Meaning of the Name Jonah
The Hebrew name Yonah is glossed 'dove' in Hebrew lexicons.
Origin
The name Jonah is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Jonah in the Bible?
Jonah is the prophet sent to Nineveh; the book bearing his name tells of his flight, the storm, the fish and the city's repentance. Jesus also refers to the 'sign of Jonah'.
The story of Jonah in the Bible
Jonah's story begins with a journey in the wrong direction: the Lord tells him to go to the great city of Nineveh and cry out against its evil, but Jonah boards a ship for Tarshish, the opposite way. A violent storm breaks out at sea; when the lot falls on Jonah, he is thrown overboard and the storm dies down. A great fish swallows him; he prays from inside it and after three days is cast onto dry land. Called a second time, he goes to Nineveh and announces the city's coming ruin. Then the unexpected happens: from the king down, the people fast, put on sackcloth, and turn from their evil ways, and God relents from destroying the city. The book's final chapter shows Jonah angry at this mercy while God gently teaches him compassion for a city full of people. His name means dove, and his book shows God's mercy reaching even peoples counted as enemies. Jesus later points to the sign of Jonah, linking the days in the fish to his own death and resurrection.
Is Jonah mentioned in the Quran?
The name Jonah (Yunus) is also mentioned in the Quran, which contains a sura bearing his name, and the episode with the fish is well known in Islamic tradition; in the Bible his story is told in the Old Testament book of Jonah.
Verses where Jonah appears
- Jonah 1:1-3 —
Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the…
- Jonah 3:10 —
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
- Matthew 12:39-41 —
But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so…