Eliyahu and Yonah/0

Eliyahu and Yonah

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Introduction

Eliyahu and Yonah are the only two prophets in all of Tanakh who successfully persuade their audience to repent and change their ways. Somewhat surprisingly, though, rather than rejoicing at their success, both emerge from the experience distraught to the point of requesting death.  What do the two prophets have in common which leads them to such similar responses? The page below will compare and contrast the two figures, focusing on the narratives in Melakhim I 19 and Yonah 1 and 4.

Content Parallels

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

• Prophetic success –  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 As mentioned, such prophetic success is rare and unique to them.
• 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).
• Flight – Melakhim 19 opens with Eliyahu fleeing from Izevel, and perhaps from his prophetic mission as a whole (Melakhim I 19:3). Sefer Yonah similarly opens with Yonah's flight, an explicit attempt to avoid his mission (Yonah 1:3).²
• 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 goes to sleep under the tree and is told by the angel to get up and continue his journey (Melakhim I 19:4).  Yonah falls asleep in the boat and is told by the captain to get up and cry to God (Yonah 1:6).³
• Forty days and fasting – Eliyahu walks for forty days to Sinai, fueled by but a single cake (Melakhim I 19:8). When told that Nineveh will be destroyed in forty days, the people fast (Yonah 3:4-5).
• 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" (Melakhim I 19:11-12). Hashem communicates with Yonah, too, via nature, at sea via a "great wind" and storm,⁴ and later via the קיקיון, worm, and a "רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית."‎⁵
• Double question, response, and sign  – Eliyahu is twice asked, "מַה לְּךָ פֹה אֵלִיָּהוּ" and twice responds, "קַנֹּא קִנֵּאתִי ".  In between the two conversations Hashem reveals Himself in nature.  Yonah, too, is twice asked, "הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לָךְ", once after he requests to die and once followed by a request to die.  Here, too, in between the two conversations, Hashem reveals Himself in nature.

Literary Allusions

There are just a handful of linguistic parallels between the stories:

EN/HEע/E

אליהו (מלכים פרק י"ט)	יונה (פרקים א' וד')
(ד) וְהוּא הָלַךְ בַּמִּדְבָּר דֶּרֶךְ יוֹם וַיָּבֹא וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחַת רֹתֶם [אֶחָד] (אחת)	(ד:ה) וַיֵּצֵא יוֹנָה מִן הָעִיר וַיֵּשֶׁב מִקֶּדֶם לָעִיר וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ שָׁם סֻכָּה וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחְתֶּיהָ בַּצֵּל
(ד) ...וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר רַב עַתָּה י״י קַח נַפְשִׁי כִּי לֹא טוֹב אָנֹכִי מֵאֲבֹתָי.	(ד:ג) וְעַתָּה י״י קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנִּי כִּי טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי. (ח) ...וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי.
(ה) וַיִּשְׁכַּב וַיִּישַׁן תַּחַת רֹתֶם אֶחָד וְהִנֵּה זֶה מַלְאָךְ נֹגֵעַ בּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ קוּם אֱכוֹל.	(א:ו) וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל אֱלֹהֶיךָ אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד.

Analysis

There is not a significant degree of linguistic overlap between the stories. The two phrases "קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי" and "וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת" are unique to these narratives, though, and as they play a central role in the narrative, direct the reader to compare the stories.

Conclusions

The Midrash compares the two prophets, setting them up as contrasts. While Eliyahu was overly zealous for God, Yonah was overly zealous for the Children of Israel. Eliyahu wishes that Hashem would punish the nation more harshly for their idolatrous ways

¹ Though not explicit in either story, it is possible that in both cases the people regressed to their old ways soon afterwards.  Eliyahu complains to Hashem in the very next chapter that the nation has left Hashem's covenant, implying that soon after the impressive show at Mt. Carmel they reverted back to idolatry . In Sefer Yonah itself there is no hint that the Ninevites returned to their old ways but the prophecies of Nachum attest to their bloodthirsty ways, lying  and violence, implying that they, too, eventually returned to their wicked past.  See Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer who suggests that this took a mere forty days. For discussion, see Eliyahu at Chorev and The Repentance of Nineveh.

² However, see Why Did Yonah Disobey Hashem for opinions which suggest that, despite the simple reading of the text, Yonah was not attempting to flee.

³ In both cases it seems as if the prophet's sleep is an attempt to escape from the dangerous reality and threat of death surrounding them. Both the angel and sailors awaken the prophets with the message that now is not the time for inactivity.

⁴ Bereshit Rabbah 24 24:4About Bereshit Rabbahalready notes this parallel, pointing out that three times in history there were great winds, capable of destroying the world - in the time of Eliiyahu, Yonah and Iyyov.

⁵ 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. [The heat causing wind thus simultaneously recalls the wind, רעש, fire and still voice brought to Eliyahu.]