Bible Prophecy Fulfilled: Jonah and Jesus
Commentary on the book of Jonah
Types, Shadows, Antitypes, Similarities, Comparisons
Jonah and Jesus
Types, Antitypes, Shadows, Similarities, Comparisons
Introduction:
1. New Testament texts:
a. "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here." (Matthew 12:38–42)
b. "As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." (Luke 11:29–32)
c. "On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”" (Mark 4:35–41)
2. Date and setting of Jonah:
a. Dated to 759 BC, Jonah is the second oldest written prophet in the Bible. Amos dating to 761 BC was the first prophet, and Hosea dating to 750 BC was the third.
b. Assur-dan III (772-755 BC) was the unnamed king who repented in sackcloth and ashes in the book of Jonah in 759 BC.
c. Jonah is part of a trilogy of prophets with Amos, the first written prophet, dating three years earlier than Jonah in 761 BC, and Hosea, dating 9 years later than Jonah in 750 BC.
d. Amos, Jonah, and Hosea were contemporary and knew each other personally and would discuss their prophetic messages with one another the same way a group of preachers do over lunch at the all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet.
e. Jonah knew God was going to use Assyria as an agent to punish Israel before God called him to preach repentance to Nineveh.
f. Jonah did not want Nineveh to repent because he knew they were God’s agent to destroy and deport the ten tribes of Israel for their persistent paganism. Both Amos and Hosea condemn the Jews and announce Assyria will deport Israel to resulting in the extinction of 10 tribes.
3. Textual synchronisms: There is a broad pattern throughout scripture in the use of the numbers 3 and 7.
a. “Great” used 7 times: “Something greater than Jonah and Solomon is here”. Solomon is connected to Jesus in the dual messianic prophecy in 2 Samual 7:11-12 where David’s son Solomon would build the physical temple (967 BC), then Davids son Jesus would build the spiritual temple (the church in AD 33) exactly 1000 years later.
i. Jonah: city 1:2, wind 1:4, storm 1:12, fear 1:16, fish 1:17, deep 2:5, anger 4:1
ii. Solomon: king 1 Kings 3:13, Wisdom 1 Kings 4:29, exalted 2 Chron 1:1, throne 1 Kings 1:37, wealth 1 Kings 10:23, temple 2 Chron 2:5, wives 1 Ki 11:3
iii. Jesus: “great” light Mt 4:16, king Mt 5:35, glory Mt 24:30, prophet Lk 7:16, God and Saviour Tit 2:13, high priest Heb 10:21, shepherd Heb 13:20
b. Theme of resurrection: Three men are told to “Arise”
i. Jonah:
1. Jonah: Jonah 1:2
2. Boat captain: Jonah 1:6
3. Assyrian king Assur-dan III: Jonah 3:6
ii. Jesus raised three from the dead:
1. Young son of widow from Nain: Lk 7:14
2. Young daughter of Jarius at Magdala: Mk 5:42
3. Lazarus: Jn 11:43
c. Opposite mercy: double anger vs. double happiness in the Hebrew text which reads “evil, evil” (Jonah 4:1) and “happy, happy” (Jonah 6:6)
i. In Jonah 4:1, Jonah reacted with anger when he saw God’s mercy to Gentile salvation “a great evil, evil and angry” (Jonah 4:1). Then Jonah was “extremely, happy, happy” regarding his personal comfort. (Jonah 6:6) Notice the Hebrew uses double verbs for evil, evil, and happy, happy.
ii. Jesus rejoiced in God’s mercy and endured personal hardship with joy when others were saved: Heb 12:2
d. Same phrase used three times: Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray!
i. Captain to Jonah: Jonah 1:6
ii. Disciples to Jesus: Mark 4:38
iii. Jesus to disciples: Luke 22:46
e. Same words used three times: “What is this you have done”:
i. Crew to Jonah 1:10
ii. God to Cain Gen 4:10
iii. Pilate to Jesus Jn 18:35
f. Both considered “Innocent blood” three times:
i. Crew of Jonah 1:14
ii. Judas of Jesus: Mt 27:4
iii. Pilate of Jesus: Mt 27:24
I. Personal details, personality, and attitudes of Jesus and Jonah
1. Both Jonah and Jesus were prophets from Galilee: Jesus was from Nazareth and Jonah was from Gath-hepher: 2 Kings 14:25; Josh 19:13.
a.
Gath-hepher, Nazareth, Cana, and Zippori (Sepphoris) are
sister cities within a 5-mile radius. Jesus was a general contractor
(Stonemason) in the first century and likely worked in these cities, especially
Zippori. Jesus likely built the house he owned in Capernaum where they broke
through the ceramic tile roof and lowed the man down so Jesus could heal him.
b. Jesus lived in a town of bad reputation and Jonah was a prophet of bad reputation.
i. Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus had a bad reputation: John 1:46; 7:41
ii. From John 7:41,52 it is clear the Jews were ignorant of the fact that the scriptures identified the messiah as being from Nazareth in Galilee: Mt 2:23
iii. Jonah had a reputation as a bad prophet.
2. Both Jonah and Jesus were willing to die to save others but for different motives. Jonah for selfish reasons, because if he died, Nineveh would not hear his preaching and repent and be saved. Jesus died for others to no benefit to himself! That is why Jonah boarded a ship for Tarshish that would not return for three years!
a. Jonah was willing to die for a gentile boat crew, but Jonah wanted gentile Nineveh to be lost: 1:12.
a. Jonah (759 BC) refused to preach to Nineveh because he knew Assyria was appointed to destroy Israel through his contemporary fellow prophets: Jonah 4:2
b. Don’t be like Jonah who knew the law but was devoid of the spirit:
i. In 4:2, Jonah directly quoted the law: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”" (Exodus 34:6–7)
ii. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." (Matthew 23:23)
c. In 762 BC Amos identified Assyria as the conquering nation in 723 BC: Amos 3:11; 4:2; 5:27; 6:7,14; 7:11,17
d. In 750 BC Hosea identified Assyria as the conquering nation in 723 BC: Hosea 9:3; 10:6; 11:6
e. Jonah knew Assyria was the designated conquering nation and that is why he jumped on a ship to Tarshish and refused to preach to them for their repentance because he knew God would bless them even more!
3. Opposite obedience of Jonah and Jesus:
a. Jonah was self willed and rejected God’s will
b. Jesus was selfless and obeyed God’s will, “Your will be done”: Mt 26:42; Lk 22:42
4. Both reputations of Jonah and Jesus brought men first to fear, then to repentance:
a. The Ninevites and Assyrian king Assur-dan III learned of the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale and how the sea became calm. The gentiles would understand why a Jew would not want to bring blessing to them, which made them repent even faster than if Jonah had simply obeyed. The disobedience of Jonah who was spanked by God and sent to Nineveh to proclaim its destruction would become a national terror resulting in the king proclaiming a fast of repentance (Jonah 3:7).
b. Pilate had heard about Jesus, became frightened, then proclaimed Jesus to be innocent: Jn 18:33–34 + 38 + Jn 19:8 + Mt 27:24
5. Opposite mercy of Jonah and Jesus: The Hebrew text which reads “evil, evil” (4:1) and “happy, happy” (6:6)
a. In Jonah 4:1, Jonah reacted with anger when he saw God’s mercy to Gentile salvation “a great evil, evil and angry” (Jonah 4:1). Then Jonah was “extremely, happy, happy” regarding his personal comfort. (Jonah 6:6) Notice the Hebrew uses double verbs for evil, evil, and happy, happy.
b. Jesus rejoiced in God’s mercy and endured personal hardship with joy when others were saved: Heb 12:2
II. Boats of Jonah and Jesus: Jonah 1:4–17 + Mark 4:35–41
1. Both slept in a boat during a violent storm: Jonah 1:5 + Mk 4:38
2. Both told “Don’t you care we are dying?” Jonah 1:6 + Mk 4:38
a. Crew to Jonah 1:6
b. Jews to Moses: Num 17:12–13
c. Disciples to Jesus: Mk 4:38
3. Jonah was told to call upon his God and did nothing, but Jesus being God calmed the storm: Jonah 1:6 + Mk 4:39
4. Both were aggressively challenged by those on ship. “Why are you sleeping” “who are you?”
5. Opposite: Ship crew was unsafe with Jonah onboard, but safe with Jesus onboard.
6. Both concluded Jonah and Jesus were prophets.
III. Ministries of Jonah and Jesus:
1. Jonah is the only prophet that Jesus directly connects himself to as an antitypical sign He was the Son of God.
a. This may appear odd, given Jonah was a self-willed, rebellious, and disobedient prophet with a universally bad reputation.
b. However, a key messianic prophecy universally accepted by the first century Jews were the words of wicked Balaam while cursing Israel in Numbers 24:17. The famous widows mite featured a messianic star whose origin was Balaam’s prophecy. “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth." (Numbers 24:17)
2. Both experienced death, burial, Hades, and resurrection after three days.
3. Both had head-wrappings in the grave. It is noteworthy, that the only part of Jonah’s body he refers to is his head, and that it was wrapped with weeds. Clearly the weeds represent normal burial cloths for the head. It is also noteworthy that special attention is made by John that Jesus head wrapping burial cloth was folded and laid separately from the rest of his burial cloths.
a. “Weeds were wrapped around my head." (Jonah 2:5)
b. "The face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself." (Jn 20:7; Mt 27:59; John 11:44)
4. Echoing Luke 16:22-23, an opposite experience in Hades: Jonah went to the pit where the wicked go, but Jesus went to paradise
a. Jonah and Rich man: "But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God." (Jonah 2:6)
b. Lazarus and Jesus: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”" (Luke 23:43)
5. Both cried out to God who answered:
a. "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety." (Hebrews 5:7)
b. “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice." (Jonah 2:2)
6. Both fulfilled 40-day mission after their resurrections:
a. Jonah fulfilled his 40 days of preaching: Jonah 3:4
b. Jesus fulfilled his 40-day mission from resurrection to His ascension: Acts 1:3
7. Both Jonah and Jesus brought salvation to gentiles.
8. Both had the same preaching reactions: The Jews rejected, but the Gentiles accepted.
9. The obstacle of National pride:
a. Initially, Jonah a nationalist who excluded Gentiles from salvation because of national pride.
b. Jews were nationalists who rejected Jesus because of their national pride.
IV. The Location of Tarshish is connected to the Queen of Sheba:
1. Jesus connected Jonah, Nineveh, Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba in the same discourse: Luke 11:29–32
2. It may have been Solomon’s ships that came to Sheba, that triggered the Queen of Sheba’s curiosity to visit Solomon. She may have wondered, “Who is behind these huge ships that arrive all the time and return to King Solomon loaded with goods.
3. Sheba was the son of Abraham through Keturah (1 Chron 1:32) who along with Ishmael, are the descendants of the modern Arabs. Sheba, Saba, Sanaa and the Sabeans (Sabæans) are the same people connected with a location in southern Arabia in modern Yemin that used caravans to transport goods who attacked Job in Edom.
a. "the Sabeans attacked and took them" (Job 1:15)
b. “The caravans of Tema looked, the travelers of Sheba hoped for them." (Job 6:19)
4. Tarshish and Sheba are connected and associated with Arabia:
a. Jesus calls her the “queen of the south”.
b. After the visit from the queen of Sheba, Solomon wrote and connected Tarshish and Sheba: "Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts." (Psalm 72:10)
c. "Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil?” (Ezekiel 38:13)
5. Joppa and Ezion Geber are two seaports named in the Bible to reach Tarshish:
a. Jonah 1:3: Joppa (Modern Tel Aviv). Tarshish was reached by sailing down the west coast of Africa
b. Ezion Geber is beside Elat on the north tip of the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea). Tarshish was reached by sailing down the Gulf of Aqaba and then the Arabian Gulf south to the Indian ocean.
i. "Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber." (1 Kings 22:48)
ii. "King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. They went to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon." (1 Kings 9:26–28)
6. Solomon commissioned ships to Tarshish that took three years to return, indicating a distant destination far beyond any location in the Mediterranean Sea.
a. "For the king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks." (1 Kings 10:22)
7. The etymology of Tarshish may indicate it is an area of mining and smelting so that “kings of Tarshish” were the kings of the land where metals were mined and smelted:
a. “The word Tarshish is a Phoenician term traced from the Akkadian word meaning “to melt or to be smelted,” thus the noun form would be “a smelting plant or refinery.” On the basis of this meaning of the word William F. Albright has suggested that the term Tarshish could refer to any land which contained natural minerals, or any place where mining and smelting operations were carried on.” (Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Tarshish, 1975 AD)
b. “Albright suggested a different approach to the name Tarshish, associating it with the Akkadian rašāšu “to heat, melt, smelt” (Albright 1961: 347 and n. 96; cf. AHW, 960–61). In this case the form taršišu might be a refinery. This would then lead to an understanding of the ships as oar boats, providing transport of the raw material to the refinery, or as carriers of the purified metal from the refinery. (ABD, Tarshish)
8. There are no references to Tarshish in Josephus or any Assyrian literary source.
9. Josephus calls the Queen of Sheba Egyptian and Ethiopian, which is puzzling and almost universally rejected as an error.
a. “There was then a woman, queen of Egypt and Ethiopia” (Josephus Antiquities 8.165)
b. Egypt and Ethiopia (Nubia) are two distinct kingdoms who have been at war from the time of Abraham (12th dynasty) to the time of Solomon as confirmed by literary sources.
i. Sesostris III, 1829 BC (8th year) “He made (it) as his monument for Anuket, mistress of Nubia (Tʾ˙-pd˙t), making for her a canal, whose name is: “Beautiful-Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure” (Sesostris III), that he may live forever. Year 8 [1829 BC] under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Khekure (Ḫʿ-kʾw-Rʿ, Sesostris III), living forever. His majesty commanded to make the canal anew [dredge original canal], the name of this canal being: “Beautiful-Are-the-Ways-of-Khekure-[Living]-Forever,” when his majesty proceeded up-river to overthrow Kush, the wretched. Length of this canal, 150 cubits; width, 20; depth, 15 [cubit = 20.5 inches = 256 feet long, 34 feet wide and 26 feet deep]” (Sesostris III inscription on rock of the island of Sehel, at the first cataract, 1829 BC)
ii. Thutmoses, 1508 BC “Year 3 [1508 BC], first month of the third season, day 22, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Okheperkere (Thutmose I), who is given life. His majesty commanded to dig this canal, after he found it [stopped up] with stones, (so that) no [ship sailed upon it]. He [sail]ed [down-stream] upon it, his heart [glad, having slain his enemies]. The king’s-son, [Thure]. Year 3, first month of the third season, day 22. His majesty sailed this canal in victory and in power, at his return from overthrowing the wretched Kush. The king’s son, Thure.” (Thutmose I inscription on rock of the island of Sehel, at the first cataract, 1508 BC)
c. Kebra Nagast: The fictional narrative that Solomon committed adultery with the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia and has been the location of the Ark of the Covenant from the Babylonian captivity (587 BC) to the present first appeared in The Kebra Nagast (“glory of the kings”) which was composed in AD 1320. Kebra Nagast and the modern “Da Vinci Code” movie must be rejected as fiction for the same reasons.
10. Sheba was famous for both gold and frankincense. Frankincense is only found in the modern Yemen area and Ethiopia. Tarshish was not an exporter of Frankincense or spices, but were the ancient world’s source of gold, silver, and tin from mines and smelters.
a. "A multitude of camels will cover you … All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord." (Isaiah 60:6)
b. "For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba" (Jeremiah 6:20)
c. "“The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of spices, and with all kinds of precious stones and gold." (Ezekiel 27:22)
d. "Every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks." (1 Kings 10:22)
e. "appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone." (Ezekiel 10:9)
f. “Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares." (Ezekiel 27:12)
11. Solomon’s need for frankincense for temple worship would bring him in direct contact with the Queen of Sheba:
a. "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. “With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. “You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. “The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. “Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.”" (Exodus 30:34–38)
b. "‘Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. ‘He shall then bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord." (Leviticus 2:1–2)
c. "“You shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. “You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the Lord." (Leviticus 24:6–7)
d. "if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity." (Numbers 5:14–15)
e. "Now some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they counted them when they brought them in and when they took them out. Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the utensils of the sanctuary and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the frankincense and the spices. Some of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices." (1 Chronicles 9:28–30)
12. Female rulers (queens) are an historic trademark of Ethiopia and Sheba from the time of Solomon down to the Apostolic age:
a. The Bible and Archeology confirms the long tradition of Arab and Ethiopian female rulers as early at the Queen of Sheba (c. 950 BC), through the Neo-Assyrian era beginning with Adad-nirari II (911-891 BC) ending with Assurbanipal (668-631 BC). Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, is referenced in AD36 in Acts 8:27. There are more than 30 extant referenced in Assyrian texts to the Queens of the Arabs between 724-631 BC during the reigns of these Assyrian kings: Tiglath-Pileser III (724-727 BC), Sargon II (721-705 BC), Sennacherib (704-681 BC), Esarhaddon (680-669 BC), Assurbanipal (668-631 BC).
b. “The ‘Queens of the Arabs’, or šarrat KUR.aribī, were a remarkable group of women who have so far received little scholarly attention. These women were rulers within Arabian society, where they led armies in battle against the Neo-Assyrian kings, they were in charge of economic retinues, and at least one woman occupied a religious role. Even more remarkable is these women were not a one-off phenomenon. The ‘Queens of the Arabs’ are attested in Assyrian sources for almost one hundred years – suggesting women in leadership positions in ‘Arab’ society was a sustained cultural practice. … During the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (724-727 BC) the only contact with ‘Arabs’ was through the ‘Queens of the Arabs’. Two women with this title were recorded in the texts, and this is the only time in the Neo-Assyrian period where visual depictions of these women have been preserved. Zabibê and Samsi were described in texts written approximately at the same time.” The Queens of the Arabs During the Neo-Assyrian Period, Simo Parpola, Ellie Bennett, p1,67, 2024 AD)
By Steve Rudd 2025: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
