History Literature / BookOfJonah

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: If the "great fish" is indeed a whale, though obviously this book was written before it was discovered whales are mammals. There's also how Jonah survived inside it without being digested or suffocating, but divine intervention is already a factor here.
** Then again, ancient cultures like the Hebrews categorized animals based on their habitat rather than their evolutionary line.

* EgocentricallyReligious: {{Deconstructed}}. The {{Aesop}} of the story is that Jonah is wrong to be more concerned about God providing for his personal comfort than about the fate of the tens of thousands of people in Nineveh.
* EitherOrProphecy: Sort of. The people of Nineveh are clever enough to hear "God will smite you for your evil" as "Repent or be destroyed". The prophet himself didn't catch it, and complains.

** Subverted in, off all places, [[https://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0289/0289_01.asp a Chick Tract.]] Jonah is covered in acid burns when he gets out.

* HeelFaceTown: The city of Nineveh is so wicked that when God tells the prophet Jonah to go and preach to it, Jonah tries to run away. When he eventually turns around and preaches to Nineveh, the [[HeelFaithTurn city repents]].

--->-- '''Jonah 3:8-10'''

Jonah is also mentioned in II Kings 14:25.

* HeelFaceTown: the city of Nineveh is so wicked that when God tells the prophet Jonah to go and preach to it, Jonah tries to run away. When he eventually turns around and preaches to Nineveh, the [[HeelFaithTurn city repents.]]

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Defied. [[GodIsGood God]] calls [[EgocentricallyReligious Jonah]] out on showing no concern as to whether 120,000 people in Nineveh repent or not. To be specific, Jonah tried running away to Tarshish when he was told to go to Nineveh. Then, after spending three days in the belly of a whale, he warns Nineveh of its imminent destruction, only for the Ninevites to, surprise-surprise, ''repent''! Jonah is furious and [[ManChild throws a temper tantrum about it]], but God reminds him that He created all 120,000 of these people, including little children, and as many cattle.
* NoEnding: The story abruptly ends after God's WhatTheHellHero speech. We never see if Jonah learned his lesson, if he did anything else, or if he just died there in the desert. On the other hand, [[UndeadAuthor who else would have written such a frank and unflattering portrayal of Jonah, other than Jonah himself?]]

At Nineveh, Jonah preaches to the people that, unless they repent, the entire city will be destroyed in forty days due to their evil. The Ninevites are struck with fear and spend those days in fasting and mourning, thus convincing God to spare them. The Ninevites rejoice at being given mercy, but Jonah does not celebrate with them. He exits the city soon after and watches it from the plains in hope of God still smiting them anyway.

* AnAesop: You can't RefuseTheCall of {{God}}. Also, it’s wrong to be EgocentricallyReligious, because GodIsGood and has compassion on everybody.

* AnAesop: It’s wrong to be EgocentricallyReligious, because GodIsGood and has compassion on everybody.

* SignatureScene: Yep, this is the one where the dude gets swallowed by the giant fish (most often depicted as a whale).

The Book of Jonah comes from the Old Testament and is grouped with the Minor Prophets.

Jonah doesn't drown, though, because God provides a you-know-what to swallow him and take him to Nineveh. For three days Jonah prays inside the beast, thanking God for giving him a second chance. The beast then vomits Jonah onto dry land and the prophet treks away to the city.

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

[[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 Nineveh, as they had a reputation for being extremely cruel, and instead flees his mission on a voyage to Tarshish in modern-day Spain, which is in the exact opposite direction.

The Lord provides a vine to grow and give his prophet shade. The next day, though, Jonah wakes up to find the vine dead. He curses God for killing the plant, and the Lord responds to Jonah with a WhatTheHellHero for being more concerned about a plant than for a city filled with thousands of people.

[[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 Nineveh, as they had a reputation for being extremely cruel, and instead flees his mission on a voyage to Tarshish in Gaul (Spain!)

JustForFun/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]]

* CantRefuseTheCallAnymore: "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. Though 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.
** 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 something no one in their right mind would want to go through. Sound familiar?

The Book of Jonah comes from the Old Testament and is grouped with the Minor Prophets. This is JustForFun/{{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 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]]

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Jonah soon learns about this thanks to God.

* 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 [[Literature/BookOfNahum book of Nahum]] also spells doom for Nineveh.) Plus, Assyria became the conqueror of the northern kingdom of Israel.

* 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, up to and including the cows.

* 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. See YankTheDogsChain though.

* CantRefuseTheCallAnymore: "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.

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

** 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.

* SeaMonster: This would be a more accurate translation of the Hebrew ''dag gadol'', literally "great fish," which can mean any type of giant sea creature in general. It ''could'' mean "whale," [[CommonKnowledge but not exclusively]].

* YankTheDogsChain: God provided a plant to give shade for Jonah, only to kill it the next day. Then caused a hot desert wind to give Jonah heatstroke. That'd get him quite mad. Of course, [[{{Jerkass}} he kind of deserves it, though]].

[[caption-width-right:350:What a lovely day for a swim!]]

* NoEnding: The story abruptly ends after God's WhatTheHellHero speech. We never see if Jonah learned his lesson, if he did anything else, or if he just died there in the desert.
** Ostensibly Jonah did finally learn his lesson. Who else would have written such a frank and unflattering portrayal of Jonah, other than Jonah himself?

* RefusingTheCall: Jonah tried doing this with his voyage. [[YouCantFightFate It didn't work]]. But you do have to give the guy credit for attempting to run to the literal end of the Earth (for people in the 7th Century BC).

* YankTheDogsChain: God provided a plant to give shade for Jonah, only to kill it the next day. Then caused a hot desert wind to give Jonah heatstroke. That'd get him quite mad.

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

* DeusExMachina: Our hero just got himself thrown overboard? How fortunate that there happens to be a giant fish right there to rescue him!