Prophet
Prophet Prophet Jonah
VIII в. до Р.Х.
Prophet Jonah, son of Amittai — sent to preach repentance to Nineveh, who spent three days in the belly of a great fish as a type of Christ's three-day burial, and whose preaching brought about the repentance of the Ninevites.
Jonah, son of Amittai, came from the town of Gath-Hepher in Galilee and lived in the 8th century BC, during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel. The Lord commanded him to go to Nineveh, capital of Assyria, and preach repentance to its inhabitants, but Jonah, afraid, tried to flee by ship to Tarshish.
A great storm arose at sea; when the sailors cast lots, it was revealed that Jonah's flight from God's will was the cause, and he was thrown overboard. A great fish swallowed him, and in its belly Jonah spent three days and three nights in penitent prayer before being cast up alive on dry land. Christ Himself pointed to this event as a prefiguration of His own three-day burial and Resurrection (Matthew 12:39–40).
Coming to Nineveh, Jonah proclaimed that the city would be destroyed in forty days unless its people repented; the Ninevites, led by their king, fasted and repented, and the Lord spared the city. Displeased by this mercy, Jonah withdrew outside the city, where God caused a plant to grow and then wither, teaching him compassion for repentant sinners.