The Book of Jonah (Hebrew: Sefer Yonah) is a book in the Hebrew Bible. It tells the story of an Hebrew prophet named Jonah ben Amittai who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. Set in the reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 BCE), it was probably written in the post-exilic period, sometime between the late fifth to early fourth century BC. The story has an interesting interpretive history (see belo...
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The Book of Jonah (Hebrew: Sefer Yonah) is a book in the Hebrew Bible. It tells the story of an Hebrew prophet named Jonah ben Amittai who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh but tries to escape the divine mission. Set in the reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 BCE), it was probably written in the post-exilic period, sometime between the late fifth to early fourth century BC. The story has an interesting interpretive history (see below) and has become well-known through popular children’s stories. In Judaism it is the Haftarah for the afternoon of Yom Kippur due to its story of God's willingness to forgive those who repent.
The Book of Jonah is primarily a story about the character of God, even His compassion. As such, it can be divided into four sections, roughly divided by each chapter: (1) God's sovereignty, (2) God’s deliverance, (3) God's mercy, and (4) God's righteousness. It may also be outlined in the following manner:
In the first half of the book, God's...
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