sky-watchers, in touch with the heavenly bodies. The risks they took were incalculable—beyond those of any pursuit but war—and they were superstitious, willing to trust anything that might seem able to protect them. They made offerings upon embarking and disembarking, and pious merchants even installed altars on their ships, as appears to have been the case here. Ships of Tharshish were large enough to accommodate such accessories. Even modern ships are “christened” as a vestige of the practice of dedicating ships to a patron deity or saint. Asleep: Did he think YHWH would be less likely to notice him? By going to the very bottom of a ship with a deck which provided one more way of concealing himself, he was taking on the wrong kind of cover. On Yom haKippurim (the day of coverings), one is supposed to be busy about one’s soul, but Yonah was oblivious to what YHWH was doing, and ironically, his was the only Elohim who could actually save them. He presumed that because he worshipped the right One, everything would automatically go well.
6. Then the chief sailors approached him and said to him, “What’s with you, heavy sleeper? Get up and call out to your Elohim! Maybe the elohim will take notice of us, and we won’t be lost!”
7. And [each] man said to his fellow, “Let’s go ahead and cast lots, so we can know on whose account this trouble [has come] upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell to Yonah.
The assumption was that someone was guilty and had to pay—already a Yom Kippur theme, and the lots are another. "Wake up!" (because a day of reckoning is coming) is a major theme of Yom T'ruah, nine days earlier.
8. So they said to him, “Please tell us on whose account this trouble is upon us! Who do you work for? What is your country? And from which people do you come?”
Work for: literally, represent. One’s occupation often defined what deity one worshipped. They were concerned to know which Elohim was upset with them, or to ensure that they had not missed calling out to the one that might be responsible. It might also tell them how to appease Him, so He would not kill all of them.
9. So he told them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear YHWH, the Elohim of the Heavens, who made the sea and the dry [land].”
Hebrew: He does not say “Israelite”, because Israel was not currently the best example of being fearers of YHWH; he would rather disconnect from the sins of his own nation, and identifies instead with a more ancient ancestor, Ever, the father of all Hebrews. In this case, his fear is to do what YHWH was asking him to do--be a true Hebrew and "cross over to the other side". He only became a light to these Gentiles after he confessed his guilt—another theme of Yom haKippurim.
10. Then the men were terribly afraid, and they said to him, “What is this that you have done?!” (Because the men knew that he was “running away from the presence of YHWH”, since he had told them.)
I.e., "How could you do this to us? You would oppose the one who rules the sea, then get on a boat?!" Having been in port at Yafo, these merchants who interacted with the colorful people in every land they visited would have heard of the “local deity”, YHWH, who had wrought havoc on the Egyptians. When a Hebrew does not do his job, it causes trouble for everyone, and the Gentiles come to be the ones in control. (Psalm 106:40-41) Yonah is now in their hands.
11. And they said to him, “What should we do to you, so the sea can calm down from [being] on top of us?” Because the sea was becoming more and more stormy.
On top of us: The waves were probably washing over the deck. What should we do: If He is after you, we are about to give you to Him; will you leave us no choice? Stormy: literally, frightening.
12. So he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me out into the sea. Then the sea will become calm, because I know that this great storm is upon you on my account.”
He was acting like a goat, wanting to go his own way, so he knew from the Yom haKippurim scapegoat ceremony that he should be “sent away”. Why didn’t he just repent? Apparently in his mind, his situation was not desperate enough yet. He was stubborn enough to dare YHWH to kill him, and this may, ironically, be what made him a valuable prophet in YHWH’s eyes.
13. But the men rowed [hard] to return to the dry land, but they were not able, because the sea continued to grow stormier against them.
Since he was a paying passenger, they felt obligated to try hard to spare him, and they worshipped a minor sea deity; they did not want to be responsible for the death of a man who served the Elohim of both land and sea! And what if he was mistaken and not really the cause of this storm? They would not want his blood on their hands. He could have had mercy on them all and jumped off, but he cared for no one but Israel, forgetting that Israel was meant to be a prototype to show all nations what a relationship with YHWH can do, so they would recognize that He is the real thing; he was thinking only about justice for their idolatry. They were trying hard to shuv, it says in Hebrew—to repent, but in a different way than they were told. But they could not do so while they were supporting someone who was going against the will of YHWH. They wore themselves out, and realized that if the rest of them were to survive, they no longer had a choice but to comply. They were honorable, because they decided to act and accept the consequences.
14. So they cried out to YHWH and said, “We beg You, O YHWH, please do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not make us responsible for innocent blood, because You, O YHWH, have done as it pleased You!”
15. Then they picked Yonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
16. Then the men feared YHWH with a great fear, and they slaughtered their offering to YHWH and made vows.
Yonah said he feared YHWH, but did not have the right balance of fear and love. These pagans did a better job of fearing YHWH, who "lived" in Yafo, but could affect the weather so far from there. But if even the disobedience of an Israelite resulted in pagans fearing Him, how much more would his obedience?
CHAPTER 2
1. Now YHWH had appointed a large fish to swallow Yonah. When Yonah had been in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights,
Appointed: a word that shows up many times in this book, showing YHWH's direct involvement in many details. He is not just a "clockmaker" who winds up his creation and leaves it running without intervention. The timing had to be perfect in this case. The fish had to have been sent to the right spot in advance to intercept him. Yonah merited this rescue because he at least sacrificed himself so that the blood of all of these men would not be on his hands. It was not the sweetest-smelling method, but YHWH made a way for him to get out of this situation and get where he needed to go. But how could he breathe there? Jewish tradition says the soul stays around the body for three and a half days before finally departing. There have been modern cases of persons swallowed by whale sharks surviving a few days, but he must have been very surprised to still be alive; it is as if he had died and been resurrected. This is why Y’shua said this was the only sign he would give to skeptics. (Mat. 12:39; 16:4)
2. then Yonah prayed to YHWH his Elohim from inside the fish,
Notice that he waited until he had been there three days before he prayed—unless he only then awoke from unconsciousness. As we will see later as well, he seems to have hoped to die rather than have to go to Nin’weh; now that he see that YHWH will just not let that occur, he grudgingly concedes that YHWH has won.
3. and he said, “From my dire straits I called out to YHWH, and He answered me; from the belly of She’ol I cried out for help, and You heard my voice.
Dire straits: literally, narrow or tight spots—exactly what Yonah would be experiencing in the stomach of a fish! Only then did he think about repenting. She'ol: the grave, or in this case, possibly the "waters under the land".
4. “When You threw me into the depths--into the heart of the seas--and the current enveloped me, Your breakers and Your waves passed over me.
5. “And I said, ‘I am driven away from before Your eyes; oh! Will I ever see Your holy Temple again?’
His situation brought many psalms back to mind, and he remembers Shlomoh’s words of blessing for any who would pray toward YHWH’s Temple. (1 Kings 8:38ff) It is impressive that this was the last thing he thought of when he was about to die, but how could he tell which direction the Temple was, when amidst the churning billows, let alone turn his body toward it? The worst thing about this situation to him was that he might never again see Yerushalayim! He had tried to temporarily escape from YHWH’s presence, but when it seemed he might actually be barred from ever coming back, he starts realizing this was not the best idea! We cannot leave YHWH for one purpose and expect to return to Him for another. He realizes that this is not just an external circumstance; YHWH Himself is angry at him, and is the One doing this to him. This is the first step to repentance. Because YHWH still loves him, He goes to this extent to get his attention. Why do we wait until we are in the “fish’s belly” before recognizing and dealing with our true situation? This is what makes Yom Kippur very special; we do not need to wait until we are in such straits to repent.
6. “Waters encompassed me, to the point of [threatening my] life! The abyss [closed in] around me; seaweed bound up my head!
Bound up: i.e., was wrapped his head around like mummifying bandages, constricting his breathing and ability to move. The word for seaweed is suf, the same as in “Reed Sea”, in which Pharaoh's army was put in the very same position. He seems to be recalling this and admitting that he has gotten on the wrong side of YHWH's power.
7. “I sank down to the very bases of the mountains; the earth—her bars [were shut] behind me forever! But You brought my life up from the pit, O YHWH, my Elohim!
I.e., like a city whose gates were barred shut to him, it seemed he was barred from ever returning to the dry land; he had no way to get back to the surface on his own. Considering where he ended up, he may have even been taken into subterranean rivers connecting two seas that are not linked on the surface.
8. “When my life grew feeble upon me, I remembered YHWH, and My prayer came to You in Your holy Temple.
Or, when my motivation to live was waning.
9. “Those who hold onto vain hopes abandon what is [most] favorable for themselves,
He had stubbornly waited three days before speaking to YHWH again, because he assumed he would die and not have to do the job YHWH had given him, as he would if he survived. He would not directly kill himself; he let the sailors do it. But he was still not dead! Why did YHWH send a fish with no teeth? But YHWH was relentless and would not let him out of the “contract”. There was just no way to get away from Him, so he finally capitulates, but not gladly. His conviction that Nin’weh should not be allowed to repent was the futile hope. YHWH would not let him die and escape his responsibility. But doing what one cannot do is what heroes are made of.
10. “so with the voice of thankfulness I will slaughter [an offering] to You; whatever I have vowed, I will fulfill. Deliverance is from YHWH.”
He was trying to get out of his vow, but it did not work--another reason we should call into question the common practice of asking YHWH to release us from our vows on Yom Kippur. His self-description, "I am a Hebrew", was in itself a vow, for he had to cross two rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) to get to Nin'weh. At some point he had probably told YHWH, “You are so awesome; I’ll do anything You say!” Now this was being tested. He may not wish to surrender, for he does not think what YHWH is asking him to do is right, but his repentance is complete when he reaffirms the promise he apparently made earlier when he agreed to be YHWH's prophet. In Psalm 51, the next step in repentance is, "I will teach transgressors Your ways."
11. And YHWH spoke to the fish, and it vomited Yonah onto the dry land.
CHAPTER 3
1. Then the word of YHWH came to Yonah the second time, to say,
2. “Get up, go to Nin’weh, the great city, and call out to it aloud the proclamation that I Myself am speaking to you.”
YHWH did not change His message. Yonah had to be the one to change.
3. So Yonah got up and went to Nin’weh, just like what YHWH said. Now Nin’weh was a huge city—to [the point of being in the] Elohim [class]—a walk of three days!
Or, a great city to Elohim—big enough to be important to YHWH. There must have been more than ten righteous here. (Gen. 18:16-33) A walk of three days: Not that it took that long to encircle its circumference (which has been proven to have been about 8 miles), but that it would take that long for him to traverse every part of it without going to the same place twice.
4. When Yonah had begun to enter one day’s walk into the city, he called out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nin’weh will be overthrown!”
Overthrown: a clear allusion to what did occur at S’dom and ‘Amorrah.
5. And the men of Nin’weh believed Elohim, and they proclaimed a fast and put on [burlap] sacks, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Believed: the term has the undercurrents of not just trusting but affirming and concurring with the analysis he had rendered about their condition. This fast correlates with the traditional fast that follows forty days of repentance leading up to Yom haKippurim, which we especially spend judging ourselves. In fact, this whole book is traditionally read on that day. Burlap: itchy material that symbolizes the fact that one is serious about repentance and has humbled himself. It keeps one focused on the fact that he is not meant to be comfortable. Having come forth from the fish’s belly, he would have been bleached white by its gastric acids and his hair would have fallen out. He probably appeared pretty ghostly, and they would have been disposed to regard him as something that the fish-god Dagon had delivered to them. This was a “freak show” they would certainly pay attention to. Nin’weh is far from the sea, but if this was a whale shark, it could go pretty far up river as long as the water was still brackish, unless he was deposited on Mediterranean coast and traveled the rest of the way by land.
6. The word even reached the king of Nin’weh, and he got up off his throne, took off and laid aside his majestic [robe], covered himself with a [burlap] sack, and sat in ashes.
The city was big enough for the word of what was going on to take some time to reach the king. And he was not too high to humble himself; in fact, he went even further:
7. And he made a proclamation and [had it] said throughout Nin’weh, “By the decision of the king and his nobles, and I quote: ‘Neither man nor beast, herd or flock [animal], is to taste anything; let them neither pasture nor drink water!
Decision … taste: The same word in Hebrew. In other words, it suited the king’s tastes that it was inappropriate to taste food on such an occasion, as is the case for us on Yom Kippur. Man nor beast: This may indicate that the sin of the Nin’wites had something to do with their animals. Were they designated for slaughter to a pagan elohim? Were they their primary form of wealth, treated as too important, or gotten by unjust means? Or worse…? (See Lev. 18:23) To keep beasts from eating, you have to bring them to a place where there is nothing to eat. We need to take control of the “beasts” in ourselves. These beasts were dressed like men to show that we often act like beasts.
8. “‘And let both human and beast be covered with burlap, and let them call out to Elohim with forcefulness, and let [each] man turn back from his evil way and from the violence that is in the palms of their [hands]!
Evil way…violence: Yonah mentioned no particular sin, but right away they knew what he was talking about and that they had been caught, whatever they were doing. This city was built by Nimrod, who, like their wickedness (1:2), was “in YHWHs face”. They were all on the same level now; no one’s garments were nicer than anyone else’s—even the king’s. And they proved better than Israel; they did not kill the prophet! What’s more, clothing is a picture of our works, so what this was really all about was changing their actions, not putting on burlap.
9. “‘Who knows? The Elohim may turn back from the heat of His anger, and have mercy, so that we may not be obliterated!’”
Even the kings of Israel rarely repented at the words of the prophets. But compare David's repentance in 2 Shmu'el 12:22. Al Maxey writes of the Assyrians, “During the reign of Adad-nirari III (811-783 BC) there was a swing toward monotheism. However, at his death the nation entered a period of national weakness and even greater moral decay.” At this time, Assyria was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the mountain tribes of Urartu, and its northern allies, Mannai and Madai, who had been able to push their frontier to within less than a hundred miles of Nineveh”. (Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 7) Two plagues, in 756 and 759 BCE and an eclipse of the sun four years later, may have predisposed the Assyrians to hear Yonah’s message, as these were “events of the type regarded by ancients as evidence of divine judgment”. (Ryrie Study Bible) Maxey continues, “There is some historical evidence that during the reign of Ashurdan III (771-754 BC) a religious awakening occurred. This may have been the result of Jonah's preaching. In 745 BC, Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BC) came to the throne and Assyria again became a major power.” He is the one who first attacked Israel due to the idolatry of the three tribes east of the Yarden River. (1 Chron. 5:18-26)
10. When Elohim saw their actions—since they turned from their evil way—then Elohim was moved to compassion from the calamity that He had said [He would] cause for them, and did not bring it about.
This shows that a prophetic threat is not absolutely set in stone, but is contingent on how the hearers respond to it.
CHAPTER 4
1. But in Yonah’s eyes, it was a great calamity, and he started to become angry.
Angry: literally, had his heat kindled.
2. And he prayed to YHWH and said, “I beg You, O YHWH, isn’t that what I said while I was still on my own ground? That’s the very reason I hurried to Tharshish to prevent [this], because I knew that You are a considerate and compassionate El, slow to anger and abounding in mercy—One who can be moved to pity in regard to calamity.
Slow to anger: literally, long of nostrils. The nostrils flare to allow one to breathe more rapidly and calm the rush of adrenaline that anger causes. Hebrew is a language which had a deep understanding of physiological processes long before science "proved" such connections.
3. “So now, O YHWH, please take my life from me, because it’s better for me to die than to live!”
Why was his reaction so strong? Why did he not seem to want Nin’weh to repent? Hulley writes, “According to some commentators he—as an Israelite—was jealous about [YHWH’s] concern for a city of the Gentiles. But the explanation seems inadequate to account for such extreme emotion. As a prophet he must have been familiar with [YHWH’s] repeated promise that a;; the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham and his seed. Could the prospect of being such a blessing lead to so much misery? …His horror at aiding the greatest military threat to Israel makes more sense", because a people YHWH did not even have covenant with had made Israel look very bad. Apparently they had made such a stench in the earth that He decided to see what they would do with a warning, and when he saw their actions, He relented. This nation was to be commended for their response, but now it was a mirror into which Israel, which even destroys its own prophets, had to look. The Nin’wites were now shown to be holier than Israel, and so made Israel look very bad. Yonah, who knew their condition, had not wanted to make this so obvious before YHWH. Israel was not very obedient at this time in history, and Assyria was the up-and-coming power in the region, resurgent after a slump in its level of influence. Being a prophet, he might have already known that they would end up being His tool to chastise Israel. YHWH calls such nations His servants (Yirmeyahu 27:6; 43:10). The only background we have about Yonah anywhere else in Scripture is that he was from Gath-Hefer (2 Kings 14:25). At his word, Israel had returned to a position of strength, but they were still not repentant. If he were to die now, he reasoned, he might not have any children who would perish when they attacked. If Gath-Hefer belonged to the clan of Hefer, it was a city in Gil’ad, the part of M’nasheh’s land east of the Yarden (Num. 26:29-32), which indeed ended up being one of the first areas from which the Assyrians would carry captives away (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chron. 5) fewer than 50 years after this.
4. But YHWH said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Yonah had to judge this for himself. YHWH asked Qayin a similar question. (Gen. 4:6)
5. So Yonah went out of the city and sat down to the east of the city, and made a temporary shelter there for himself, and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would become of the city.
Yonah apparently thought YHWH might still change His mind. He obeyed to the point of building a sukkah and sitting in at the right time (just after the day of alarm and “judgment day” on which atonement was indeed found), but not to the point of including the nations in it. And the command is to be joyful at that time (Lev. 23:40), so the answer to YHWH’s question in verse 4 is a very clear “no”. YHWH asked him this so he would come around to the right attitude and bring his vow to complete fulfillment.
6. And YHWH appointed a vine, and it [grew] up over Yonah to become shade over his head, to rescue him from his misery. And Yonah was glad about the vine—very glad!
Now he was finally beginning to be in season, though he still didn’t invite anyone into the sukkah with him, and there was a whole city of Gentiles who had repented, and this is the Feast of Ingathering as well as the Season of Our Joy. There was a great open door to teach them the Torah, and YHWH had opened it. They were ready to hear, but he was sulking—possibly because he was sent out of the Land of Israel right at the time of the festivals, so he still could not see the Temple he remembered while inside the fish? YHWH was glad to bring them to repentance, but Yonah wished they were all dead. He built his own covering (kippur), but it was inferior, so YHWH had to make an additional covering for him, as with Adam and Chawwah.
7. But when the dawn began to rise the next day, YHWH appointed a worm, and it attacked the plant, and it withered.
This plant is specifically a plant of the gourd or squash family, which have very large leaves, producing ample shade. It is probably the type of pumpkin that is peculiar to the banks of the Tigris. Its vines can be trained to grow over structures like a sukkah, grows very rapidly, but also withers very quickly if cut or damaged.
8. Then when the sun rose, Elohim appointed a severe east wind, and the sun beat [down] on Yonah’s head so that he was growing faint, and he asked his soul to die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
East wind: or, spirit of what came ahead of him--possibly the very spirit that preceded him to Nin'weh to forestall their destruction. He did not respond to that spirit, so came to be on its wrong side and therefore it became his adversary. His pouting cost him his covering. Growing faint: or, enwrapping himself (so as to shield his skin from the scorching, blistering heat).
9. And Elohim said to Yonah, “Is it right for you to get angry about the plant?” And he said, “My anger is kindled rightly—to the point of death!”
Elohim: This time it is His judging side that is emphasized. He had been very merciful to Yonah and given him a very personal answer to his prayer—the best anyone could expect in the circumstances he had put himself into. Why, then, was he not being merciful to others? Their sin was actually lesser than his in the scheme of things, because he had the Torah and a specific word from YHWH—much more information than any of them had about the realities in the world. Y’shua may have based his parable of the unforgiving servant (Mat. 18:23ff) on this.
10. But YHWH said, “You had pity on the plant on which you did not labor and which you did not make grow, which was the product of one night, and being one night old, it perished.
11. “So shouldn’t I have pity on Nin’weh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 human beings who do not know [the difference] between their right hand and their left—[not to mention] many cattle?”
Shouldn't I? Apparently Yonah thought He should not, in sharp contrast to Moshe's attitude. Great: i.e., large, and possibly emphasizing that it was the capital, but it is from a root word meaning to twist together like a rope. To get a rope through the eye of the needle (see Matthew 19:24), they had to unravel every strand and pass them through one by one—but this city did just that. Yom Kippur is meant to be about sharing with the needy and bringing them into one’s own house. (Yeshayahu 58) Yonah did not care; which of them had built a sukkah as he had? They were nowhere near his level, and he had an “attitude” about that. 120,000: literally 12 myriads. Pity: Heb, hus, seemingly related to hesed. But Hulley sees the word as having a different root. He writes, “The customary translation…for the relationship [between YHWH and Nin’weh] is questionable. The word [hasah] does not normally carry such meanings as ‘to pity’ or ‘to spare’…The primary meaning of the word is ‘to take shelter’, and this fits exactly with the preceding text…the plant offering Jonah a shelter from the sun, which turned out to be temporary. By analogy…in this case it refers to [YHWH’s] use of Nineveh as a sort of shelter (or, more precisely, an enforced stopping-place) for an important part of His people, Ephraim, on its way into exile among the Gentiles… The implication is that [like the plant], Nineveh too will be destroyed, after it has served [YHWH’s] purpose.” YHWH called Assyria His instrument of correction for His people, but He would indeed later punish them for enjoying their job too much, being cruel about it, and for taking pride in what He allowed them to do. And He would—possibly even in part because of this attitude—allow a remnant of His people to return to full restoration. (Yeshayahu 10:5-24)
WRITINGS OF THE PROPHET
Yonah
INTRODUCTION: Dating from Yonah's name means "dove", and he was indeed meant to be a messenger of ultimate peace for those who would repent. He prophesied early in the reign of the Northern Kingdom’s Jeroboam II (793-753 BC), and the only prophecy we are told about other than that in this book is that he had foretold that king’s conquests and territorial expansion. (2 Kings 14:25) But Israel was in a state of deep apostasy through idolatry, and Yonah knew what other prophets (e.g., 1 Kings 14:15; Amos 5:27) and even the Torah (Lev. 26:21-33) had said would occur if they did not repent. In this milieu, Yonah is asked to go to the nation best poised to fulfill the prophecies and send Israel into exile, and give them an occasion to repent. This is the account of the psychological torture that such a tension between YHWH’s mercy on any who repent and His justice toward those who had flouted all the gifts He had given them produced in a prophet who called the latter his home. This book is traditionally read on Yom haKippurim. Notice how many themes of the book correspond with the themes of that day.
