Jonah's Second Call

Jonah’s Second Call (Jonah 3:1-10)

Jonah 3:1 echoes 1:1: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah.” As in the first scene, the Deity commands Jonah to “arise,” “go,” and “call out” (3:2, my trans.). This time, however, Jonah does not flee but immediately obeys. It seems that Jonah gets a prophetic do-over. He “arises” and “goes” to Nineveh, where he “calls out” (3:3–4). Jonah 3:4 contains the only words of prophecy in the text: Jonah enters Nineveh and declares, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” At first glance, a new Jonah seems to have arrived on the scene: Jonah the dedicated prophet, committed to bringing justice as instructed by the Deity. The evil city of Nineveh shall be overturned for its wrongdoings. Yet Jonah’s pronouncement is terse at best; Jonah as prophet lacks rhetorical flourish and conviction. He says what the Deity commanded him to say, but no more. Jonah’s words conjure images of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18–19). However, because YHWH will allow forty days to pass before the overturning of the city, the destruction does not happen immediately, and possibility hangs in the air…