Jonah 2-4

Jonah 2

Jonah Prays from the Fish

Interesting: 

• Jonah 2:1 “the fish” = דָּג (dag, masculine)
• Jonah 2:2 “belly of the fish” = דָּגָה (dagah, feminine)

 no real repentance, but reflection

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried”

• “belly” = מֵעֶה (me‘eh)  inward parts
• שְׁאוֹל (Sheol) realm of death

 Descent Imagery

• “You cast me into the deep” 
• Waters close in, seaweed wraps his head
• “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever”
• Repeated downward movement (yarad, “to go down”) echoes Jonah 1

“Yet you brought up my life from the pit”

• Movement from descent to ascent
• “pit” = שַׁחַת (shachat)  grave/destruction

“Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love”

• Is this Jonah repenting?

“Salvation belongs to the LORD” 

God “appointed” the fish to release Jonah

• Hebrew: מָנָה (manah) = appoint/ordain
• Same verb used for the fish, plant, worm, wind

Would have been miles from Nineveh due to location

Jonah 3

“The word of the LORD came… a second time”

Nineveh described as:

• “an exceedingly great city” (literally “great to God” עִיר גְּדוֹלָה לֵאלֹהִים)
• Nineveh was a major Assyrian center and known for brutality (confirmed in Assyrian inscriptions)

Jonah’s Message

“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”

• “overthrown” = הָפַךְ (haphak) Can mean destroy OR transform

Entire city believes God

• From greatest to least:
  • fasting
  • sackcloth
  • King’s decree:
• Even animals included

“Who knows? God may turn and relent…”

Cf: Joel 2:14

God “relented” (נָחַם, nacham) Not change of character, but change of action in response to repentance

Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger

“It displeased Jonah exceedingly” (literally “evil to Jonah, a great evil”) וַיֵּרַעאֶל־יוֹנָהרָעָהגְּדוֹלָה vayyēraʿ el-yonah rāʿāh gedōlāh

• Jonah quotes Exodus 34:6

 God asks “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jonah waits to see what will happen still hoping for Nineveh’s destruction

God appoints:

• plant (shade)
• worm (destroys it)
• scorching wind

Jonah:

• rejoices over plant
• despairs when it dies

He values personal comfort more than human lives.

“You pity the plant… should not I pity Nineveh?”

Nineveh described as: 120,000 persons “who do not know their right hand from their left”

Application

The story of Jonah shows us many things. First, we must be prepared for when God calks us to be near people we would rather avoid. God’s compassion is broader than our expectations. Even if we end up obeying God, but do not have love,we can still find ourselves out of step with His heart. Jonah obeyed outwardly, but inwardly he resisted the very mercy God was showing.