History Literature / BookOfJonah

The Book of Jonah comes from [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]] and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is the one with the whale]].[[note]]Which in the original Hebrew is just called "great fish", using a generic word for "fish" that can refer to anything from a shark to a salmon.[[/note]]

The Book of Jonah comes from [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]] and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is [[TheOneWith The One With The Whale]].[[note]]Which in the original Hebrew is just called "great fish", using a generic word for "fish" that can refer to anything from a shark to a salmon.[[/note]]

* PetTheDog: Compared to the wrathful God associated with most of the Old Testament, God here is incredibly benevolent to Nineveh despite their evil, even defying AMillionIsAStatistic by saying he cares for everyone in the city.

* EatenAlive: Pretty much. Jonah winds up swallowed by the Great Fish when he's thrown overboard. However, this was more a form of rescue via DivineIntervention than with the fish getting a meal, and it vomits him back onto dry land three days later.

* EatenAlive: Pretty much. Jonah winds up swallowed by the Great Fish when he's thrown overboard. However, this has more to do with a DeusExMachina rescue than with the fish getting a meal, and it vomits him back onto dry land three days later.

* GettingEatenIsHarmless: Jonah comes out not much the worse for wear after spending three days inside the fish's stomach. Of course, [[DeusExMachina divine intervention]] is a factor.

* WhatTheHellHero / TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: One delivered by God has got to hurt. Specifically, God chews out Jonah for caring more about his shade plant than all the people of Nineveh, which God specially points out includes those who don't know right from left and much cattle. Essentially, thousands of innocent children and animals.

** Jonah's three days in the whale were ultimately for a good purpose, since he was saved from death as well as allowed to continue living and preaching the message of God, but was nevertheless painful, unpleasant, and someone no one in their right mind would want to go through. Sound familiar?

** Every single person in the city of Nineveh starts repenting when they hear Jonah's message, and the king decrees that everyone should fast and wear sackcloth-- [[UpToEleven even the animals]].

* EgocentricallyReligious: {{Deconstructed}}. The {{Aesop}} of the story is that Jonah is wrong to be more concerned with God's favor to him personally than with the repentance of the tens of thousands of people in Nineveh.

* HappilyEverBefore: Nineveh may have repented now, but eventually the city becomes wicked again, as God declares in the Book of Isaiah that now he ''will'' destroy it. (The prophetic book of Nahum also spells doom for Nineveh.) Plus, Assyria became the conqueror of the northern kingdom of Israel.

* HeelFaithTurn: Jonah's prayer in Chapter 2 is a widely cited example of repentance, notably used in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish liturgy]] for [[UsefulNotes/JewishHolidays Yom Kippur]]. However, in-story Jonah had a few more lessons to learn about compassion for others even after he repented for himself.

* GettingEatenIsHarmless: Jonah comes out not much the worse for wear after spending three days inside the fish's stomach.

* SwallowedWhole: Yep, you remember the part where Jonah meets the Great Fish.

* BellyOfTheWhale: TropeNamer, although here it's an UnbuiltTrope (see below).

* UnbuiltTrope: "In the belly of a whale" is often used to refer to a period in a story where the protagonist is caught in a situation with no hope. However, in the story of Jonah the whale is actually ''not'' a punishment but God's way of saving Jonah from drowning. It also represented him giving Jonah a second chance by taking him back to land. Note, though, that the Bible itself compares being in the whale as a trial, when Christ compares the three days in the whale with his upcoming three days dead before resurrection.

* HappilyEverBefore: Nineveh may have repented now, but eventually the city becomes wicked again, as God declares in the Book of Isaiah that now he ''will'' destroy it. Plus, Assyria became the conqueror of the northern kingdom of Israel.

[[Literature/BooksOfKings In the reign of Jeroboam II]], the Lord speaks to his prophet Jonah ben Ammitai, telling him to go to the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. The city's wickedness will be punished with destruction if they persist, but God wants Jonah to give them a warning so they have a chance to repent. However, Jonah doesn't want to go to Ninevah, as they had a reputation for being extremely cruel, and instead flees his mission on a voyage to Tarshish in Gaul (Spain!)

* WhatTheHellHero / TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: One delivered by God has got to hurt. Specifically, God chews out Jonah for caring more about his shade plant than all the people of Ninevah, which God specially points out includes those who don't know right from left and much cattle. Essentially, thousands of innocent children and animals.

* EitherOrProphecy: Sort of. The people of Nineveh are GenreSavvy enough to hear "God will smite you for your evil" as "Repent or be destroyed". The prophet himself didn't catch it, and complains.

The Book of Jonah comes from [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]] and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is {{The One With}} The Whale.[[note]]Which in the original Hebrew is just called "great fish", using a generic word for "fish" that can refer to anything from a shark to a salmon.[[/note]]

The Book of Jonah comes from [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]] and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is [[TheOneWith The One With]] The Whale.[[note]]Which in the original Hebrew is just called "great fish", using a generic word for "fish" that can refer to anything from a shark to a salmon.[[/note]]

The Book of Jonah comes from [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]] and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is TheOneWith The Whale.[[note]]Which in the original Hebrew is just called "great fish", using a generic word for "fish" that can refer to anything from a shark to a salmon.[[/note]]

* SkewedPriorities: Called out by God in the closing words. Notably, Jonah is so angry about the plant's death that ''HE'' wants to die. Yet he cared nothing about letting thousands of Ninevites die.

[[Literature/BooksOfKings In the reign of Jeroboam II]], the Lord speaks to his prophet Jonah ben Ammitai, telling him to go to the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. The city's wickedness will be punished with destruction if they persist, but God wants Jonah to give them a warning so they have a chance to repent. However, Jonah doesn't want the Ninevites to be forgiven, and instead flees his mission on a voyage to Tarshish in Gaul (Spain!)