Silencing Jonah the Zealot on Yom Kippur

The custom of reading the Book of Jonah in the Haftara (prophetic reading) of the Minha (afternoon) service on Yom Kippur is found already in the Babylonian Talmud (b. Megillah, 31a).^[1] R. David Abudraham (14^th cent.) suggests that the choice to read the story of Jonah just before the final Neilah prayer aimed to stress the importance of repentance, or teshuva, which is one of the main themes of the sublime day:

^{ספר אבודרהם} ומפטירים ביונה לפי שיש בו גודל מעלת התשובה.

^Abudraham And we read the Book of Jonah as the Haftara because it contains the great virtue of repentance.^[2]

Indeed, the repentance of the Ninevites is a dominant theme in the book, and yet, this was likely not the sole, or even the primary reason for the choice of Jonah for the conclusion of the service of the day. Instead, it was chosen because the Book of Jonah demonstrates and at times even mocks the vanity of religious zealotry.

Jonah is one of the shortest books of the Hebrew Bible, consisting of four brief chapters and merely forty-eight verses. The protagonist chosen for the story is a prophet mentioned briefly in 2 Kings 14:25, but we know hardly anything about this figure.^[3]

The personality of Jonah in the book is unique among biblical prophets. He is definitely not the only zealot in the Hebrew Bible, but it is hard to find another example of a prophet so harshly condemned, in fact, ridiculed, by the Bible. Jonah is indeed loyal to some notion of uncompromising justice in which sinners must be punished. Yet, he lacks basic human compassion, and God must at least try to teach him that.^[4]

The Only One Who Disobeys

The book begins with God’s call to Jonah to go to the “great city” of Nineveh and warn its inhabitants, for כִּי עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי “their wickedness has come before Me,”^[5] but Jonah instead runs away:

^{יונה א:ג}וַיָּקׇם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָה וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָה.

^{Jonah 1:3}Jonah, however, started out to flee to Tarshish from YHWH’s service. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.^[6] He paid the fare and went aboard to sail with the others to Tarshish, away from YHWH’s service.^[7]

Although we are not told why Jonah runs away, later in the book Jonah confesses that it is because he knows God will remit punishment if they repent (Jon 4:2). The zealous Jonah is willing to ship out to a faraway land just to avoid risking the Ninevites being forgiven.

At sea, the ship faces a mighty tempest while Jonah falls asleep.^[8] The sailors of the ship wonder at Jonah’s calm while they beseech their deities with desperate prayers for salvation from the storm, and when the lots they cast fall on Jonah, they are shocked when Jonah tells them he fled from the presence of God. And indeed, this is the irony when comparing Jonah, the prophet of YHWH, to other characters in the book, human and other.^[9]

Every other actor in the book does, at once, what God wants:

• The sailors, who begin by calling out each to his own god, end by fearing God, sacrificing, and making vows (1:16);
• The people of Nineveh instantly believe, fast, and turn from their evil in a single verse (3:5).

And this holds true of non-human agents as well. God hurls a wind and the sea rises (1:4); the fish swallows on command and spits Jonah out on command:

^{יונה ב:א}וַיְמַן יְ־הֹוָה דָּג גָּדוֹל לִבְלֹעַ אֶת יוֹנָה.... ^ב:יא וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הֹוָה לַדָּג וַיָּקֵא אֶת יוֹנָה אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה.‏

^{Jonah 2:1} YHWH appointed a huge fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days and three nights.... ^2:11 YHWH commanded the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon dry land.

Notably, the fish is introduced with the verb, וימן, in an unusual usage as “appointed,”^[10] and this is true of three more non-human actors, clustered at the end of the book:

^{יונה ד :ו} וַיְמַן יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהִים קִיקָיוֹן. ^ד:ז וַיְמַן הָאֱלֹהִים תּוֹלַעַת בַּעֲלוֹת הַשַּׁחַר לַמׇּחֳרָת. ^ד:חוַיְמַן אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית.

^{Jonah 4:6} YHWH God appointed a ricinus plant,^[11] which grew up over Jonah, to provide shade for his head and save him from discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant. ^4:7 But the next day at dawn God appointed a worm, which attacked the plant so that it withered. ^4:8 And when the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind.

Scripture employs this word three times to give the impression to the reader that God is playing with Jonah, who is acting in a way God does not approve. In fact, the story highlights a second irony: When the lot falls on Jonah, he admits that he is the reason for the storm, and suggests that his shipmates throw him overboard. Yet, these non-Hebrew sailors have mercy on Jonah and try to escape without killing him:

^{יונה א:יג} וַיַּחְתְּרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים לְהָשִׁיב אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְלֹא יָכֹלוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר עֲלֵיהֶם.‏

^{Jonah 1:13} Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to regain the shore, but they could not, for the sea was growing more and more stormy about them.

Seeing that Jonah’s God is not letting them save him, they finally agree to toss him over, but make it clear that this is God’s doing, not their own:

^{יונה א:יד} וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל יְ־הֹוָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָנָּה יְ־הֹוָה אַל נָא נֹאבְדָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וְאַל תִּתֵּן עָלֵינוּ דָּם נָקִיא כִּי אַתָּה יְ־הֹוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר חָפַצְתָּ עָשִׂיתָ.

^{Jonah 1:14} Then they cried out to YHWH: “Oh, please, YHWH, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of killing an innocent person! For You, YHWH, by Your will, have brought this about.”

The contrast is stark: The sailors are willing to work and take risks to save Jonah the Hebrew sinner, but Jonah is willing to risk his life to make sure Nineveh and its population are destroyed.

Unlike Sodom, Nineveh Is Saved

After the fish spits Jonah back on dry land, God calls upon him again to go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys, and warns the city’s inhabitants of their impending doom:

^{יונה ג:ד} וַיָּחֶל יוֹנָה לָבוֹא בָעִיר מַהֲלַךְ יוֹם אֶחָד וַיִּקְרָא וַיֹּאמַר עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת.

^{Jonah 3:4} Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one day’s walk, and proclaimed: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overturned!”

As many commentators have noted, the final word alludes to the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis:

^{בראשית יט:כד} וַיְ־הֹוָה הִמְטִיר עַל סְדֹם וְעַל עֲמֹרָה גׇּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ מֵאֵת יְ־הֹוָה מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם.‏ ^יט:כה וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וְאֵת כׇּל הַכִּכָּר וְאֵת כׇּל יֹשְׁבֵי הֶעָרִים וְצֶמַח הָאֲדָמָה...‏^יט:כט ...וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת אַבְרָהָם וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת לוֹט מִתּוֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָה בַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר יָשַׁב בָּהֵן לוֹט.‏

^{Gen 19:24} YHWH rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from YHWH out of heaven—^19:25 overturning those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground... ^19:29 ... And God was mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the overturning, when overturning the cities of the Plain where Lot dwelt.^[12]

The wording of the narrative of Jonah also invites a comparison with the generation of the Flood. In all three cases, we deal with a large community engaged in abuse and sin which, according to some standards of strict justice, deserves complete obliteration as punishment. Unlike the Sodomites and the generation of the Flood, the Ninevites were given a warning, an opportunity to withdraw from their wrong behavior, and thus avoid punishment. Immediately, the inhabitants of the city–both humans and animals–repent:

^{יונה ג:ה}וַיַּאֲמִינוּ אַנְשֵׁי נִינְוֵה בֵּאלֹהִים וַיִּקְרְאוּ צוֹם וַיִּלְבְּשׁוּ שַׂקִּים מִגְּדוֹלָם וְעַד קְטַנָּם.

^{Jonah 3:5} The people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast, and great and small alike put on sackcloth.

The king himself joins the people, leaving his throne, sitting in ashes, proclaiming a public fast, and requirement to wear sackcloth—which extends even to the animals—and to repent of their evil ways:

^{יונה ג:ח}וְיִתְכַּסּוּ שַׂקִּים הָאָדָם וְהַבְּהֵמָה וְיִקְרְאוּ אֶל אֱלֹהִים בְּחׇזְקָה וְיָשֻׁבוּ אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וּמִן הֶחָמָס אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפֵּיהֶם.‏

^{Jonah 3:8} They shall be covered with sackcloth—human and animal—and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from their own evil ways and from the injustice of which they are guilty.

They are to do all this with no guarantee that repentance will save them:

^{יונה ג:ט} מִי יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם הָאֱלֹהִים וְשָׁב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד.

^{Jonah 3:9} Who knows but that God may turn and relent? [God] may turn back from wrathfulness, so that we do not perish.

The image of animals fasting and wearing sackcloth implies the book is written somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but either way, it turns out that this repentance suffices to bring about a transformative change in their behavior.^[13]

Who Is Evil in This Story?

God accepts the repentance of the Ninevites, and this upsets Jonah:

^{יונה ג:י} וַיִּנָּחֶם הָאֱלֹהִים עַל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהֶם וְלֹא עָשָׂה. ^ד:א וַיֵּרַע אֶל יוֹנָה רָעָה גְדוֹלָה וַיִּחַר לוֹ.

^{Jonah 3:10} And God renounced the evil that had been planned for them, and did not carry it out. ^4:1 This displeased Jonah as a great evil, and he was grieved.

The movement of the word “wicked, evil” (רָעָה) is key here. The book begins with God telling Jonah that the people of Nineveh are wicked:

^{יונה א:א} וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְ־הֹוָה אֶל יוֹנָה בֶן אֲמִתַּי לֵאמֹר.‏ ^א:ב קוּם לֵךְ אֶל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ כִּי עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי.‏

^{Jonah 1:1} The word of YHWH came to Jonah son of Amittai: ^1:2 Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim judgment upon it; for their evil has come before Me.

But now that the Ninevites have turned away from their evil ways, and God has repented of the evil he was to cause them, the evil is now all on Jonah’s side, and he blames God for it.

…And Who Is God-Fearing?

Jonah considers himself a pious, God-fearing Israelite, though from the beginning, the sailors note that the evil of the storm is on his account:

^{יונה א:ח}וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו הַגִּידָה נָּא לָנוּ בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ... ^א:ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי וְאֶת יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲנִי יָרֵא אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת הַיַּבָּשָׁה.‏

^{Jonah 1:8} They said to him, “Tell us, you who have brought this evil upon us…” ^1:9 “I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I fear YHWH, the God of Heaven, who made both sea and land.”

Despite his claim, the book (twice!) credits the sailors as being God-fearing:

^{יונה א :י} וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה... ^א:טז וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה אֶת יְ־הֹוָה וַיִּזְבְּחוּ זֶבַח לַיְ־הֹוָה וַיִּדְּרוּ נְדָרִים.

^{Jonah 1:10} The men were greatly terrified… ^1:16 The men feared YHWH greatly; they offered a sacrifice to YHWH and they made vows.

Jonah not only treats God without the piety and fear he claims, but he actually throws God’s mercy back at him as a complaint, saying that God is willing to overlook evil:

^{יונה ד:ב} וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל יְ־הֹוָה וַיֹּאמַר אָנָּה יְ־הֹוָה הֲלוֹא זֶה דְבָרִי עַד הֱיוֹתִי עַל אַדְמָתִי עַל כֵּן קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם הָרָעָה.

^{Jonah 4:2} He prayed to YHWH, saying, “O YHWH! Isn’t this just what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled beforehand to Tarshish. For I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment (lit: “retracting on evil”).”^[14]

Jonah’s description of God’s attributes comes from the very words of God to Moses on Mount Sinai:

^{שמות לד:ו} אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת.

^{Exod 34:6} YHWH passed before him and proclaimed: “YHWH! YHWH! a Deity compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness.”^[15]

And the last words, which do not appear in this revelation, appear as the outcome of Moses praying for mercy after God threatens to destroy Israel for worship of the Golden Calf:

^{שמות לב:יד} וַיִּנָּחֶם יְ־הֹוָה עַל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת לְעַמּוֹ.

^{Exod 32:14} And YHWH renounced the evil planned for the people.

The very thing God promises the people of Israel, and Moses strives for on their behalf, is what Jonah wants to block.

Jonah the Retributivist

Jonah is loyal to some notion of uncompromising justice in which sinners must be punished. At least for Nineveh, Jonah thinks that justice requires the strict punishment of the wicked even if the Ninevites completely repent.^[16]

Perhaps Jonah was of the opinion of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) that witnessing punitive justice should “satisfy the observer just like fine music or good architecture.”^[17] Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) voiced a similar opinion: “The blessed in the kingdom of heaven will see the punishments of the damned, that their bliss may be more delightful to them.”^[18]

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) shares a similar tendency when he argues that it is a moral duty to execute murderers regardless of whether they genuinely repent or not. For Kant, a commonwealth must make sure all murderers in its prisons are duly executed, even if it decides to dissolve itself:

Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided to separate and disperse throughout the world), the last murderer remaining in prison would first have to be executed, so that each has done to him what his deeds deserve and blood guilt does not cling to the people for not having insisted upon this punishment; for otherwise the people can be regarded as collaborators in his public violation of justice.^[19]

Jonah is so disturbed by the divine forgiveness Nineveh receives that he wishes to end his life:

^{יונה ד:ג}וְעַתָּה יְ־הֹוָה קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנִּי כִּי טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי.‏

^{Jonah 4:3} Now, YHWH, please take my life, for I would rather die than live.^[20]

With a healthy dose of irony God probes Jonah’s earnestness:

^{יונה ד:ד}וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הֹוָה הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לָךְ.‏

^{Jonah 4:4} YHWH said, “Are you that deeply grieved?”

Jonah does not even respond to this query, but turns to leave the city, perhaps hoping that he might have succeeded in convincing God to stick to uncompromising justice, and punish Nineveh. He lacks any sympathy for God’s other human creations, and even for God himself, as the midrash already notes:

^{מכילתא דרבי ישמעאל מסכתא דפסחא (בא) פתיחה} יוֹנָה תָּבַע כְּבוֹד הַבֵּן וְלֹא כְבוֹד הָאָב.

^{Mekhilta of R. Ishmael Pasḥa (Bo) Intro} Jonah demanded the honor of the son, but not the honor of the Father.

Having left the city, Jonah makes a booth for himself to watch conveniently what will transpire in the city, and God even occasions a ricinus plant to grow above his head, to give him shade:

^{יונה ד:ו}...וַיִּשְׂמַח יוֹנָה עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן שִׂמְחָה גְדוֹלָה.

^{Jonah 4:6} ... Jonah was very happy about the plant.

The despair at seeing the Ninevites forgiven and the happiness over some extra shade—the booth already provided some—paints Jonah in a rather unfavorable light. The following morning God occasions a small worm which devours the plant, and as the harsh sun rises, God occasions a hot eastern wind to blow, and Jonah is so overheated he passes out. At this point, he repeats the complaint from the previous day:

^{יונה ד:ח} ...וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי.‏

^{Jonah 4:8} … He became faint and he begged for death, saying, “I would rather die than live.”

God again asks the question about how seriously Jonah means this—and as the reader already notes, absurdly, it is now not about matters of justice but the inconvenience of losing the plant as extra shade:

^{יונה ד:ט} וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל יוֹנָה הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לְךָ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן...

^{Jonah 4:9} Then God said to Jonah, “Are you so deeply grieved about the plant?”

Essentially, God is willing to play, for a moment, with Jonah’s deceptive self-perception that he is a man of full commitment to strict justice with no personal or egoistic inclinations. This time Jonah doesn’t ignore the question, but answers emphatically:

^{יונה ד:ט} ... וַיֹּאמֶר הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עַד מָוֶת.

^{Jonah 4:9} … He said, “so deeply that I want to die.”

God then unleashes a full-scale sardonic response, as if Jonah were actually sad about the wellbeing of the plant as opposed to the fact that it offered him shade:

^{יונה ד:י} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הֹוָה אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָמַלְתָּ בּוֹ וְלֹא גִדַּלְתּוֹ שֶׁבִּן לַיְלָה הָיָה וּבִן לַיְלָה אָבָד.‏ ^ד:יא וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה.

^{Jonah 4:10} Then YHWH said: “You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight. ^4:11 And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many animals as well!”

The last two words, mentioning animals, bring us back to the repentant, fasting animals in sackcloth of the previous chapter, reminding us of the universal tenor of this story. Jonah, of course, never had any pity on the plant, but God speaks to His creatures in their language. In the case of a self-righteous and self-deceived person like Jonah, there might be no other way to approach such a person but to collaborate with Jonah’s narcissistic way of thinking while trying to allude to its absurdity.

Thus, following Jonah’s own logic—i.e., his view of himself as a purely moral person, a God-fearer, concerned only with justice—Jonah should understand why God cares so much about the people of Nineveh.

Did Jonah Learn His Lesson?

Was Jonah the zealot convinced by God’s words? We have no idea.^[21] The text does not bother to record Jonah’s response, but Jewish liturgy offers one in the haftarah reading, by ending with a recitation of verses from Micah, as if they were Jonah’s, or at least our, response to God’s lesson:

^{מיכה ז:יח} מִי אֵל כָּמוֹךָ נֹשֵׂא עָוֺן וְעֹבֵר עַל פֶּשַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִית נַחֲלָתוֹ לֹא הֶחֱזִיק לָעַד אַפּוֹ כִּי חָפֵץ חֶסֶד הוּא. ^ז:יט יָשׁוּב יְרַחֲמֵנוּ יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲוֺנֹתֵינוּ וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם כׇּל חַטֹּאותָם.

^{Micah 7:18} Who is a God like You, forgiving iniquity and remitting transgression—not staying angry forever toward the remnant of Your own people, because You love graciousness! ^7:19 [God] will take us back in love, quashing our iniquities. You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.^[22]

In a certain way, reading the Book of Jonah on the cusp of Neilah is, perhaps, also a certain reminder to God of how He disregarded punishment for mercy in the case of Nineveh:

^{מדרש יונה} בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה נָפַל יוֹנָה עַל פָּנָיו לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְאָמַר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, כְּלוּם הִיא לְפָנֶיךָ מִדַּת הַדִּין?

At that moment Jonah fell on his face before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him: “Master of the Universe, is the attribute of justice meaningless before You?”^[23]

But at an even higher level the story is not at all about Jonah, but about us, human beings of flesh and blood and the vanity of our pose of rectitude and self-righteousness. The choice to read a text in which the prophetic protagonist derides God’s divine attributes and complains that God retracts punishment—the very things people in synagogue are repeatedly reminding God of and praying for all day long, and especially in the upcoming Neilah service!—should give us all pause.

To a degree, we all have our “Jonah moments,” and it is important we realize what we look like at these moments, and strive to have the compassion for others that we are requesting for ourselves.