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Bible Query from Jonah July 2010 version. Copyright (c) Christian Debater(tm) 1997-2010. All rights reserved except as given in the copyright notice.
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Q: In Jon 1, what do we know about Jonah?
A: Jonah is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. Jonah was from Gath-Hepher, which was actually very close to Nazareth in Galilee. There were two years where the Assyrians did not fight (about 758-757 B.C.), and presumably Jonah came then. 2 Kings 14:25 places Jonah about this time, around the time of the reign of the Assyrian kings Ashur-dan III (about 772-754 A.D.) and Ashur-nirari V (about 754-746 A.D.).
Q: In Jon, what lessons can we learn here?
A: Jonah teaches at least three lessons concurrently. Very simply, they are:
1. God wants complete obedience, not partial obedience. No one, not even a true prophet, is exempt from continuing to press on in obedience.
2. You can run from God, but you cannot hide. God’s will is never thwarted.
3. God loves the lost, even wicked people. We should too.
Q: Why is Jon in the Bible?
A: Jonah is a fascinating book with at least three main themes that weave together.
God’s compassion on all: God did not only love the Jews. He loved the Gentiles and even the wicked.
Obedience: Jonah was only disobedient in one area, but God wants complete obedience. If you think disobeying God is worthwhile, make sure you can stomach the consequences.
Our love: We should not only seek the knowledge of God, and the holiness of God, but also the heart of God. Our lives should be characterized first by our love for God, and then by our love for others, even people as wicked as the Ninevites.
Q: In Jon 1, is this book fictional because of its elements of fantasy, as Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.642 says?
A: No. Asimov did not list any elements of fancy, so it is hard to answer a vague objection. Here are the possible points Asimov might have seen, along with answers.
Going to Tarshish: Tarshish (Tartessus) in Spain was founded by the Phoenicians around the ninth or tenth century B.C., so there is no problem trying to travel to Tarshish, since it already existed for a century or two before Jonah.
Great Storm: The eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea often has violent and sudden storms. Another storm you can read about is documented in Acts 27:13-38.
Nineveh’s existence: According to archaeologists, Nineveh existed as early as 5000 B.C. Nineveh was mentioned in cuneiform tablets of King Gudea (about 2200 B.C.) and Hammurapi (c.1700 B.C.). Therefore, it is expected that Nineveh was prominent enough in early times to be mentioned in Genesis 10:11.
Nineveh’ s size: Nineveh was a great city from before the time of Jonah, so there is no problem here. As evidence, the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.1208 mentions that Calah was a city less than half the size of Nineveh, and it had 69,574 people in 879 B.C.
The King in Nineveh: Nineveh was not the capital of Assyria until King Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.), which was soon after the time of Jonah. Nevertheless, Ashurbanipal II (884/883-859 B.C) and Shalmaneser III (859-824 B.C.) were among the kings who lived in Nineveh part of the time. Harper’s Bible Dictionary p.493 says that Nineveh was one of the royal residences from 1100 B.C. onward. See the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.1208-1210 for more info.
King of Nineveh vs. Assyria: The Empire was called Assyria, not Nineveh, but was not uncommon to call the king of a nation as the king of where he stayed. For example, Ahab is called the king of Samaria (not Israel) in 1 Kings 21:2, Ahaziah is also called king of Samaria (not Israel) in 2 Kings 1:3), and Ben-Hadad is called the king of Damascus (not Aram/Syria) in 1 Chronicles 24:3. See the New International Bible Commentary p.925 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1463 for more info.
Swallowed by a great fish: While this could have been a miraculously-created fish, there is no reason to require that it be so. There have been a number of other cases of men being swallowed by a great fish (called a Jewfish), being vomited out, and living to tell about it. See the discussion on Jonah 1:17 for more info on this.
The rapidly-growing gourd plant: It is conceded that this would be a miraculous plant
The east wind: There is nothing fantastical about an east wind coming down off the mountains.
See Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.301-302 and When Critics Ask p.307 for more on taking Jonah as literal history. As Walt Kaiser summarizes in Hard Sayings of the Bible p.332-333, "Thus, the objections to the book come down to this: it has too many miracles!"
Q: In Jon 1:2, is this an anachronism, since Nineveh was not a great city in Jonah’s time, as Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.645 says?
A: No. It is conceded that Assyria had not reached the maximum of its power until a century after Jonah. However, Assyria was a military force to be reckoned with, from back in King David’s time. From Asimov’s mention of anachronisms, it is unclear to me how much he knew of Assyrian history.
Q: In Jon 1:3, to which Tarshish was Jonah fleeing?
A: There are three cities named Tarshish, which gives three possibilities.
Unlikely: Tarshish (Tarsus) in Asia Minor: This was a medium-sized port city about ten miles (16 kilometers) from the Mediterranean Sea. Centuries later, Paul the apostle came from here.
Most likely: Tarshish (Tartessus) in Spain: This is the more likely location. Tarshish, mentioned in Herodotus 4:152, was probably west of Gibraltar. It was the farthest west civilized city at that time, short of the Olmec civilization in Mexico. Tarshish was founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth or tenth century B.C. The New International Bible Dictionary p.987 says this was the Tarshish to which Jonah was fleeing. The Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.1662 says that the gold, silver, and copper mined there make this one of the richest mining districts in the Mediterranean today.
Unlikely: Tarshish in Sardinia: According to the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.1662, the Phoenician word Tarshish comes from the Akkadian word for "to melt" or "to be smelted". In the ninth century the Phoenicians captured a smelting town in Sardinia which they also called Tarshish. However, besides the name, there is no other reason to link this city to Jonah. It was not as famous as the Tarshish in Spain.
See Today’s Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties p.54-55 for more info.
Q: In Jon 1:3, why did Jonah try to run away from God?
A: Jonah believed in God, wanted to worship and serve God, and undoubtedly wanted to obey God in general. However, Jonah did not want to obey God in this specific area; Jonah gives us a glimpse as to his reason in Jonah 4:2.
Jonah was not disbelieving in God’s power, knowledge, or love. Rather, Jonah did not love the cruel Assyrians and God did love them. Jonah did not like that characteristic of God, that God still loved the cruel and wicked. Curiously, one cannot excuse Jonah by saying he did not have all the facts, or that he did not know enough about God.
Rather, Jonah chose to hate the cruelty of the Assyrians, and knowingly turned his back on the fact that God loved them. Today, if there is something about God that you do not like, it is OK to be honest about your shortcoming. However, remember that it is you who need to change, and all that live in Heaven will be changed, and there is no point in running away from your ultimate sanctification.
Q: In Jon 1:4-7, is casting lots good to do?
A: It is not necessarily good for finding out information. In general, when non-believers do something in the Bible, even when God blesses their [possibly] misguided efforts, that is not an endorsement for believers to do so. For example, when the Magi followed the star, that does not mean Christians should be looking to the stars to find the Messiah.
In the Bible, believers sometimes cast lots, too. For example, the apostles cast lots, and this was recorded, without either endorsement or criticism, in Acts1:24-26.
See Hard Sayings of the Bible p.331-332 for more info.
Q: In Jon 1:6, how was this prophet asleep here?
A: Jonah was sound asleep in at least three ways.
Physically: Either Jonah was physically exhausted to sleep through this heavy storm, or God gave him a deep sleep to rest, because this would be the most comfortable sleep he would have for a while.
Spiritually: Jonah was a believer whose will was in open rebellion against God. Ephesians 5:14 also talks about the importance of believers not being asleep spiritually.
Intelligence: If God directly commands you to do something, any child who follows God knows that God is capable of stopping you if you disobey. Perhaps Jonah thought that God would just ignore him if he "got out of range" of Nineveh.
Q: In Jon 1:16, did the sailors become believers in the true God?
A: Scripture does not explicitly say. Either:
a) the did convert and worship only the true God,
b) they merely now greatly respected the true God, and sacrificed to him as well as continuing to sacrifice to their idols.
Q: In Jon 1:16, how could the sailors be led to reverence the true God through Jonah’s disobedience?
A: God sometimes works wonders in strange ways, doesn’t He? God not only can use good things to work out good things, but Romans 8:28 says that God works out all things together for the good for those who believe. Ephesians 1:11 even goes so far as to say that God works out all things according to the counsel of His will. Even the things God did not desire, God is still powerful enough to work out as a part of His plan.
Q: In Jon 1:17-2:1, was the great fish the answer to Jonah’s prayer?
A: No, because Jonah was already inside the fish when he started praying, according to Jonah 2:1.
Q: In Jon 1:17 and Matt 12:40, how could this be a whale, since only sperm whales have throats large enough to swallow a man whole, and sperm whales do not live in the Mediterranean Sea, as Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.647 says?
A: There are four possibilities.
1. Jewfish are various species of large sea bass. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica vol.12 1972 p.1040, many of them reach 500 to 700 pounds and 7 to 12 feet long.
2. Whale sharks (Rhineodon typicus) have swallowed men who were later found alive in their stomachs.
3. Sperm whales can swallow large objects whole. One even swallowed a 15-foot shark. This was documented by Frank T. Bullen, in Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World after Sperm Whales. (1898).
In 1771 Marshall Jenkins was swallowed by a sperm whale. James Bartley also was swallowed by a sperm whale in 1891. The October 1928 issue of the Princeton Theological Review shows that some details of Bartley’s story are inaccurate, but that the evidence of inaccuracy on some details does not disprove it. See Bible Difficulties and Seeming Contradictions p.95 for more on these two occurrences.
While sperm whales are not normally found in the Mediterranean, they can swim great distances, and God could have one swim to the Mediterranean. Asimov’s dismissal of a sperm whale in the Mediterranean presupposes there is no God who causes events to occur.
4. It was a unique fish, especially prepared by God for this purpose. However, perhaps this was unnecessary, as there are three other types of fish that not only are theoretically capable of swallowing a man alive, but they have actually done so.
There have been other accounts of men swallowed alive by some great fish and living to tell about it. One was a sailor off the New England coast in the 1800’s. A more recent one is in The Dallas Morning News in the 1970’s in the Gulf of Mexico
See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1462-1463 for more info.
Q: In Jon 2:1 (KJV), was Jonah really in Hell?
A: The Hebrew word here is sheol, which more generally means "grave", not Hell. See the next question for more info.
Q: In Jon 2:1, did Jonah really die?
A: There are two views.
No: Most Christians see the phrase "going down to sheol" as a poetic metaphor for literally being buried at sea. Jonah recognized that this fish was going to be Jonah’s literal coffin unless God rescued him. The NIV Study Bible p.1367 gives this view.
Yes: Some Christians, such as J. Vernon McGee, say that this indicates Jonah really did die in that fish, and God raised Him from the dead. R.A. Torrey in Difficulties in the Bible p.115-116 also thinks it likely that Jonah was allowed to die.
Regardless, all Christians agree that if God had wanted to, He could have preserved Jonah alive in that fish, or God could have let Jonah die and then be brought back to life in that fish.
Q: In Jon 2:2-9, how could Jonah pray so eloquently after this traumatic experience?
A: Jonah had a lot of time, without external distractions, to consider his ways and compose a prayer. Jonah could have "polished his prayer" as the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.946 suggests. However, Jonah’s prayer could be both a polished response and a "gut-level" plea. -the fish’s gut that is.
Q: In Jon 2:3 (KJV), what is a billow?
A: This poetic English word means a wave of water, usually on the ocean.
Q: In Jon 2:6, how did the earth bar Jonah in?
A: Imagine Jonah’s predicament, knowing he was deep beneath the land and the sea. He had what you might think of as a deep feeling of claustrophobia. Jonah’s poetic language in 2:5-6 mentions that he was lower than the roots of the highest mountains in the sea.
Today, if a person feels the lowest of low, remember there is one virtue to being flat on your back: it is easier to look up. A prophet who knew better was flagrantly disobeying God and running away. Jonah was disciplined strictly, but the time passed, and Jonah was restored and again used by God.
Q: In Jon 2:8 (KJV), what are "lying vanities"?
A: The NIV and .NET Bible translate this "worthless idols" and the NRSV translates this "vain idols". According to Green’s Literal translation, the Hebrew words here are "idolatry" and "vanities".
Even without knowing Hebrew, it is clear in modern translations that it was idolatry Jonah was thinking about, not lesser falsities.
Q: In Jon 2:8, should it say forsake "their true loyalty" (RSV,NRSV) or "grace/mercy"?
A: The Hebrew word checed (pronounced KHEH-sed) has a range of meaning of kindness, merciful, pity. But it can also mean reproof, reproach, wicked thing. In this context the RSV and NRSV do not seem to follow the Hebrew so closely as the other translations below.
"forsake the grace that could be theirs" (NIV)
"forsake their faithfulness" (NASB, Updated NASB)
"forsake their own mercy" (KJV, NKJV)
"have forsaken their own mercy" (Septuagint)
"forsake their kindness" (Green)
Q: In Jon 3-4, why did God have Jonah prophecy the Ninevites would be destroyed, and then they were spared?
A: God’s character does not change, and God’s ultimate will does not change. However, God’s revealed will towards a person or people does change when the people change and repent, as Jeremiah 18:1-11 shows.
There are numerous other examples of this in the Bible, including Genesis 20:3-7, 2 Kings 20:1-6, and even a prediction that God’s revealed will toward them will change in Deuteronomy 28:68.
A historical note is that this question was apparently first answered around 207 A.D. by Tertullian in Against Marcion 2:23.
See the discussion on Genesis 20:3-6; Exodus 33:5-6; Deuteronomy 20:17; Jeremiah 15:6; Jonah 3:10; and Jonah 4:1-2 for more info.
Q: In Jon 3-4, why did the Ninevites repent?
A: In more modern accounts of people swallowed by a jewfish that have survived, their skin looks very bleached. Undoubtedly Jonah must have had a strange appearance when he came to Nineveh.
In addition, God may have used a few other factors prior to Jonah’s coming around 758-757 B.C.
Plague in Nineveh 765 B.C. The mightiest army in the world was powerless before a plague.
Eclipse in 6/15/763 B.C. The ancient people were afraid of eclipses, and the Assyrians as well as others saw a solar eclipse in 763 B.C. The skeptical Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.636 also accepts the fact of an eclipse occurring then.
Another plague in Assyria 759 B.C. This was just one to two years prior to Jonah.
Q: In Jon 3:1, should Jonah have waited for God to commission him again?
A: God apparently spoke right away. However, it is possible, after turning away from God, that a servant of God such as Jonah would need a confirmation from God before continuing in the ministry God had him in before his time of turning away. God provided that.
Q: In Jon 3:3 and Jon 4:11, how was Nineveh such a great city, with 200,000 people?
A: According to the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.1208, the city of Calah was less than half as large as Nineveh, and in 879 B.C. it had 69,574 inhabitants. (This is based on an inscription by Asurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C., where he invited 69,574 people of Nimrod to a feast according to The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1472.)
As Geisler and Howe say in When Critics Ask p.308, three days does not refer to a straight walk through open territory, but the time to go in and around through the city. A city 16 miles (26 kilometers) in diameter would be about 50 miles (80 kilometers) in circumference, and could be about 600,000 people.
Q: In Jon 3:5,6,8, what is sackcloth?
A: Sackcloth was coarse cloth that was uncomfortable to wear. People wore that as a sign of deep mourning and repentance.
Q: In Jon 3:6, why is the king called the King of Nineveh?
A: He was the King of Assyria, not just Nineveh. We can speculate on two reasons.
Jonah’s perspective: Jonah came to Nineveh, a residence of the Assyrian king. Regardless of the lands that Assyria conquered, which were contesting its rule, he was king of Nineveh.
Jonah’s readers: Since he was king of Assyria, he was king of the cities of Assyria. It was simpler, and still correct, just to call him the king of the place to where Jonah went.
When Critics Ask p.309 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1463 both mention that it was not uncommon to mention a king by his capital city. In 1 Kings 21:1, Ahab the King of Israel, is called the king of Samaria. Likewise, Ahaziah, king of Israel, is also called the king of Samaria in 2 Kings 1:3, and Ben-Hadad King of Aram is referred to as the king of Damascus in 2 Chronicles 24:23.
Q: In Jon 3:7, why would the Assyrians make the animals have to show repentance too?
A: While the animals obviously would not know what was going on, this was a desperate attempt the Assyrians thought of to show their mourning and appease God. Historically they had already had two plagues, and the superstitious Assyrians had seen a solar eclipse. This is not the only time people in that region mourned with animals. The historian Herodotus in Histories book 9 ch.24 p.292-293 tells of a later time when the Persians shaved their heads and cut the manes of their horses and mules after Masistius, a cavalry commander, died in battle against the Greeks. See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.7 p.383 for more info.
Q: In Jon 3:10, how did God repent of the evil he said he would do?
A: Two points to consider in the answer.
1. The word "evil" in Hebrew has two meanings: moral evil, and physical harm and pain.
2. While God does not change His mind (Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:24), God’s revealed will towards a people changes when their attitude changes. See the discussion on Jonah 3-4 for more examples of this.
Muslims should not be surprised that the term "evil" can mean harm, and not just moral evil. The term is used in this way in their own writings, in the Bukhari Hadith volume 3 book 29 ch.7 no.56 p.35.
See Hard Sayings of the Bible p.333-334 for more info.
Q: In Jon 4:1-2, do true prophets sometimes make false prophecies?
A: No. In Jonah 3:4-10 Jonah prophesied that Nineveh would be destroyed within forty days because of their wickedness. When they repented en masse, God did not bring on them the disaster He threatened. When a people’s will changes, God revealed will towards that people change.
This prophesied destruction was due to their not repenting of their wickedness. It is implicitly conditioned on their non-repentance. When they decided to repent, God did not see the need to destroy Assyria at this time. Likewise, when God prophesies destruction, we can learn the judgment can be delayed or removed if the people repent. This principle, of allowing repentance in the face of judgment, is spelled out in Jeremiah 18:7-8.
See When Cultists Ask p.88 for more info.
Q: In Jon 4:1-2, why was Jonah wrong to hate the Assyrians, since David also said he hated those who hated God in Psalm 139:21-22?
A: Four points to consider in the answer.
1. The Assyrians did not have much hatred for the true God; they barely knew who he was. In Jonah 4:11 God speaks of the Ninevites as not knowing their right hand from their left, or in other words, scarcely even knowing right from wrong.
2. There is an important concept to learn about interpreting the Bible. The Psalms are collections of prayers and songs preserved by God as examples for us. While everything God says in Psalms (as well as the rest of the Bible) is true, not everything people (not to mention Satan) says in the Bible is true. Rather, the Bible is truthfully recording what they said. For example, if Ahab said "1 + 1 = 3", and the Bible recorded that "Ahab said 1 + 1 = 3", the Bible would be truthfully and inerrantly recording a false statement Ahab made.
3. Psalm 139 speaks of hatred of God’s enemies, and the New Testament says we are to love people. (Remember, Saul of Tarsus was once an enemy of God.) Thus David prayed a prayer that was not God’s perfect will. As shown in the New Testament, we are to love even God’s enemies.
4. There is a lesson we can learn from this prayer in Psalms. Do not be afraid to pray whatever you feel to God. God will change our hearts. Even in the last verse of Psalm 139, David asked God to "see is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (NIV)
Q: In Jon 4:1-2, since Jonah had a bad attitude, why wasn’t he correct in going somewhere else, rather than minister with a bad attitude?
A: In Jonah’s case, the problem was that he needed a change in attitude. God certainly wanted Jonah to change his attitude, but God commanded him to go anyway, regardless of his attitude. Sometimes people’s hard attitudes can soften when they choose to obey God regardless of their feelings.
In Philippians 1:15-18 Paul speaks of people who preached the [true] Gospel out of envy and rivalry, and not sincerely. Even though those people were against Paul, Paul still praised God for their preaching, because they were still preaching the true Gospel, even though from bad motives.
Q: In Jon 4:3,8-9, 1 Sam 16:30, and 1 Ki 19:4, should believers ever pray for God to take away their life?
A: The Bible does not directly answer this question, but it does give some good and bad examples.
1. No obedient believer in the Bible ever committed suicide. Saul was not obedient in 1 Samuel 16:30. Athiophel was not an obedient believer after betraying David in 2 Sameul 17:1-23.
2. Samson asked God to take away his life in Judges 16:30, however, while Samson performed a "suicide mission", Samson did not do anything else to take his own life.
3. Elijah was so exhausted that he prayed God to take away his life in 1 Kings 19:4. Jonah was so bitter against God he asked God to kill him. However, neither were approved by God for their request.
Q: In Jon 4:5, why would this prophet go east of Nineveh to sit down?
A: The Khosr River was on the west side of Nineveh. An army invading Nineveh would likely come from the east side, and Jonah would first see it by sitting on the east side. Perhaps Jonah had "enough faith" to see Nineveh’s destruction. However, God’s working does not depend on our faith, but on His will.
Q: In Jon 4:6, what kind of gourd was this?
A: Scripture does not say if it was a normal type of plant that miraculously grew, or a species of plant that did not otherwise exist on earth. The skeptic Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.648 guesses that it was a castor-oil plant, which can grow to the size of a tree.
Q: In Jon 4:8, why would God bring an east wind to irritate Jonah?
A: Jonah was sitting east of the city to see the scourge that would come and destroy Nineveh. God did send a "scourge", but it was not to destroy Nineveh, but to bother Jonah. This seems to be rather fitting discipline for a believer whose attitude was irritating to God.
Q: In Jon 4:10, how did the population of Nineveh compare with other cities of that time?
A: Nineveh was very large for its time. Samaria had about 30,000 people, and Samaria was larger than Jerusalem according to The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.7 p.380. Now this large population of Ninevah at that time probably would not be able to sustain itself just by farming. It was a city that lived on conquest and tribute.
Q: In Jon 4:11, why did God mention the cattle to Jonah?
A: Most people with any compassion whatsoever would at least have some kindness towards animals, even though animals do not know right from wrong. People (including Ninevites), are more important than animals. The Ninevites were almost as ignorant of God’s ways as the animals were. Since God cares about what he has made, shouldn’t God care for the Ninevites, too?
Q: In Jon 4:11, did Jonah ever change his attitude and love the Assyrians?
A: It could have gone either way. The story leaving us hanging, and probably deliberately so. However, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1472, points out that the person who wrote down the book certainly shared God’s heart on this matter. Since it is likely that either Jonah wrote this down himself, or Jonah dictated this to a scribe, Jonah probably did learn his lesson eventually.
Q: In Jon, do we have any extra-Biblical evidence of the Assyrians repenting?
A: Perhaps so. While the skeptical work Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.647 says no, there actually is evidence. The Assyrian army fought every single year, except that, strangely there were two years, around 758-757, where apparently they did not fight at all. While it cannot be proved that Jonah came during either of these two years, he came at approximately that time, and Jonah’s preaching makes a good explanation for why a whole nation of career soldiers chose not to fight for two years. This was either under Ashur-dan III (about 772-754 B.C.) or else his successor Ashur-nirari V (about 754-647 B.C.).
Later the Assyrians went back to their old ways, and they were destroyed in 612 B.C., as Nahum 2:1-3:9 and Zephaniah 2:13-15 prophesied.
Q: In Jon, is this the reverse of the primitive concept of God wanting to exterminate non-Jews such as the Amalekites, as Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.648 claims?
A: No. Three points to consider in the answer.
The Assyrians were not yet enemies of God’s people. In contrast, the Amalekites specifically tried to fight God’s people and kill the stragglers.
Later prophets, including Jonah, were never critical of the earlier killing of the Canaanites and Amalekites.
God said through Moses that non-Canaanite peoples, including those who lived far away, were eligible to be friends and have a treaty with the Israelites.
Thus, Asimov wrote about an alleged "reversal of concept", when in reality there is complete harmony here between both the spirit and letter of the writings of Moses and Jonah.
Q: In Jon, what are some of the earliest manuscripts that still exist today?
A: Dead Sea scrolls: (c.1 B.C.) There are 3 copies of Jonah among the Dead Sea scrolls, called 4Q76 (=4QXIIa), 4Q81 (=4QXIIf) AND 4Q82 (=4QXIIg). (The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated p.479). You can see a photocopy of Jonah 3:2-41 in the New International Dictionary of the Bible p.540, dated about 100 A.D.
4Q76 contains Jonah 1:1-5,7-10,15-16; 2:1,7; 3:2
4Q81 contains Jonah 1:6-8, 10-16.
4Q82 contains Jonah 1:1-9; 2:3-11; 3:1-3; 4:5-11
However, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated p.478 mentions this scroll of the minor prophets contains Hosea and Nahum, but does not say it contains Amos and Jonah.
Nahal Hever is a cave near Engedi, that has a fragment of the twelve prophets in Greek (8 Hev XIIgr). According to Manuscripts of the Greek Bible p.34, is it thought to be written between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.. It was hidden during the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome. It is a revision of the Septuagint, made in Judea, and almost identical to the Masoretic text. It contains Jonah 1:14-16; 2:1-7; 3:2-5,7-10; 4:1-2,5
The wadi Murabb'at scroll (Mur XII) is from c.132 A.D. It contains Jonah 1:1-16; 2:1-11; 3:1-10 to 4:1-11. A photograph of Jonah 3:2-4:11 from the Murabba’at is in The New International Dictionary of the Bible p.540. It dates it as c. 100 A.D.
Overall, preserved in the Dead Sea scrolls, Nahal Hever, and wadi Murabb’at are the following verses of Jonah: 1:1-16; 2:1-11; 3:1-10; 4:1-11. See The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for more details.
Christian Bible manuscripts, from about 350 A.D., contain the Old Testament, including Jonah. Two of these are Vaticanus (325-250 A.D.) and Alexandrinus (c.450 A.D.), where the books of the twelve minor prophets were placed before Isaiah. Hosea is complete in both Vaticanus and Alexandrinus.
Sinaiticus (340-350 A.D.) also has the entire book.
Q: Who are some of the early writers who referred to Jonah?
A: Pre-Nicene writers who referenced or alluded to verses in Jonah are:
Clement of Rome (97/98 A.D.) (allusion)
Justin Martyr (138-165 A.D.)
Irenaeus of Lyons (182-188 A.D.)
Clement of Alexandria (193-217/220 A.D.)
Tertullian (198-220 A.D.)
Origen (225-254 A.D.) Against Celsus book 7 ch.57 vol.4 p.634
Methodius of Olympus and Patara (260-312 A.D.)
After Nicea (325 A.D.):
Athanasius of Alexandria (331 A.D.) (Implied because mentions the twelve prophets) "There are, then, of the Old Testament, twenty-two books in number; … then the Prophets, the twelve being reckoned as one book…." Athanasius Easter Letter 39 ch.4 p.552.
After Nicea there are other writers too.
Q: In Jon, what are some of the translation differences between the Hebrew and Greek Septuagint?
A: Here are a few of the translation differences from chapter 3, the first being in Hebrew and the second being from the Greek Septuagint translation.
Jon 1:9 "I am a Hebrew" (MT), vs. "I am a servant of the Lord (LXX, Theodore of Mopsuestia in Commentary on Jonah ch.1 p.197)
Jon 3:2 "the proclamation that I am declaring to you" vs. "according to the former preaching which I spoke to thee of."
Jon 3:3 "great city to God" vs. "great city"
Jon 3:4 "40 days" (MT) vs. "3 days" (Septuagint, Theodore of Mopsuestia in Commentary on Jonah ch.1 p.193)
Jon 3:6 "touched even the kings" vs. "reached the king"
Jon 3:6 "arose from his throne" vs. "rose from off his throne"
Jon 3:6 "robe" vs. "raiment/clothing"
Jon 3:7 "And he cried and said in Nineveh by the decree of the king and of his great ones" vs. "And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineveh by the king and by his great men"
Jon 3:7 "men or beast, herd or flock" vs. "men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep"
Jon 3:8 "But let man and beast" vs. "So men and cattle"
Jon 3:8 "And let them each one turn" vs. "and they turned every one"
Jon 3:10 "evil way" vs. "evil ways"
Jon 3:10 "was compassionate" vs. "repented"
Jon 4:1 "But it was a great calamity to Jonah’s eye, and it kindled anger in him." vs. "But Jonas was very deeply grieved, and he was confounded."
Bibliography for this question: the Hebrew translation is from Jay P. Green’s Literal Translation and the Septuagint rendering is from Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton’s translation of The Septuagint : Greek and English. The Expositor's Bible Commentary and the footnotes in the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bibles also were used.