Jonah

Jonah was an ancient Jewish prophet and one of the twelve minor prophets.
== Biography ==
=== Birth ===
Jonah is thought to have most likely been born in the 9th century BC in the city of Nineveh, Iraq, from a widow called Zarepta, woman resurrected from the prophet Elijah.
=== First appearances ===
He first appears in the second Book of Kings, where he began preaching between 841 BC and 806 BC, during the conquests of King Jeroboam II (conquests that Jonah actively supported, calling them "willed by God").
=== Preaching in Nineveh ===
One day, God tells Jonah to go preach in Nineveh. Out of fear, Jonah flees to Tarsis on a ship that is hit by a storm and is in danger of sinking from the violence of the waves. Jonah then suddenly regains his courage and reveals to his traveling companions that the fault of divine wrath is his, since he refused to obey God. Thus, Jonah is thrown into the sea, but a "big fish" (believed to be a whale ) swallows it. From the belly of the fish, where he remains for three days and three nights, Jonah addresses an intense prayer to God. God forgives Jonah and under divine command, the fish vomits Jonah on the beach. After him, Jonah fulfills his mission and goes to preach to the Ninevites. These, against all expectations, believe him, proclaim a fast, dress in sackcloth and God decides to spare the city. But Jonah is disappointed, because he wanted the punishment of the city of Nineveh. So, he asks God to make him die. Thus, Jonah sits in front of the city and awaits death. God makes a castor bean sprout over his head to provide shade and he rejoices very much. But at dawn the next day, a worm gnaws at the castor which dies, so the sun and the hot wind scourge Jonah again, who again invokes death. God then explains to him: "if you are saddened to death by a castor plant, even I was saddened by the possible death of innocent people, including one hundred and twenty thousand people and many animals".
== In the Mandela Catalogue ==
In the Mandela Catalogue Vol. 2, one of the main characters, Jonah Marshall, is a reference to the biblical character. In fact, both of them flee out of fear from an imposed mission and they get sacrificed (the prophet Jonah ignores God's mission and is ultimately sacrificed and eaten by a large fish while Jonah Marshall refuses to stay with Adam and gets killed by an Alternate).
== Trivia ==
* Jonah's three day permancy in the belly of the big fish remembers the resurrection Jesus on the third day.
* In the New Testament, a so-called "Sign of Jonah" is mentioned by Jesus in Luke 11: 29-32.
* The 21st December is Jonah's commemoration day.
Category:Humans
Category:Deceased
Category:Biblical Figures