Why Did Yonah Disobey Hashem/1

Why Did Yonah Disobey Hashem?

Introduction

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Flight from Prophecy

The Book of Yonah opens with Hashem commanding the prophet to go to Nineveh, and Yonah deciding instead to flee to Tarshish.  Yonah's disobedience is perplexing.  How can a prophet disregard a command of Hashem?  Did Yonah really think that he could escape his mission?  Moreover, why did he think that fleeing was justified; why did he not want to preach to Nineveh?

Yonah appears to explain his actions in Chapter 4:

EN/HEע/E

וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל י"י וַיֹּאמַר אָנָּה י"י הֲלוֹא זֶה דְבָרִי עַד הֱיוֹתִי עַל אַדְמָתִי עַל כֵּן קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה.

And he prayed unto the Lord, and said: 'I pray Thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in mine own country? Therefore I fled beforehand unto Tarshish; for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, and repentest Thee of the evil.

Taken at face value, these words are somewhat shocking.  Yonah fled because Hashem is merciful!?  Because He forgives and overturns evil decrees?  Why is Yonah upset about this?

Unique Repentance

In all of Tanakh, Yonah is one of the only prophets who actually manages to convince his audience to change their ways.¹ After but five words of warning, the people of Nineveh set up a comprehensive campaign of repentance, replete with fasting and sack cloth.  All join in, from young to old, even the animals.  At first glance, the scene seems impressive, but on closer look, the reader is jarred.  Why are the animals participating?  They cannot undergo any internal process of regret or change.  Their wearing external symbols of repentance thus seems almost farcical, leading the reader to question the quality of the city's repentance as a whole.²

The Gourd

In Chapter 4, after Yonah completes his mission and we are told that Hashem has averted the decree, Yonah is distressed and requests to die.  Hashem replies with an enigmatic analogy, inviting a gourd to shield him from shade, and then killing it, leading Yonah to once again request death. Hashem explains the message:

EN/HEע/E

(י) וַיֹּאמֶר י"י אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָמַלְתָּ בּוֹ וְלֹא גִדַּלְתּוֹ שֶׁבִּן לַיְלָה הָיָה וּבִן לַיְלָה אָבָד. (יא) וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה.

(10) And the Lord said: 'Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; (11) and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern Between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?'

Despite Hashem's explanation, the reader is puzzled by several aspects of the scene:

• "אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן" – Hashem implies that Yonah had mercy on the gourd, when in fact he was only upset at its loss due to its impact on himself!  Moreover, it is not even clear how the gourd had helped Yonah, considering that he already had a hut to protect him from the sun.
• "וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס" – Chapter 3 suggests that Hashem overturned the decree of destruction due to the people's change of heart.  Here, though, He implies that the decision stemmed from mercy.  Which was the real reason for the reversal of fortune? 
• "אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה" – What does it mean that the people "could not differentiate between their right and left" and how did that factor play into Hashem's thinking? In addition, why is the fact that there were many animals in the city relevant?
• Reply to Yonah – Finally, how is the entire an analogy a response to whatever it was that was troubling Yonah?  What is Hashem attempting to teach him?

Philosophical Considerations

The above questions relate to several larger issues that are central to a proper understanding of the book:

• Prophetic infallibility – Does Hashem only choose messengers that will do His bidding exactly as desired, or are they capable of error as well? 
• Repentance – How does repentance work?  Does it serve to erase both sin and punishment, or only the former?  The word "תשובה" implies a return; does this mean a return to Hashem or to one's self pre-sin? Finally, does repentance that stems from fear of punishment have the same status as that which derives from love or simple acknowledgement of right and wrong?
• Forgiveness – What factors play a role in forgiveness?  Must it be a response to change, or might it stem from mercy or love?  Is either one a prerequisite?

¹ Another example might be Eliyahu at Mt. Carmel who persuades the people to turn back to Hashem and proclaim "".  His success, however, appears to be short-lived, as already in the next chapter he complains about how the nation has left Hashem's covenant.

² Already in the gemara there is a disagreement as far as how sincere the people's actions were. R. Yochanan in the Yerushalmi mocks their actions while Bavli Taanit 16a lauds the city as a model of proper repentance.  See Prof. Urbach "תשובת נינוה והויכוח היהודי נוצרי"ת", Tarbiz 20 (1949):118-122, who discusses the Christian-Jewish polemical background to the disagreement.