Eliyahu and Yonah/0

Eliyahu and Yonah

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Content Parallels

There are many content parallels between the Eliyahu and Yonah narratives:

• Flight – Melakhim 19 opens with Eliyahu fleeing from Izevel, and perhaps from his prophetic mission as a whole.  Sefer Yonah similarly opens with Yonah's flight, in this case one which is explicitly an attempt to flee from Hashem.
• Prophetic success – Eliyahu and Yonah are the only two prophets in Tanakh who successfully persuade their audience to repent and change their ways.  At Mt. Carmel, Eliyahu convinces Israel to turn back to Hashem and proclaim "י"י הוּא הָאֱ-לֹהִים".  Yonah similarly manages to prod the people of Nineveh to repent of their violence.¹
• Distress – Despite their success, both prophets are distressed after their mission is accomplished and request to die. Eliyahu requests of Hashem, "take my soul for I am no better than my ancestors (Melakhim I 19:4).  Yonah echoes, "take my soul for my death is better than my life" (Yonah 4:3).
• Sitting under shade – En route to Chorev, Eliyahu sits under the shade of a Rotem tree.  After leaving Nineveh, Yonah sits under the shade of a Sukkah.
• Wakened from sleep – Eliyahu falls asleep under the tree and is told by the angel to get up and continue his journey.  Yonah falls asleep in the boat and is told by the captain to get up and cry to God.
• Forty days and fasting – Eliyahu walks for forty days to Sinai, powered by but a single cake. When told that Nineveh will be destroyed in forty days, the people fast.
• Display of nature and strong winds – At Chorev Hashem relays His message to Eliyahu via a violent display of nature, beginning with a "great wind", then "רעש", then fire, and ending with a "small still voice".   Yonah, too, is spoken too via nature, at sea via a "great wind" and storm and later, via the קיקיון, worm, and a "רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית."‎²
• Double chiding

Literary Allusions

There are two linguistic parallels, both relating to the prophets' desire to die::

EN/HEע/E

מלכים פרק י"ט	יונה פרק ד'
(ד) וְהוּא הָלַךְ בַּמִּדְבָּר דֶּרֶךְ יוֹם וַיָּבֹא וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחַת רֹתֶם [אֶחָד] (אחת) וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר רַב עַתָּה י״י קַח נַפְשִׁי כִּי לֹא טוֹב אָנֹכִי מֵאֲבֹתָי.	(ג) וְעַתָּה י״י קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנִּי כִּי טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי. (ח) וַיְהִי כִּזְרֹחַ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיְמַן אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית וַתַּךְ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עַל רֹאשׁ יוֹנָה וַיִּתְעַלָּף וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי.

Analysis

• Degree of similarity – 
• Distinctive phrases – 

Conclusions

¹ Eliyahu's success might be short-lived as the people apparently turn back to idolatry not long afterwards, as Eliyahu complains to Hashem in the very next chapter that the nation has left Hashem's covenant. In Sefer Yonah, on the other hand, there is no hint that the Ninevites' repentance was transitory. Nonetheless, several sources suggest that they, too, returned to their evil ways within a short period. See Eliyahu at Chorev and The Repentance of Nineveh for discussion.

² The meaning of the phrase is debated by commentators. As the root "חרש" relates to being silent or deaf, here it could mean either a deafening wind or the opposite, a silent one.