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Jonah (Biblical book)
From A Storehouse of Knowledge
The book of Jonah is one of the books of the Old Testament, grouped with the minor prophets. Unlike the other texts in this group, it is not a record of prophecies but rather a short biographical account of a prophet, recounting two episodes in Jonah's life.
The first, longest and most famous part of the book tells the story of how Jonah is ordered by God to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and denounce the ways of the people who lived there. Jonah runs away instead, catching a ship in the other direction and eventually being swallowed by an enormous fish or whale. The creature delivers Jonah to Nineveh, where he prophesies as originally instructed.
The second part of the book is much shorter. Jonah is vexed by the hot sun and takes refuge under a gourd tree, which then dies. This teaches a lesson about God's compassion for the people of Nineveh, and by extension other sinners (Jonah 4:10-11).
Popularity and importance
The story of Jonah is a popular one, and is almost certainly the most well-known among the minor prophets. It has great appeal to young children because of the episode with the whale or fish.
Jonah is also an important Old Testament type (parallel of a New Testament story): Jonah's time in the whale is a parallel of Jesus' three days in the tomb. In fact, Jesus Himself made this parallel explicit in Matthew 12:40[1].
References
| Books of the Bible | |
| Old Testament | |
| Pentateuch (Torah) | Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy |
| History | Joshua • Judges • Ruth • I Samuel • II Samuel • I Kings • II Kings • I Chronicles • II Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther |
| Wisdom Literature | Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon |
| Major Prophets | Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel |
| Minor Prophets | Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi |
| New Testament | |
| The Gospels | According to Matthew • According to Mark • According to Luke • According to John |
| History | Acts of the Apostles |
| Pauline Epistles | Romans • I Corinthians • II Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • I Thessalonians • II Thessalonians • I Timothy • II Timothy • Titus • Philemon |
| General Epistles | Hebrews • James • I Peter • II Peter • I John • II John • III John • Jude |
| Prophecy | The Revelation to John |
