The sign of Jonah

The Assyrian Empire subjugated the northern 10 tribes of Israel and forcibly deported and exiled many prominent Israelites to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (between 732 to 722 BCE).

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The Assyrians also repopulated Samaria, the northern capital of Israel, with pagan settlers, emasculating the religious and ethnic homogeneity of the Israelites to prevent them from rebelling. Thus, understandably, Jonah did not want to prophesy to the Ninevites because these might repent of their sins and be spared of God's punishment of destruction.

In the Gospel, Jesus rebukes the people for adopting the same "Jonah syndrome" of wanting punishment and fomenting hate toward the pagan foreigners. Jesus flips their perspective and enjoins the crowd to acquire a compassionate attitude, even as Jonah himself eventually became instrumental in Nineveh's repentance.