Avraham and Yonah/0

Avraham and Yonah

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Introduction

There are only two places in Tanakh where a prophet intervenes to save a non-Jewish city of sinners from destruction: the story of Avraham's prayer for Sedom and Yonah's rebuke of Nineveh.  Comparing the two stories highlights the very differing outlooks of Avraham and Yonah to the attempted salvation, raising important questions regarding sin and punishment and the desired balance between mercy and justice.

Content Parallels and Contrasts

There are many points of contact between the two narratives:

• Non-Jewish city at brink of destruction – Both stories revolve around the imminent "overturning"¹ of a city of sinners.
• Cry rises to heaven – When explaining His plans to destroy Sedom, Hashem tells Avraham that their "cries have reached" the heavens.  Yonah is told to head to Nineveh for the same reason: "because their evil has risen before me".
• Leaving / remaining with Hashem – When Yonah is sent on his mission to try and save Nineveh, his reaction is to flee from before God, "וַיָּקׇם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ... מִלִּפְנֵי י״י". When Avraham hears Hashem's intentions to destroy Sedom, he stays put:  "וְאַבְרָהָם עוֹדֶנּוּ עֹמֵד לִפְנֵי י״י".
• Arguing with God – Both prophets argue with Hashem, but from opposite standpoints. Avraham opposes Hashem's decision to destroy, while Yonah opposes the decision to save. Avraham question's Hashem's justice: "הֲשֹׁפֵט כׇּל הָאָרֶץ לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט". Yonah questions Hashem's mercy: "עַל כֵּן קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם".
• Waiting to see – Both leaders watch to see what will happen to the city. Avraham looks out in the morning to see the city's fate: "וַיַּשְׁקֵף עַל פְּנֵי סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה". Yonah camps outside the city "עַד אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה מַה יִּהְיֶה בָּעִיר".
• Destruction / salvation – Sedom is ultimately destroyed, there not being enough innocents to save it.  Nineveh, in contrast,  is saved due to the multitudes of innocents within ("אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ").²

 

Literary Allusions and Analysis

The language of the two stories is not particularly similar, making it questionable whether  the Book of Yonah is intentionally alluding back to the Avraham narrative. Nonetheless there are two parrallesls worth noting:

EN/HEע/E

ספר בראשית	ספר יונה
(י"ח:כ"ב) וְאַבְרָהָם עוֹדֶנּוּ עֹמֵד לִפְנֵי י״י	(א:ג) וַיָּקׇם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ... מִלִּפְנֵי י״י
(י"ט:כה) וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וְאֵת כׇּל הַכִּכָּר	(ג:ד) עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת.

The

Conclusions

¹ Yonah warns Nineveh: "עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת".  Sedom is actually overturned: "וַי״י הִמְטִיר עַל סְדֹם וְעַל עֲמֹרָה גׇּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ... וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים"

² This, at least is the reasoning given in Chapter 4 of the book.  Chapter 3, in contrast, implies that the city was saved due to the inhabitant's repentance.  For discussion of the seeming contradiction, see The Repentance of Nineveh.