Editing Book of Jonah (section)

==Outline==
An outline of the book of Jonah:<ref name=ht>{{Cite book |last1=Hindson |first1=Ed |title=Illustrated Bible Survey, An Introduction |last2=Towns |first2=Elemer |publisher=B&H Publishing Group |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4336-8221-6 |location=Nashville, TN |pages=293}}</ref>
#{{anchor|Ch1}} Jonah flees his mission ([[Jonah 1|chapters 1]][[Jonah 2|–2]])
## Jonah's disobedience, and its consequences (1:1–17)
## Jonah's deliverance and thanksgiving (2:2–9)
# Jonah fulfills his mission ([[Jonah 3|chapters 3]][[Jonah 4|–4]])
## Jonah's obedience and Nineveh's repentance (3:1–10)
## Jonah's displeasure at the Lord's salvation.<ref name=ht />

===Summary===
[[File:Dore jonah.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[Gustave Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours|Jonah Preaching to the Ninevites]]'' (1866) by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
[[File:(f. 431v) Miniature 12 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Jonah in four scenes: bottom left Jonah thrown into the sea by the crew of the boat which was to take him to Tarsis, bottom right, Jonah praying in the mouth of the whale, top left, Jonah preaching to the people of Nineveh outside the city gates, and top right, Jonah praying to God on a rock. ''[[Paris Psalter]]'', f. 431v.]]
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God ("the {{LORD}}") commands him to go to the city of [[Nineveh]] to prophesy against it for their great wickedness against God.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jonah|1:2}}</ref> However, Jonah instead attempts to run from God by going to [[Jaffa]] and sailing to [[Tarshish#In later history|Tarshish]].<ref>[[Jonah 1:3]]</ref> A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, [[Cleromancy|cast lots]] and discover that Jonah is to blame.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|1:4-7|9}}</ref> Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|1:8-12|9}}</ref> The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they are eventually forced to throw Jonah overboard.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|1:13-15|9}}</ref> As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offer sacrifices to God.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|1:15-16|9}}</ref> Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a "great fish", in whose belly he spends three days and three nights.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|1:17|9}}</ref>

{{anchor|Ch2}}While inside the great fish, Jonah prays to God in thanksgiving and commits to paying what he has [[vow]]ed.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|2:1-9|9}}</ref> Jonah's prayer has been compared with some of the [[Psalms]],<ref>[[Joseph Benson|Benson, J.]], [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/jonah/2.htm Benson Commentary] on Jonah 2, accessed on 18 June 2024</ref> and with the [[Song of Hannah]] in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.<ref>[[T. T. Perowne|Perowne, T. T.]] (1889), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/jonah/2.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Jonah 2, accessed on 18 June 2024</ref>

God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|2:10|9}}</ref>

{{anchor|Ch3}}In '''chapter 3''', God once again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and to prophesy to its inhabitants.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:1-2|9}}</ref> This time he obeys God's command, and goes into the city, crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown."<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:2-4|9}}</ref> After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people of Nineveh begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:5|9}}</ref> The king of Nineveh then puts on [[sackcloth]] and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer, and repentance.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:6-9|9}}</ref> God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:10|9}}</ref> The entire city is humbled and broken, with the people (and even the animals)<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:8|9}}</ref>{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=25}} in sackcloth and ashes.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|3:|9}}</ref>

{{anchor|Ch4}}In '''chapter 4''', displeased by the Ninevites' repentance, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that God would turn from the threatened calamities.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|4:1-4|9}}</ref> He then leaves the city on its eastern side,<ref>{{bibleverse|Jonah|4:5}}</ref> and makes himself a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|4:5|9}}</ref> God causes a plant, in Hebrew a {{transliteration|he|[[kikayon]]}}, also called a gourd in the [[King James Version]],{{efn|The plant in Jonah 4:6ff is also called a [[Castor oil plant|castor-oil plant]] in the [[Jerusalem Bible]],<ref>Jerusamem Bible (1966), Jonah 4:6</ref> and a vine in the [[World English Bible]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Jonah|4:6|WEB}}: World English Bible</ref> Its exact identity is said to be unknown in the New King James Version.<ref>New King James Version, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%204&version=NKJV#fen-NKJV-22575a Note a at Jonah 4:6], accessed on 20 June 2024</ref>}} to grow over Jonah's shelter to give him some shade from the sun.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|4:6|9}}</ref> Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant's root and it withers.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|4:7|9}}</ref> Jonah, now being exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him.<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|4:8|9}}</ref> In response, God offers Jonah one final rebuke:

{{poemquote|
God said to Jonah, "Does your anger over the ''kikayon'' do any good?" And he said, "My anger does good, even to death!"
The {{LORD}} said, "You had pity over the ''kikayon'', for which you had not labored, nor made grow, which was in a night, and was lost in a night;
and I should not have pity over the great city of Nineveh, within which are more than twelve myriads of man, whom do not know between their right and their left, and much livestock?"|Book of Jonah, {{bibleverse||Jonah|4:9-11|9|chapter 4, verses 9-11}}<!-- This translation is ''not'' from the KJV. It is not clear which English translation refers to the plant as "the kikayon''"-->}}

The book ends abruptly at this point.<ref name=pul>Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (editors), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/jonah/4.htm The Pulpit Commentary] on Jonah 4, first published 1890, accessed on 20 June 2024 {{PD-notice}}</ref>