Jonas Quiz: Test Your Bible Knowledge!

Disobedience and Jonah’s Mission in Nineveh

The story of the prophet Jonah is one of the most unique, dramatic, and dynamic narratives in all of Scripture.

Unlike other prophetic books that focus on lengthy discourses, the Book of Jonah is a biography that reveals the heart of the messenger himself.

Jonas, the son of Amitai, received a direct command from the Creator: to go to the great city of Nineveh and cry out against it because of its great wickedness.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, a nation historically known for its extreme cruelty toward the peoples it conquered, including Israel.

Whether out of fear or because he did not want to see God’s mercy extended to his enemies, Jonah decided to flee from the Lord’s presence in the opposite direction.

He went down to the port of Joppa and bought a ticket on a merchant ship bound for Tarshish, a distant destination.

According to geographical and historical analyses available at Wikipedia, ...this escape triggered a supernatural storm in the Mediterranean Sea.

The prophet's journey included being thrown into the sea by the sailors and his miraculous survival for three days in the belly of a large fish.

This account offers us profound theological lessons about God’s sovereignty, sincere repentance, and the breadth of divine grace for all.

Can you recall all the details, miracles, and dialogues that make up the four chapters of this prophetic book?

We have prepared this Jonas quiz with 15 questions and answers so you can assess your reading level in a practical way.

If you’d like to reread the story before you begin, the complete biblical text in Portuguese is available on the website Bible Online.

Answer each question carefully and check the explanations at the bottom of the page. Good luck on the test!

Quiz: Questions About Jonah

1. What was the name of the prophet Jonah’s father, according to the first verse of his book?

• a) Safate
• b) Amitai
• c) Hilkiah
• d) Berequias

2. To which major city did God command Jonah to go and preach against its wickedness?

• a) Babylon
• b) Nineveh
• c) Damascus
• d) Shooting

3. To which distant city did Jonah try to flee by ship to escape the presence of the Lord?

• a) Tarshish
• b) Jope
• c) Alexandria
• d) Sodom

4. In which port city did Jonas disembark to find the ship and pay for his ticket to escape?

• a) Cesarean section
• b) Jope
• c) Sidom
• d) Corinth

5. What was Jonah doing on the ship while a terrible storm threatened to sink it?

• a) He was helping the sailors take down the sails
• b) He was praying fervently to his God
• c) He had gone down to the ship's hold and was fast asleep
• d) He was throwing the cargo into the sea

6. How did the sailors discover that Jonah was the real cause of that supernatural storm?

• a) Jonas confessed as soon as the rain started
• b) They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah
• c) The ship's captain had a prophetic dream
• d) A bird landed on the ship's mast

7. What did Jonah tell the sailors they should do to make the sea completely calm?

• a) They were supposed to offer a sacrifice of sheep on the deck
• b) They should return immediately to the port of Joppa
• c) They should have caught him and thrown him alive into the sea
• d) They should burn the altars of the false gods

8. What happened to the pagan sailors right after they threw Jonah into the sea and saw the storm subside?

• a) They continued their journey to Tarshish without caring
• b) They greatly feared the Lord, offered sacrifices, and made vows to God
• c) Their ship sank shortly thereafter
• d) They decided to become pearl divers

9. How long did Jonah remain inside the belly of the great fish sent by God?

• a) 1 day and 1 night
• b) 3 days and 3 nights
• c) 7 days and 7 nights
• d) 40 days and 40 nights

10. Where was Jonah when he offered his famous prayer of repentance and supplication recorded in chapter 2?

• a) On top of a mountain in Nineveh
• b) On the beach, right after being spat out by the fish
• c) In the belly of the great fish
• d) In the palace of the king of Assyria

11. What was the message of judgment that Jonah preached in the streets of Nineveh when he finally obeyed?

• a) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”
• b) “Forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown (destroyed)”
• c) “A large foreign army is going to burn this city down tomorrow”
• d) “God will send a flood upon your heads”

12. How did the king and the people of Nineveh respond to the prophetic message preached by Jonah?

• a) They mocked the prophet and threw him into the dungeon
• b) They put their trust in God, called for a general fast, and put on sackcloth
• c) They fled the city toward the desert
• d) They tried to kill Jonah with swords

13. What was the king of Nineveh’s final decree regarding the national fast proclaimed in the city?

• a) Only adult men should fast
• b) That neither men, nor animals, nor oxen, nor sheep should taste anything, nor eat, nor drink water
• c) That the fast would last a whole year
• d) That the fast be observed only at night

14. What plant did God cause to grow quickly to provide shade for Jonah and protect him from the heat of the sun while he kept watch over the city?

• a) A grapevine
• b) A fig tree
• c) A castor bean plant
• d) An olive tree

15. What did God send the next day to destroy the plant, leaving Jonah frustrated by the Senegalese heat?

• a) A strong easterly wind
• b) A swarm of locusts
• c) A worm (or caterpillar) that damaged the plant, causing it to wither
• d) A hailstorm

3 Fascinating Facts About the Book of Jonah

• The city of Nineveh was a megalopolis in ancient times: The biblical text states that Nineveh was such a large city that it took three days of walking just to traverse it in its entirety. In the final chapter, God mentions that the city contained more than 120,000 people who could not tell their right hand from their left (a Hebrew expression that theologians associate with young children or the mentally innocent), which indicates that the total population easily exceeded half a million inhabitants.
• Jesus Christ’s reference to the sign of Jonah: Jonah was the only Old Testament prophet whose life story was directly cited by Jesus as an exact prophecy regarding his own death and resurrection. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, the Son of Man would spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, validating the book’s historicity.
• The real reason for the prophet's irritation: Many people think Jonah was angry because the plant withered, but the reason was theological. Jonah had a deep understanding of God’s character. He himself confesses in chapter 4 that he fled to Tarshish because he knew that the Lord is a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and one who relents from sending disaster. Jonah did not want his national enemies to receive forgiveness and be spared from destruction.

Conclusion and Results

The powerful story of Jonah teaches us that we cannot escape God’s purposes and that His mercy is vast enough to reach any heart that truly repents.

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Answer Key – Quiz Answers

• 1. b) Amitai (As stated right in the opening verse: “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai”).
• 2. b) Nineveh (The vast and imposing capital of the Assyrian Empire, located in the region of present-day Mosul, Iraq).
• 3. a) Tarshish (A Phoenician colony and trading port located at the southernmost tip of present-day Spain, the farthest known point at the time.).
• 4. b) Jope (Israel's main ancient port, located in the modern coastal city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa).
• 5. c) He had gone down to the basement… (Indicating his deep emotional withdrawal and attempt to isolate himself from everything and everyone.).
• 6. b) They cast lots… (A common practice in ancient times to try to discern the will or influence of the spirit world during times of severe crisis.).
• 7. c) They should have captured him and thrown him alive into the sea (Jonas acknowledged that the blame for the devastating storm lay solely with his disobedience.).
• 8. b) They greatly feared the Lord… (The miracle of the sudden calm led the sailors to recognize the supreme power of the God of Israel.).
• 9. b) 3 days and 3 nights (The exact period set by the Lord for the prophet’s spiritual training.).
• 10. c) In the belly of the great fish (A poetic hymn of profound agony and subsequent liberation from the depths of the abyss.).
• 11. b) “Forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown” (A short, straightforward sermon with a specific deadline for judgment.).
• 12. b) They believed in God and proclaimed a fast… (The greatest revival of collective repentance recorded in a foreign city in the entire Bible).
• 13. b) That neither men nor animals… should taste anything (An expression of utter despair and humiliation before the Creator, crying out for compassion.).
• 14. c) A castor bean plant (A broad-leaved plant that miraculously grew overnight to provide the prophet with relief from the heat.).
• 15. c) A worm (or caterpillar) that damaged the plant… (Strategically sent by God to teach Jonah a lesson about the value of human life versus the value of a plant.).