📖 The Book of Jonah
Start reading →Old Testament · 4 chapters · Prophet
God's mercy extends to the nations — even Israel's enemies.
Who wrote Jonah?
Author
Jonah (traditional)
Written
c. 760 BC
Genre
Prophet
Third-person narrative about Jonah; final composition date debated.
Why Jonah was written
Through the story of a reluctant prophet, God reveals the breadth of his compassion — even toward Nineveh, the brutal capital of Assyria — and challenges the narrowness of a people who want his grace for themselves but not for others.
Outline of Jonah
- 11: Jonah's flight and the storm
- 22: The prayer from the belly of the fish
- 33: Nineveh repents
- 44: Jonah's anger; God's compassion
Key verses
Jonah 1:3Jonah 2:9Jonah 4:2
How Jonah points to Christ
Jesus directly uses Jonah's three days in the fish as a sign of his own death and resurrection (Matt. 12:39-41). Jonah is one of the most explicit and personally cited types of Christ in the Gospels.
How Jonah begins
1Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Read Jonah 1 →