Chapter 1

Argument

¹ God, the Maker of all things, having created all men, continues to provide for them all alike, even if at one time he was seen to care more for the Israelites; and this too he did for the common benefit of all. For just as, in showing the care that was due to Israel itself, he did not point out what should be done by conversing with each man one by one, but rather by choosing out from them all the one best man — now Moses the great, now Joshua the son of Nun, at another time Samuel, and in yet another season Elijah — and through each of these, whether by laying down laws, or by displaying wonders, or by bringing exhortations, he guided them toward salvation: so also, having marked off the Israelite people from the other nations, by his care for them and by his frequent appearances and unutterable wonder-workings, he was displaying to the other nations as well the road that leads to the knowledge of God. For this is what he taught us through the inspired Hosea: A watchman, he says, is Ephraim with God, a prophet.[1] For he set forth the people as a kind of watchman and prophet, for the benefit and salvation of the other nations.

² So Egypt too came to know the unutterable power of God through these very things; and the report, carrying the news of their destruction to all men, made all marvel at the justice of the divine providence. From this Rahab the harlot, having received the radiance of the knowledge of God, said to the spies: The fear of you and the trembling of you has fallen upon us. For we have heard how the Lord God dried up the Red Sea before you, and led you across; because the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath. And many years later the foreigners, when they beheld the ark, cried out with dread and shuddering: This is the God who smote Egypt. And when he had struck down those many thousands of the Assyrians before the walls of Jerusalem, and had forced their king Sennacherib to flee, he made his own power plain to all men; and in Babylon too, having kept Daniel unharmed among the lions, and having delivered those three children from the furnace, he confounded the boastful king Nebuchadnezzar, and through him taught all who were under him that he alone is God, the God of the Israelites. And under Cyrus the Persian, having granted the people their much-celebrated return, and having brought Jerusalem back to its former prosperity, so that the temple too was built more splendidly than before, he made it clear to all, both to those near and to those far off, that he alone is able to provide for and to defend his own people. And in the time of the Macedonians too he repeatedly showed his own power through the Maccabees. Moreover, through the prophets, who worked wonders and foretold things to come, he guided many of the nations to the truth. Thus the Syrians feared the great Elisha, at one time stricken with blindness by him, at another beholding the cleansing of Naaman; for they held the prophet in such reverence that their king, having fallen ill, sent to him Hazael, whom this same prophet anointed king over the Syrians. And the king of the Babylonians counted the inspired Jeremiah worthy of such honor as to grant him his choice of dwelling; and the rest he led away captive, but to him alone he gave liberty to live where he would.

³ So also did the God of all appoint the blessed Jonah a prophet to the Ninevites; and Nineveh was a very great city, and had received the palace of the king of the Assyrians. For since the only-begotten Word of God was about to appear to men through human nature, and to flood all the nations with the light of the knowledge of God, even before his own Incarnation he shows his divine care for the nations, that he might confirm the things to come to those who came before, and might teach all that God is not of the Jews only, but of the nations also, and might show the kinship of the Old and the New Covenant. For if he had made no provision for the nations before the Incarnation, the Jews would have supposed him to be some other God, as one acting contrary to the Giver of the Law — for that one, they would say, cared only for Jews, but this one made provision for all men. This is what the abominable Marcion suffered, when he declared the God of the New Covenant other than the God of the Old; and that too although in the Old Covenant, as has been said, he beheld God’s providence over all men. For these reasons, then — or rather for certain higher and more hidden reasons — God ordained that Jonah should prophesy to the Ninevites. But to Israel also he foretold many things that were to come, being a contemporary of Hosea, Amos, and Micah. For even if no other writing of his is extant, yet from the Fourth Book of Kingdoms it is plain that he uttered other prophecies as well. For the Scripture speaks concerning Jeroboam — not the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin so as to worship the golden heifers, but another, who, being the third from Jehu, reigned over the ten tribes, the son of Joash: That he restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the sea toward the west, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of Jonah the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Gethchopher.

⁴ This prophecy alone has been written down, perhaps by a divine dispensation: partly for our instruction and admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come, that we may neither despair, even if we fall into the very pit of wickedness, but may know that we have a Lord who loves mankind; and that, when we have turned toward repentance, we may pursue it genuinely, and not feign it loosely and slackly, having these gentiles as our example. And it was written for the reproof of Israel. For what shame will not be theirs, if these men — barbarians, possessed of great power, living in luxury, and never having heard a prophet — so obeyed the proclamation; while they themselves, schooled by the Law and being God’s chosen people, murdered those who proclaimed salvation to them, so that they even killed the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer, when he came to them? And the mystery of his burial and resurrection is foreshadowed in this very prophecy, even as he himself, conversing with the Jews, said: This generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster three days and three nights, so also shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.[2] But that this Scripture has also been given for the reproof and condemnation of the Jews, the Lord himself bears witness, saying in the Gospels: The men of Nineveh shall rise up and shall condemn this generation, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

⁵ But how is there something greater in Christ than in Jonah? Because the one merely threatened the Ninevites with destruction, whereas our Lord did not preach only, but also performed countless wonders, by which it was likely they would be drawn to faith; yet they disbelieved. So then the mystery of Christ is signified, as in a type, by Jonah; only we must not seek the likeness in every particular, nor are we to be compelled to turn the whole history toward spiritual contemplation. For, to put it generally, whenever we say that one of the saints of old became a type of Christ, we ought not to seek the likeness in every respect. For instance, we say that Moses became a type of Christ, as lawgiver and as mediator. Speak you to us, it says, and let not God speak to us, lest we die. And Christ is both of these — both having given us the Law, and having become the mediator of God and men, and having reported to us the things concerning the Father, and having reconciled us to him. Yet Christ was not slow of tongue, nor weak of voice, as Moses was; nor did he falter upon his lips, and for that fail of the land of promise. Again, Aaron is a type of Christ, as high priest, entering into the Holy of Holies and loosing the sins of the people; since Christ also did all these things, having become a great high priest, and having offered himself, and having run up into heaven, and having himself borne our sins, and having torn asunder the handwriting against us. But Aaron was not without blemish, in that he murmured against Moses together with Miriam, and did not restrain those who made the calf in the wilderness; whereas in Christ there is nothing of the kind. For he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. So then it is here also: Jonah was sent to preach to the Ninevites, but he was not willing, and set himself to flight; whereas Christ, sent by the Father, became obedient. And the prophet’s being cast willingly into the sea, and his being swallowed by the sea-monster, and his being given up after three days, and his going to Nineveh, are common to Christ; for he too died willingly, and was truly swallowed up by death, and was given up on the third day, and, going to Galilee, commanded that the beginning of the preaching to the nations be made there. But Jonah was grieved at the saving of the Ninevites, whereas to Christ the salvation of the nations is exceedingly dear. Having gathered, then, whatever is useful for the mystery of Christ out of this prophecy here before us, let us yield the rest to the letter, that there may indeed be a type; for an identity in every respect belongs neither to a type nor to a sketch, in the judgment of those who judge rightly.