Jonah
Israelite / Jew Hebrew, of Gath-hepher · Divided Kingdom · Old Testament
- Also called
- Jonas
- Name means
- Dove
- Role
- Prophet sent to Nineveh
- When
- 8th century BC (reign of Jeroboam II)
What they did
Fled from God's call to preach to Nineveh and was swallowed by a great fish. After three days he was cast out, preached, and the city repented, but he was displeased at God's mercy.
Why it matters: the purpose of their role
God's pity for Nineveh shows His love for Gentile nations. Jesus called his three days in the fish a sign of His own death and resurrection.
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? Jonah 4:11 (KJV)
Bible references
He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher. 2 Kings 14:25 (KJV)
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17 (KJV)
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Jonah 3:5 (KJV)
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? Jonah 4:11 (KJV)
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. Matthew 12:40-41 (KJV)
Family
- Father
- Amittai