Jonah

Jonah is the thirty-second book of the Bible and the fifth of the minor prophets. Unlike the others, it is mostly narrative rather than oracles, a short story about a reluctant prophet. The book is traditionally attributed to Jonah son of Amittai, who is mentioned briefly in 2 Kings as a prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II in the eighth century BC. The book itself is anonymous.

The story is well known. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and preach against it. Jonah refuses. He boards a ship heading the opposite direction. A storm threatens to sink the ship; Jonah confesses he is fleeing from God and asks the sailors to throw him overboard. They do. The storm stops. A great fish swallows Jonah; he spends three days inside it, prays, and is vomited up on dry land.

God repeats his command. This time Jonah goes. He walks through Nineveh announcing that the city will be destroyed in forty days. To his apparent surprise, the entire city, from the king down, repents, and God spares them.

The book ends not with celebration but with Jonah's anger. He wanted Nineveh destroyed. He sits outside the city, sulking. The book closes with a conversation between God and Jonah about mercy.