Overview
Sent to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, Jonah flees toward Tarshish, is swallowed by a great fish, and after his deliverance proclaims judgment on Nineveh. When the city repents, God relents from the disaster, and He teaches the angry prophet about His compassion toward the nations.
Theme God's sovereignty and compassion extending even to repentant Gentile nations
Historical background
Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 as the prophet who foretold the restoration of Israel's borders under Jeroboam II. Nineveh was a principal city of the Assyrian Empire, the center of a power that threatened Israel. In Matthew 12:39–41, Yeshua refers to the sign of Jonah and the repentance of the people of Nineveh.