Reference: Jonah
American
One of the minor prophets, was a native of Gath-hepher, in Zebulun, 2Ki 14:25. Being ordered of God to prophesy against Ninevah, probably in or before the reign of Jeroboam 2, which begun 825 B. C., he endeavored to avoid the command by embarking at Joppa for Tarshish, in order to fly as far as possible in the opposite direction. But being overtaken by a storm, he was thrown overboard at his own request, and miraculously preserved by being swallowed by a large fish. See WHALE. Several Greek and Roman legends seem to have been borrowed from this source. After three days, typical of our Savior's stay in the tomb, the fish cast Jonah out upon the shore; the word of the Lord a second time directed him to go to Nineveh, and he obeyed. The allusions of the narrative to the vast extent and population of this city, are confirmed by other ancient accounts and by modern investigations. See NINEVEH. At the warning word of the prophet, the Ninevites repented, and the destruction threatened was postponed; but the feelings of Jonah at seeing his predictions unfulfilled and the enemies of God's people spared, rendered necessary a further exercise of the forbearance of God. See GOURD.
The literal truth of the narrative is established by our Savior's repeated quotations, Mt 12:39-41; 16:4; Lu 11:29-32. It is highly instructive, as showing that the providential government of God extends to all heathen nations, and that his grace has never been confined to his covenant people.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.
But he answered [and] said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation desires a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah! For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. read more. The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.
And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah! For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. read more. The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, [something] greater than Solomon [is] here! The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
Easton
a dove, the son of Amittai of Gath-hepher. He was a prophet of Israel, and predicted the restoration of the ancient boundaries (2Ki 14:25-27) of the kingdom. He exercised his ministry very early in the reign of Jeroboam II., and thus was contemporary with Hosea and Amos; or possibly he preceded them, and consequently may have been the very oldest of all the prophets whose writings we possess. His personal history is mainly to be gathered from the book which bears his name. It is chiefly interesting from the two-fold character in which he appears, (1) as a missionary to heathen Nineveh, and (2) as a type of the "Son of man."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher. For Yahweh saw that the misery of Israel was very bitter, whether bond or free, but there was no helper for Israel. read more. Yahweh did not decree to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash.
Fausets
("dove".) (Ge 8:8-9, seeking rest in vain, fleeing from Noah and the ark; so Jonah). Parentage, date. Son of Amittai of Gath Hepher in Zebulun (2Ki 14:25-27, compare 2Ki 13:4-7). Jeroboam II "restored the coast from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah" etc. (See HAMATH.) "For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any (i.e., none married or single, else confined or at large, as a) helper for Israel." Israel was at its lowest extremity, i.e early in Joash's reign, when Jehovah (probably by Jonah) promised deliverance from Syria, which was actually given first under Joash, in answer to Jehoahaz' prayer, then completely under Jeroboam II. (See JEHOAHAZ.) Thus, Jonah was among the earliest of the prophets who wrote, and close upon Elisha who died in Joash's reign, having just before death foretold Syria's defeat thrice (2Ki 13:14-21).
Hosea and Amos prophesied in the latter part of the 41 years' reign of Jeroboam II. The events recorded in the book of Jonah were probably late in his life. The book begins with "And," implying that it continues his prophetic work begun before; it was written probably about Hosea's and Amos' time. Hosea (Ho 6:2) saw the prophetical meaning of Jonah's entombment: "after two days will He revive us, in the third day He will raise us up;" primarily Israel, in a short period (Lu 13:32-33) to be revived from its national deadness, antitypically Messiah, raised on the third day (Joh 2:19; 1Co 15:4); as Israel's political resurrection typifies the general resurrection, of which Christ's resurrection is the firstfruits (Isa 26:19; Eze 37:1-14; 1Co 15:22-23; Da 12:2). The mention of Nineveh's being "an exceeding great city" implies it was written before the Assyrian inroads had made them know too well its greatness.
PERSONAL REALITY. The pagan fable of Hercules springing into a sea monster's jaws and being three days in its belly, when saving Hesione (Diodor. Sic. 4:42), is rather a corruption of the story of Jonah than vice versa, if there be any connection. Jerome says, near Joppa lay rocks represented as those to which Andromeda was bound when exposed to the sea monster. The Phoenicians probably carried the story of Jonah to Greece. Our Lord's testimony proves the personal existence, miraculous fate, and prophetical office of Jonah. "The sign of the prophet Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights (both eases count the day from, and that to, which the reckoning is) in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12:39-41).
Jonah's being in the fish's belly Christ makes a "sign," i.e. a real miracle typifying the like event in His own history, and assumes the prophet's execution of his commission to Nineveh; "the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold a greater than Jonah is here." The miracle is justified by the crisis then in the development of the kingdom of God, when Israel by impenitence was about to fall before Assyria, and God's principle of righteous government needed to be exhibited in sparing Nineveh through the preaching of Jonah, spared himself after living entombment. The great Antitype too needed such a vivid type.
CANONICITY, DESIGN. It seemed strange to Kimchi that this book is in the canon, as its only prophecy concerns Nineveh, a pagan city, and does not mention Israel, of whom all the other prophets prophesy. The strangeness is an argument for the inspiration of the sacred canon; but the solution is, Israel is tacitly reproved. A pagan city repents at a strange prophet's first preaching, whereas Israel, God's elect, repented not, though admonished by their own prophets at all seasons. An anticipatory dawn of the "light to lighten the Gentiles," Jonah was a parable in himself: a prophet of God, yet a runaway from God; drowned, yet alive; a preacher of repentance, yet one that repines at repentance resulting from his preaching. God's pity and patience form a wonderful contrast to man's self will and hard hearted pettiness. His name, meaning "dove," symbolizes mourning love, his feeling toward his people, either given prophetically or assumed by him as a watchword of his feeling. His truthfullness (son of Amirtai, i.e. truth) appears in his so faithfully recording his own perversity and punishment.
His patriotic zeal against his people's adversaries, like that of James and John, was in a wrong spirit (Lu 9:51-56). He felt repugnance to deliver the Lord's warning to Nineveh ("cry against it," Jon 1:2), whose destruction he desired, not their repentance. Jonah was sent when he had been long a prophet, and had been privileged to announce from God the restoration of Israel's coasts. God's goodness had not led them to repent (2Ki 13:6; 14:24). Amos (Am 5:27) had foretold that Israel for apostasy should be carried "captive beyond Damascus," i.e. beyond that enemy from which Jeroboam II had just delivered them, according to the prophecy of Jonah, and that they should be "afflicted from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness" (the southern bound of Moab, then forming Israel's boundary), i.e. the very bounds restored by Jeroboam II, for "the river of the arabah" or "wilderness" flowed into the S. end of "the sea of the plain" or Dead Sea (2Ki 14:25; Am 6:14).
Hosea too (Ho 9:3) had foretold their eating unclean things in Assyria. Instinctively Jonah shrank from delivering a message which might eventuate in Nineveh being spared, the city by which Israel was to suffer. Pul or Ivalush III (Rawlinson, Herodotus) was then king. (See ASSYRIA), and by Pal the first weakening of Israel afterward took place. "Jonah sought the honour of the son (Israel), and sought not the honour of the Father" (God) (Kimchi, from rabbinical tradition). Jonah is the only case of a prophet hiding his prophetical message; the reluctance at first was common to many of them (Isa 6:5; Jer 1:6,17; Ex 4:10). His desire was that Nineveh's sudden overthrow, like Sodom's, might produce the effect which his words failed to produce, to rouse Israel from impenitence.
HISTORY. Jonah embarked at Joppa for the far off Tartessus of Spain or Tarshish in Cilicia; compare as to the folly of the attempt Ps 139:7-10; Ge 3:8-10; Jer 23:24. However, "from the presence of the Lord" (Jon 1:3) means not from His universal presence, which Jonah ought to have known is impossible, but from ministering in His immediate presence in the Holy Land. The storm, the strange sleep (of self hardening, weariness, and God forgetfulness; contrast Mr 4:37-39, spiritually with Eph 5:14), the lot casting, and detection of Jonah and casting into and consequent calming of the sea, followed.
TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Jonah reflected' Israel's backsliding and consequent punishment; type of Messiah who bears our imputed guilt and its punishment; compare Ps 42:7; 69:1-2; Joh 11:50. God spares the prayerful penitent: (1) the pagan sailors, (2) Jonah, (3) Nineveh. He sank to the "bottom" of the sea first, and felt "the seaweed wrapped about his head" (Jon 2:5-6), then the God-prepared great fish (the dog fish, Bochart; in any view a miracle is needed, the rest is conjecture). The prophet's experiences adapted him, by sympathy, for fulfilling his office to his hearers. God's infinite resources in mercy, as well as judgment, appear in Jonah's devourer becoming his preserver. Jonah was a type to Nineveh and Israel of death following sin, and of resurrection on repentance; preeminently of Christ's death for sin and resurrection by the Spirit of God (Mt 12:40). Jonah in his thanksgiving notices that his chief punishment consisted in the very thing which his flight had aimed at, being "cast out of God's sight" (Jon 1:3; 2:4,8; Jer 2:13; 17:13).
Hezekiah's hymn is based on it (Isa 38:17; Jon 2:6). Jehovah's next message (more definite and awful than the former) was faithfully delivered by Jonah: "yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed." Jonah, himself a living exemplification of judgment and mercy, was "a sign (an embodied
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden {at the windy time of day}. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. And Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, "Where [are] you?" read more. And he replied, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I [am] naked, so I hid myself."
And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen?
And {he sent out a dove} to see [whether] the waters had subsided from upon the ground. But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters [were still] on the face of the earth. And he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark.
And Moses said to Yahweh, "Please, Lord, I [am] not a man of words, {neither recently nor in the past nor since your speaking} to your servant, because I [am] heavy of mouth and of tongue."
And your little children, who you thought shall become plunder, and your sons, who do not today know good or bad, shall themselves go there, and I will give it to them, and they shall take possession of it.
Then he went into the wilderness one day's journey, and he went and sat under a certain broom tree. Then {he asked Yahweh that he might die}, and he said, "It is enough now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then Jehoahaz entreated Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Aram oppressed them. Yahweh gave Israel a savior, and they went out from under the hand of Aram. So the {Israelites} lived in their tents as {formerly}. read more. Yet they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to sin, but walked in it; and also, the pole of the Asherah worship was [still] standing in Samaria.
Yet they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to sin, but walked in it; and also, the pole of the Asherah worship was [still] standing in Samaria. For there was no army left over for Jehoahaz except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them as the dust at threshing.
Elisha became ill with the illness with which he would die, so Jehoash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, and said, "My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and arrows," so he took him a bow and arrows. read more. He said to the king of Israel, "{Lay your hand on the bow}," so he lay hold [of it]; then Elisha put his hand on the hands of the king. Then he said, "Open the window to the east," so he opened [it]. Elisha said, "Shoot," and he shot. Then he said, "An arrow of victory for Yahweh, and an arrow of victory against Aram; you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until finishing [them]." Then he said, "Take the arrows," so he took [them]. He said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground," so he struck three times and stopped. [Yet] the man of God became angry against him and said, "For striking five or six times, then you would have defeated Aram until finishing [them], but now you will defeat Aram [only] three times." Elisha died and they buried him. Now the raiding parties of Moab came {in the spring}. And it happened that they [were] burying a man; suddenly they saw the marauding band, so they threw the man in the grave of Elisha. [As he] went [in], the man touched the bones of Elisha, and became alive and got up on his feet!
But he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which he caused Israel to sin. He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher. For Yahweh saw that the misery of Israel was very bitter, whether bond or free, but there was no helper for Israel. read more. Yahweh did not decree to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash.
O Yahweh, by your favor you caused my strong mountain to stand. You hid your face. I was bewildered.
Deep [is] calling to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls. All your breakers and your waves have passed over me.
Save me, O God, because waters have come up to [my] neck. I sink in [the] mud of the deep, and there is no foothold. I have come to watery depths, and [the] torrent floods over me.
Where I can go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, there you [are], and if I make my bed [in] Sheol, look! [There] you [are]. read more. If I lift up [the] wings of [the] dawn, [and] I alight on [the] far side of [the] sea, even there your hand would lead me, and your right hand would hold me fast.
And I said, "Woe to me! For I am destroyed! For I [am] a man {of unclean lips}, and I [am] living among a people {of unclean lips}, for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!"
Your dead shall live; {their corpses} shall rise. Wake up and sing for joy, dwellers of [the] dust, for your dew [is] {celestial dew}, and the earth will give birth to dead spirits.
Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace. And you were the one who loved my life from [the] pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look, I do not know [how] to speak, for I [am] a youth."
But you, you must gird your loins, and stand, and speak to them all that I command you. {Do not be afraid of them}, or I will shatter you {before} them.
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all [those who] forsake you will be put to shame, and [those who] turn aside from you in the earth will be recorded, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, Yahweh.
Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?" {declares} Yahweh. "[Do] I not fill up the heaven and the earth?" {declares} Yahweh.
The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me by the Spirit of Yahweh, and he {let me rest} in the midst of the valley, and it [was] full of bones. And he led me {all around} over them, and look, very many on the surface of the valley, and look, very dry. read more. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I said, "Lord Yahweh, you know." And he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and you must say to them, [to] the dry bones, 'Hear the word of Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: "Look! I [am] bringing into you breath, and you will live! And I will lay on you sinews, and I will let flesh come upon you, and I will cover you over [with] skin, and I will put breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh." '" And I prophesied {just as} I had been commanded, and [there] was a sound at my prophesying, and look! A rattling, and they came together--[the] bones! Bone to its bone! And I looked, and indeed, sinews [were] on them, and flesh went up, and skin covered over them {upward}, but breath [was] not in them. And he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and you must say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh {from the four winds}, "Come, O spirit and breath, on these dead ones, so that they may live!" '" And I prophesied {as} he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they became alive, and they stood on their feet, a very, very large group. And he said to me, "Son of man, these bones [are] all of the house of Israel; look! [they are] saying, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; {we are cut off as far as we are concerned}.' Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel! And you will know that I [am] Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people! And I will put my breath into you so that you may live, and I will cause you to rest on your soil, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!" ' {declares} Yahweh."
And many from [those] sleeping {in the dusty ground} will awake, some to {everlasting life} and some to disgrace and {everlasting contempt}.
He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his presence.
They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return [to] Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return [to] Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
He will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to return.
They will tremble like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will let them return to their homes-- a declaration of Yahweh.
And I will deport you beyond Damascus," says Yahweh--the God of hosts [is] his name.
And I will deport you beyond Damascus," says Yahweh--the God of hosts [is] his name.
Indeed, I [am] going to raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, {declares} Yahweh, the God of hosts. And they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath up to the wadi of the Arabah.
"Get up! Go to the great city Nineveh and cry out against her, because their evil has come up {before me}." But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh. And he went down [to] Joppa and found a merchant ship going [to] Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh.
But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh. And he went down [to] Joppa and found a merchant ship going [to] Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh.
and said, "I called {from my distress} to Yahweh, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried for help-- you heard my voice.
And I said, 'I am banished from your sight; how {will I continue to look} {on your holy temple}?' [The] waters encompassed me up to [my] neck; [the] deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. read more. I went down to the foundations of [the] mountains; the Underworld--its bars [were] around me forever. But you brought up my life from [the] pit, Yahweh my God.
I went down to the foundations of [the] mountains; the Underworld--its bars [were] around me forever. But you brought up my life from [the] pit, Yahweh my God.
Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love.
And Yahweh God appointed a plant, and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah {was very glad} about the plant.
So God said to Jonah, "{Is it right for you to be angry} about the plant?" And he said, "{It is right for me to be angry enough to die}!"
But he answered [and] said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation desires a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah! For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
Then he said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me."
And a great storm of wind developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled [with water]. And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, is it not a concern to you that we are perishing?" read more. And he woke up [and] rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Be quiet! Be silent!" And the wind abated and there was a great calm.
Now it happened that when the days were approaching {for him to be taken up}, he set [his] face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers before {him}, and they went [and] entered into a village of the Samaritans in order to prepare for him. read more. And they did not welcome him because {he was determined to go} to Jerusalem. Now [when] the disciples James and John saw [it], they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned around [and] rebuked them, and they proceeded to another village.
For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
And he said to them, "Go [and] tell that fox, 'Behold, I am expelling demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third [day] I will complete [my work].' Nevertheless, it is necessary [for] me to be on the way today and tomorrow and on the next [day], because it is not possible [for] a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.
Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!"
Nor do you consider that it is profitable for you that one man should die for the people, and the whole nation not perish."
for everything made visible is light. Therefore it says, Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.
Hastings
JONAH
1. The man Jonah.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
From there it passes [along] to the east toward the sunrise, to Gath Hepher and to Eth Kazin, and continuing [to] Rimmon, it turns [to] Neah;
Then he went into the wilderness one day's journey, and he went and sat under a certain broom tree. Then {he asked Yahweh that he might die}, and he said, "It is enough now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.
And [as for] his sons, the many oracles against him, and [his repair of] the foundation of the house of God, behold, they [are] written in the story of the scroll of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me. "[May] the violence done to me and to my flesh [be] on Babylon," the inhabitants of Zion will say; and "My blood [be] upon the inhabitants of Chaldea," Jerusalem will say. read more. {Therefore} thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] going to contend your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will cause her sea to dry up, and I will cause her fountain to dry up. And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, [an object of] horror, and [an object of] hissing, {without} inhabitants. They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions. At their becoming hot I will set their banquets, and I will make them drunk, so that they will fall into a swoon, and they will sleep {an everlasting sleep}, and they will not wake up," {declares} Yahweh. "I will bring them down like young rams to slaughter, like rams and goats. How Sheshach is captured, and the glory of all the earth is seized! How Babylon has become as an [object of] horror among the nations! The sea has risen over Babylon, she has been covered by the roar of its waves. Her cities have become as an [object of] horror, a dry land and a wilderness, a land in which no person lives, nor does a son of humankind pass through it. And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth {what he has swallowed}. And [the] nations will not stream towards him [any] longer {what's worse}, the wall of Babylon has fallen.
And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh. And he went down [to] Joppa and found a merchant ship going [to] Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from {the presence of} Yahweh. And Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and it was a great storm on the sea, and the merchant ship {was in danger of breaking up}. read more. And the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they threw the {contents} that were in the merchant ship into the sea to lighten it for them. And [meanwhile] Jonah went down into the hold of the vessel and lay down and fell asleep. And the captain of the ship approached him and said to him, "Why are you {sound asleep}? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps [your] god will take notice of us and we won't perish!" And they said {to one another}, "Come, let us cast lots so that we may know on whose account this disaster [has come] on us!" And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
And they said {to one another}, "Come, let us cast lots so that we may know on whose account this disaster [has come] on us!" And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. So they said to him, "Please tell us whoever [is responsible that] this disaster [has come] upon us! What [is] your occupation? And from where do you come? What [is] your country? And from which people [are] you?"
So they said to him, "Please tell us whoever [is responsible that] this disaster [has come] upon us! What [is] your occupation? And from where do you come? What [is] your country? And from which people [are] you?" And he said to them, "I [am] a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
And he said to them, "I [am] a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men {were greatly afraid}, and they said to him, "What [is] this you have done?" because they knew that he [was] fleeing {from the presence of} Yahweh (because he had told them).
Then the men {were greatly afraid}, and they said to him, "What [is] this you have done?" because they knew that he [was] fleeing {from the presence of} Yahweh (because he had told them). So they said to him, "What shall we do to you so that the sea may quiet down for us?" because the sea {was growing more and more tempestuous}.
So they said to him, "What shall we do to you so that the sea may quiet down for us?" because the sea {was growing more and more tempestuous}. And he said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea so that the sea may quiet down for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm [has come] upon you all."
And he said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea so that the sea may quiet down for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm [has come] upon you all." But the men rowed [hard] to bring [the ship] back to the dry land, and they could not [do so] because the sea {was growing more and more tempestuous} against them.
But the men rowed [hard] to bring [the ship] back to the dry land, and they could not [do so] because the sea {was growing more and more tempestuous} against them. So they cried out to Yahweh, and they said, "O Yahweh! Please do not let us perish because of this man's life, and {do not make us guilty of innocent blood}, because you, O Yahweh, did what you wanted."
So they cried out to Yahweh, and they said, "O Yahweh! Please do not let us perish because of this man's life, and {do not make us guilty of innocent blood}, because you, O Yahweh, did what you wanted." And they picked Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
And they picked Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. So the men feared Yahweh {greatly}, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and {made} vows. read more. And Yahweh provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the belly of the fish
And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the belly of the fish and said, "I called {from my distress} to Yahweh, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried for help-- you heard my voice.
and said, "I called {from my distress} to Yahweh, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried for help-- you heard my voice. And you threw me [into the] deep, into the heart of [the] seas, and [the] sea currents surrounded me; all your breakers and your surging waves passed over me.
And you threw me [into the] deep, into the heart of [the] seas, and [the] sea currents surrounded me; all your breakers and your surging waves passed over me.
And you threw me [into the] deep, into the heart of [the] seas, and [the] sea currents surrounded me; all your breakers and your surging waves passed over me. And I said, 'I am banished from your sight; how {will I continue to look} {on your holy temple}?'
And I said, 'I am banished from your sight; how {will I continue to look} {on your holy temple}?'
And I said, 'I am banished from your sight; how {will I continue to look} {on your holy temple}?' [The] waters encompassed me up to [my] neck; [the] deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
[The] waters encompassed me up to [my] neck; [the] deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
[The] waters encompassed me up to [my] neck; [the] deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. I went down to the foundations of [the] mountains; the Underworld--its bars [were] around me forever. But you brought up my life from [the] pit, Yahweh my God.
I went down to the foundations of [the] mountains; the Underworld--its bars [were] around me forever. But you brought up my life from [the] pit, Yahweh my God.
I went down to the foundations of [the] mountains; the Underworld--its bars [were] around me forever. But you brought up my life from [the] pit, Yahweh my God. When my life was ebbing away from me, I remembered Yahweh, and my prayer came to you, {to your holy temple}.
When my life was ebbing away from me, I remembered Yahweh, and my prayer came to you, {to your holy temple}. Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love.
Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love. But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you; I will fulfill what I have vowed. Deliverance [belongs] to Yahweh!"
But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you; I will fulfill what I have vowed. Deliverance [belongs] to Yahweh!" And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.
And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second [time], saying, "Get up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the message that I [am] telling you." read more. So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was {an extraordinarily great city}--a journey of three days [across].
So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was {an extraordinarily great city}--a journey of three days [across]. And Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he cried out and said, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be demolished!" read more. And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth--from the greatest of them {to the least important}. And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. And he had a proclamation made, and said, "In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles: "No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! read more. And [the] human beings and [the] animals must be covered [with] sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn {from his blazing anger} {so that} we will not perish." And God saw their deeds--that they turned from their evil ways--and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said [he would] bring upon them, and he did not do [it].
And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, [was] this not {what I said} while I was in my homeland? Therefore {I originally fled} to Tarshish, because I knew that you [are] a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger {and having great steadfast love}, and one who relents concerning calamity.
And Yahweh said, "{Is it right for you to be angry}?" And Jonah went out from the city and sat [down] east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, {waiting to see} what would happen with the city. read more. And Yahweh God appointed a plant, and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah {was very glad} about the plant. So God appointed a worm {at daybreak} the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. {And when the sun rose}, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head and he grew faint. {And he asked that he could die} and said, "My death [is] better than my life!" So God said to Jonah, "{Is it right for you to be angry} about the plant?" And he said, "{It is right for me to be angry enough to die}!" But Yahweh said, "You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. {It grew up in a night and it perished in a night}! And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, {in which there are} more {than one hundred and twenty thousand} people who do not know right from left, plus many animals?"
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the coming one!
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.
And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah!
Morish
Jo'nah
Son of Amittai and the prophet of Gath-hepher (in Galilee: cf. Joh 7:52). His prophecy is in the main the history of himself. It shows that the prophet embodied in himself the testimony of God through Israel to the Gentiles (comp. Mt 24:14), and also the important fact that God regards the contrition and turning from evil of a city or nation. Jonah was directed to go and cry against that great city Nineveh; but instead of obeying, he fled from the presence of the Lord. He himself tells us why he fled
See Verses Found in Dictionary
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.
And many from [those] sleeping {in the dusty ground} will awake, some to {everlasting life} and some to disgrace and {everlasting contempt}.
And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, [was] this not {what I said} while I was in my homeland? Therefore {I originally fled} to Tarshish, because I knew that you [are] a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger {and having great steadfast love}, and one who relents concerning calamity.
But he answered [and] said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation desires a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah! For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. read more. The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah! For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. read more. The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, [something] greater than Solomon [is] here! The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
They answered and said to him, "You are not also from Galilee, [are you]? Investigate and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee!" [[
But [when] the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting what was being said by Paul [by] reviling [him].
Smith
Jo'nah
(dove), the fifth of the minor prophets, was the son of Amittai, and a native of Gath-hepher.
He flourished in or before the reign of Jeroboam II., about B.C. 820. Having already, as it seems, prophesied to Israel, he was sent to Nineveh. The time was one of political revival in Israel; but ere long the Assyrians were to be employed by God as a scourge upon them. The prophet shrank from a commission which he felt sure would result,
in the sparing of a hostile city. He attempted therefore to escape to Tarshish. The providence of God, however, watched over him, first in a storm, and then in his being swallowed by a large fish (a sea monster, probably the white shark) for the space of three days and three nights. [On this subject see article WHALE] After his deliverance, Jonah executed his commission; and the king, "believing him to be a minister form the supreme deity of the nation," and having heard of his miraculous deliverance, ordered a general fast, and averted the threatened judgment. But the prophet, not from personal but national feelings, grudged the mercy shown to a heathen nation. He was therefore taught by the significant lesson of the "gourd," whose growth and decay brought the truth at once home to him, that he was sent to testify by deed, as other prophets would afterward testify by word, the capacity of Gentiles for salvation, and the design of God to make them partakers of it. This was "the sign of the prophet Jonas."
See Whale
Lu 11:29-30
But the resurrection of Christ itself was also shadowed forth in the history of the prophet.
The mission of Jonah was highly symbolical. The facts contained a concealed prophecy. The old tradition made the burial-place of Jonah to be Gath-hepher; the modern tradition places it at Nebi-Yunus, opposite Mosul.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher.
And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, [was] this not {what I said} while I was in my homeland? Therefore {I originally fled} to Tarshish, because I knew that you [are] a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger {and having great steadfast love}, and one who relents concerning calamity.
But he answered [and] said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation desires a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah!
The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.
And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah! For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
Watsons
JONAH, son of Amittai, the fifth of the minor prophets, was born at Gathhepher, in Galilee. He is generally considered as the most ancient of the prophets, and is supposed to have lived B.C. 840. The book of Jonah is chiefly narrative. He relates that he was commanded by God to go to Ninevah, and preach against the inhabitants of that capital of the Assyrian empire; that, through fear of executing this commission, he set sail for Tarshish; and that, in his voyage thither, a tempest arising, he was cast by the mariners into the sea, and swallowed by a large fish; that, while he was in the belly of this fish, he prayed to God, and was, after three days and three nights, delivered out of it alive; that he then received a second command to go and preach against Nineveh, which he obeyed; that, upon his threatening the destruction of the city within forty days, the king and people proclaimed a fast, and repented of their sins; and that, upon this repentance, God suspended the sentence which he had ordered to be pronounced in his name. Upon their repentance, God deferred the execution of his judgment till the increase of their iniquities made them ripe for destruction, about a hundred and fifty years afterward. The last chapter gives an account of the murmuring of Jonah at this instance of divine mercy, and of the gentle and condescending manner in which it pleased God to reprove the prophet for his unjust complaint. The style of Jonah is simple and perspicuous; and his prayer, in the second chapter, is strongly descriptive of the feelings of a pious mind under a severe trial of faith. Our Saviour mentions Jonah in the Gospel, Mt 12:41; Lu 11:32. See NINEVEH and See GOURD.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!
The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!