jonah 1 through 4

Read Jonah 1 through 4 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Jon 1:1-2:9 {s} Jonah fled from the call of the LORD, but repented in the belly of the great fish
Jon 2:10 {p} The Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land
Jon 3:1-4:3 {s} Jonah preached destruction to Nineveh/ their repentance/ God’s mercy + Jonah’s anger
Jon 4:4-11 {p} God rebukes Jonah for his anger

The strong themes:

Jon 1:1-2:10 {s+p} Jonah fled from the LORD’s call, but repented in the fish’s belly, so it vomited Jonah onto land
Jon 3:1-4:11 {s+p} Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching + God relented/ Jonah’s anger + God’s rebuke

I can see that the book of Jonah forms a single chiastic structure, but I am not wise enough to complete it. Some matching elements:

Jon 1:4-9, The Lord prepared a great storm to overtake Jonah;
Jon 1:17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah;

Jon 1:4-2:10, Calamity overtook Jonah, so that he repented, and the Lord had mercy on him, for salvation is of the LORD;

Jon 1:12-15, Jonah overthrown;

Jon 3:4, Nineveh will be overthrown;

Jon 3:4-10, Calamity was about to overtake Nineveh, but the city repented, and the Lord had mercy on them, for salvation is of the LORD;

Jon 4:6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah;
Jon 4:7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm;
Jon 4:8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind.

The same mercy that Jonah appealed to, of the Lord, while he was in the belly of the great fish, Jonah was angered that it was likewise extended to the Assyrians when they repented. Let it never be so among us, who have also received the LORD’s mercy for our violations of His Law! Believers, may it never be said of us that we have embraced the spirit of Jonah, the spirit that delights in judgment and is angry and disappointed when the LORD exercises His great mercy toward the lost, and destroys them not! Ever let that which delights the LORD’s heart, delight our hearts! ♥

For further reading:

the spirit of jonah
jonah 1-2 and 3-4 (the history of the Assyrians tied to Jonah’s preaching)