Prophetic Profile: Jonah

I'm a fan of the book of Jonah. In fact, I've blogged about it before. And everytime I study it, I learn something entirely new. Below is my "prophetic profile" for class.

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Little is known about the prophet Jonah. He was the son of Amittai and lived in Gath-Hepher, just north of Nazareth. 2 Kings tells us Jonah was a prophet, and there are indications that he prophesied in Israel before his journey to Nineveh. The book of Jonah gives little indication of the historical situation of Jonah’s time. We know he lived in the 8th century under Jeroboam II’s rule (786-746).

Jonah is unusual in that it only contains one line of prophecy. It is not a collection of oracles like other prophets. In fact, its function seems to be to tell Jonah’s story, rather than record the prophecies Jonah gave. Jonah is sent unwillingly to Nineveh. At first, he rejects this mission, runs from God and winds up in the belly of a great fish. There is a stark contrast between the faith of the pagan ship crew that throws Jonah to the sea, and Jonah’s apathy toward the Lord.

The “King of Nineveh” is the only foreign king mentioned, but this title is unusual because Nineveh was a capital city, not a country. However, this leader responds to Jonah’s warning, despite the fact that God is not mentioned, and commands his city to do likewise. Much to Jonah’s dismay, Nineveh, the city of Gentiles, is spared.

The whale event is a topic of much debate, with opinions falling on two sides: historical narrative or parabolic interpretation. Sparse in details at times, Jonah clearly reads as historical narrative. Other odd information, such as the repentance of animals (3:7-8), and the apparently exaggerated size of Nineveh (3:3-5), have also lead to speculation about the historic accuracy of Jonah. However, the single largest indictor that Jonah should be accepted as the word of the Lord is Jesus’ reference to Jonah in Matthew 12 and Luke 11.

The book of Jonah is most appropriately characterized as stylized prose. It can be divided into two main sections each with two sub-sections. There is a First Commission, which Jonah rejects, that leads to the episodes on the boat and in the belly of the whale. The Second Commission, which Jonah reluctantly manages, leads to Nineveh’s repentance, followed by Jonah’s struggles to comprehend God’s warmth towards a non-covenant community. Thematically, Jonah is representative of disenchanted Israel, contrasted with eager Gentiles. Though a member of the covenant people, Jonah appears more the common man, while the ship crew and Nineveh, both outsider Gentiles, are given special grace. Simplistically, Jonah’s nature is constant throughout, with one divergence in Jonah’s prayer, culminating in 2:9, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Both prior to and after this, Jonah is the Reluctant Prophet.