Source edition
Septuaginta. The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint. Volume 3: Hosea-4 Maccabees, Psalms of Solomon, Enoch, The Odes. Swete, Henry Barclay, editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1905
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a narrative portraying the struggle of the prophet Jonah between God's command, divine mercy, and his own feelings toward foreigners. Commanded by God to go to the Assyrian city of Nineveh and proclaim a warning, Jonah flees westward by ship to escape the mission, but encounters a great storm sent by God and is thrown into the sea. After spending three days and nights inside the belly of a giant fish and being delivered through his prayers, Jonah finally proceeds to Nineveh to declare God's judgment. When the people and the king of Nineveh heed the warning, fast, and repent, God relents from bringing disaster upon them. Angered by the salvation of his enemies, Jonah is confronted by God, who performs a miracle by causing a plant to wither overnight. Through Jonah's grief over the loss of his shade-giving plant, God questions him to justify His own compassion for the countless people and animals of Nineveh, ending the story with a profound lesson on universal divine mercy.