The book of Jonah is one of the fascinating books in the bible. Jonah the prophet tries to escape his mission to tell the people of Nineveh that the end is near, that they have made so many sins that the Almighty decided to destroy them. The question that always arises to me when I am reading the book is what is the main theme of the book, because it is really understood that Jonah realized that his prophecy wouldn’t be correct, and this is the reason that he tried to escape from God.

When I am speaking about the incorrectness, I mean off course, that the message that Jonah will bring to people of Nineveh is destruction but at the end of the book the city was still standing because they decided to regret and The Lord forgave them as written

In Jonah 3:8-10-

" וְיָשֻׁבוּ, אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה, וּמִן-הֶחָמָס, אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפֵּיהֶם.  מִי-יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב, וְנִחַם הָאֱלֹהִים; וְשָׁב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ, וְלֹא נֹאבֵד.  וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת-מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם, כִּי-שָׁבוּ מִדַּרְכָּם הָרָעָה; וַיִּנָּחֶם הָאֱלֹהִים, עַל-הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת-לָהֶם–וְלֹא עָשָׂה"

"Let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger that we perish not?’ And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not"

In order to answer the question we need to see the answer in the end of the book

When god is making Jonah to realize that he has pity for everyone, even the sinners, like Jonah had a pity to the castor-oil plant.

The Day of Atonement is the day that The Lord has pity for all the sins that we have made in the last year, and hopefully that he will spare us like he did to the people of Nineveh! The end of the book is the end that we wish for!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

 Eli@eteachergroup.com