The Prophet of Second Chances: Jonah, Israel and Assyria and their Missed Opportunities for Redemption

The author of the Book of Jonah carefully selected the prophet Jonah ben Amittai, mentioned briefly in 2 Kings 14:23–29, to be the anti-hero of his tale. We may integrate knowledge from the historical context of this prophet’s lifetime in the eighth century bce to see structural parallels between the sinful actions, Yhwh’s merciful responses to the actions, and the continued sinful actions, of Jonah, Israel and Assyria. Jonah becomes the prophet of second chances: for Israel, for himself, for the Assyrians, and then for the Judean audience, either in the Babylonian exile or thereafter, in a work written in agreement with the theological paradigm of the Deuteronomistic histories that attempt to demonstrate Yhwh’s mercy.