Why Did Yonah Disobey Hashem/1
Why Did Yonah Disobey Hashem?
Introduction
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:
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
