jonah
proper noun (Jonah); noun (a jonah — rare)
Everyday
- (Bible) Jonah is a prophet in the Bible who ran away from God's command, was swallowed by a great fish, and after three days was spat out on land; then he preached in the city of Nineveh. tree →
- (informal, old) A jonah is a person thought to bring bad luck, especially on a ship. tree →
In the lessons
The story of Jonah is told in Sunday schools and RE lessons: it teaches that you cannot hide from God and that God shows mercy, even to enemies who change their ways. Jews read it on Yom Kippur. "Jonah and the whale" is the usual name, though the Bible says "a great fish". Sailors once called an unlucky man "a jonah".
Examples
- Jonah tried to sail away instead of going to Nineveh. tree →
- A great storm came, and the sailors threw Jonah into the sea. tree →
- Jonah stayed inside the fish for three days and nights. tree →
- Our class acted out Jonah and the whale with a paper fish. tree →
- God forgave the people of Nineveh, and Jonah was cross about it. tree →
- The old sailors grumbled that the new cook was a jonah. tree →
Note
Name: capital J. The input is in lower case, but the word is almost always a name. The Bible says "great fish", not "whale" — a common mix-up. Book of Jonah is one of the short prophet books.
In Jewish tradition
Jonah is the prophet who was sent to Nineveh. He ran away, was swallowed by a great fish, prayed from its belly, and later was angry when God spared the city.
Interpretation. Tradition reads the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur afternoon as a lesson that God accepts repentance, even from foreigners, and that people cannot run away from God.
Examples
- But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. (Prophets JON.4.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. (Prophets JON.4.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly. (Prophets JON.2.2, JPS 1917) tree →
Note
Name: capital J. The input is in lower case, but the word is almost always a name. The Bible says "great fish", not "whale" — a common mix-up. Book of Jonah is one of the short prophet books.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «jonah» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «jonah» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «jonah» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «jonah» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/jonah/