Jonah: An Introduction

Date of writing

About Jonah:

A prophet of the northern kingdom

From the tribe of Zebulun

Who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-752 BC) - during a time of peace and prosperity

About Jonah’s journey:

Tarshish - a maritime city, precise location unknown

Nineveh - Assyrian city on the bank of the Tigris River; capital city under Sennacherib

Genre: historical biographical narrative; teaching narrative

Distinctives:

a prophetic book that looks more like a narrative

a story you could almost expect to find in Kings

many parallels between Jonah and Elijah

both fled from God

both sat under a tree and asked to die

Liberal perspectives:

Postexilic (vs. 8th century)

Denial of the fish story

Denial of Nineveh’s repentance

But…Jesus refers to both of these events in the NT!

There are a number of symmetries in the book, which makes it even more likely that it was conceived and written by a single author

Theme: God’s Sovereignty in Salvation