The book of Jonah takes a stand against narrow nationalism and invites the reader to examine fixed ideas about enemies, mercy, and love, writes Adrian Graffy.

A prophet who has to preach to everyone’s archenemy, who has issues about nationalism, justice and the mercy of God, and who ends up with a death wish, is surely a character made for 2022.

To get the genre right is crucial. The ‘great fish’ shows that the book of Jonah is not a historical record. It is best described as a ‘didactic story’; yet it is related explicitly to the prophet Jonah, son of Amittai, a contemporary of Jeroboam II (2 Kgs 14.25). The book is most likely to have been written in post-exilic times.1 It is unique among the books of the prophets in being overwhelmingly a fictional narrative. The preaching of Jonah is limited to five Hebrew words (3.4). We explore the book as a story of three encounters: with the sailors, with the Ninevites, and with God.