The document provides an analysis of the Book of Jonah structured as a chiasm. It highlights how the chiasm draws attention to the central theme of God's saving mercy in the face of Jonah's disobedience. Specifically, it contrasts Jonah's indifference with the pagan sailors' compassion for Jonah. It also analyzes Jonah 1:3-16, noting Jonah's downward movement representing his spiritual state, and how the passage illustrates the key theme of fear through the different responses of Jonah and the sailors.

2. The Book of Jonah
A – Yahweh’s Saving Mercy for Jonah (1:1-2:10)
B – Jonah's Unexplained Disobedience (1:1-3)
C – Yahweh Saves the Sailors (1:4-16)
D - Yahweh Saves Jonah (1:17-2:10)
C’ – Yahweh Saves Nineveh (3:1-10)
B’ – Jonah's Disobedience Explained (4:1-11)
A’ – Yahweh’s Saving Mercy for Nineveh (3:1-4:11)
Jonah 1:3
But Jonah arose
to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh
and he went down to Joppa
he found a ship
going to Tarshish
he paid its fare
and he went down into it
to sail to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh
Jonah 1:4-16
Yahweh hurls a wind on the sea; the storm begins; the sailors fear the storm and cry to their gods (vv. 4-5a)
Jonah sleeps; cry to your god, that we may not perish and perhaps he will care about us (vv. 5b-6)
that we may know on whose account (v. 7)
the sailors question Jonah (v. 8)
Jonah’s fear (v. 9)
sailors’ fear (v. 10)
the sailors question Jonah (v. 11)
I know that it is on my account (v. 12)
sailors strive; the sailors cry to Yahweh; let us not perish for you have done as you pleased (vv. 13-14)
the sailors hurl Jonah into the sea; the storm ends; the sailors fear Yahweh and sacrifice to him (vv. 15-16)
The book of Jonah is structured in a chiasm, named after the Greek letter chi (c). A
chiasm is a mirror image of symmetrical statements or ideas that focus into one central, key
thought. Chiasms were used as a poetic device to draw the listening audience into the
drama of a story and at the same time highlight, not only the central idea of the passage,
but key contrasting or complimenting ideas within the passage itself (whether it be the
entire story, or a segment within the story). With the predominance of oral tradition, the
ancient listening audience was well-attuned to identify and track with this ingenious
literary device.
Looking at the themes that emerge in the overall chiastic structure of Jonah, it is easy to see
the central thrust of the book – the irony of Yahweh’s saving mercies in the face of Jonah’s
alarming disobedience (contrasted with the gallantry of the pagan sailors) and Nineveh’s
great evil.
Jonah 1:3 The writer captures the spiritual reality behind Jonah’s attempt to flee from “the
presence of Yahweh” by leveraging the geographical necessity for him to go “down” in
order to get to the port city of Joppa and the physical necessity for him to go “down”
further in order to board the ship sailing for Tarshish. But Jonah’s downward direction has
only begun. When God breaks in to stop his fugitive prophet, Jonah has to “hit bottom”
before he starts to “look up” (both physically and spiritually).
Jonah 1:4-16 The contrast between Jonah’s
indifference and the pagan sailors’
compassion is both striking and convicting.
Jonah knows Yahweh, and his theology is
thoroughly orthodox, but he doesn’t have the
love of a decent pagan. The pagan sailors
have no real answers for coping with their
deadly crisis. Yet, they have the “spiritual”
sense to admonish Jonah to cry out to his
“god” and the human compassion and
heroism to try and spare Jonah’s life (though
lost in sin, they still bear God’s image).
The chiasm highlights “fear” as the key
theme of the passage. The prophet who
professes to fear the living God of all
creation tries to flee from his presence (!?). In
contrast to Jonah, the sailors who begin with
fear of the storm, each crying out to his own
god, end in a monotheistic fear (reverent
awe) of the one, true, living God.

3. A
B
C
D
C’
B’
A’
Chiasm

4. The Book of Jonah
A – Yahweh’s Saving Mercy for Jonah (1:1-2:10)
B – Jonah's Unexplained Disobedience (1:1-3)
C – Yahweh Saves the Sailors (1:4-16)
D – Yahweh Saves Jonah (1:17-2:10)
C’ – Yahweh Saves Nineveh (3:1-10)
B’ – Jonah's Disobedience Explained (4:1-11)
A’ – Yahweh's Saving Mercy for Nineveh (3:1-4:11)

5. Jonah 1:3
But Jonah arose
to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh
and he went down to Joppa
he found a ship
going to Tarshish
he paid its fare
and he went down into it
to sail to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh
Verse 5 – Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the
ship and had lain down and “was fast asleep” (word play)

6. Jonah 1:4-16
Yahweh hurls a wind on the sea; the storm begins; the sailors fear the storm and cry to their gods (vv. 4-5a)
Jonah sleeps; cry to your god, that we may not perish and perhaps he will care about us (vv. 5b-6)
that we may know on whose account (v. 7)
the sailors question Jonah (v. 8)
Jonah’s fear (v. 9)
sailors’ fear (v. 10)
the sailors question Jonah (v. 11)
I know that it is on my account (v. 12)
sailors strive; the sailors cry to Yahweh; let us not perish for you have done as you pleased (vv. 13-14)
the sailors hurl Jonah into the sea; the storm ends; the sailors fear Yahweh and sacrifice to him (vv. 15-16)

7. ISIS

8. • Assyria dominated the ancient world for over 250 years
(883 to 612 B.C.)
• Known for their extreme brutality—the ultimate terrorists
• Conquered the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel in 722 B.C.

9. Nineveh
• Located on the banks of the Tigris River
• By 745 B.C. – a “great city” with an urban perimeter of
seven and a half miles
• By 701 B.C. – Assyria’s capital
• The city’s greatness lasted about 150 years before it fell
to the Babylonians in 612 B.C.

10. Jonah
• A prophet from Galilee—2 Kings 14:25—who
ministered during the time Jeroboam II reigned over the
10 Northern Tribes of Israel (786 to 746 B.C.)—the time
when Nineveh emerged as a “great city”.
• Assyria’s reign of terror as a world power was a clear
and present danger to both Israel and Judah.
• 40 years after the events in the book of Jonah, Israel
was crushed by Assyria’s war machine.
• It was in this historical context that Jonah was called by
God to proclaim divine judgment to the Assyrians:
“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”
Jonah 3:4

11. Jonah 1:1-16
Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of
Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and
call out against it, for their evil has come up before me."
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of
Yahweh. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going
to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to
go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of
Yahweh.
But Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there
was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship
threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid,
and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo

12. that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But
Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and
had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came
and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise,
call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought
to us, that we may not perish."
And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that
we may know on whose account this evil has come upon
us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they
said to him, "Tell us on whose account this evil has come
upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you
come from? What is your country? And of what people
are you?" And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear
Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the

13. dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said
to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men
knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh,
because he had told them.
Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the
sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and
more tempestuous. He said to them, "Pick me up and
hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for
you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest
has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard
to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea
grew more and more tempestuous against them.
Therefore they called out to Yahweh, "O Yahweh, let us
not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us

14. innocent blood, for you, O Yahweh, have done as it
pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him
into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the
men feared Yahweh exceedingly, and they offered a
sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.

16. Five Startling Lessons from Jonah
Jonah 1:1-16
Startling Lesson #1:
Jonah’s Response to God’s Revealed Word
Startling Lesson #2:
The Open Doors for Jonah’s Sin

17. Startling Lesson #3:
Jonah’s Inability to Empathize with Lost People,
Dying in Sin
Startling Lesson #4:
The Superior Compassion of the Pagans for Jonah
Startling Lesson #5:
God’s Glory Despite Jonah’s Sin