Book of Jonah Trivia - Jonah and the Whale Quiz

Question 1

What is the name of the prophet in the Book of Jonah?

Accepted Answer

Jonah ben Amittai

Question 2

Which city did God send Jonah to prophesy against?

Accepted Answer

Nineveh

Question 3

How many chapters are in the Book of Jonah?

Accepted Answer

4

Question 4

What swallowed Jonah after he was thrown into the sea?

Accepted Answer

A great fish (dag gadol)

Question 5

How many days and nights was Jonah inside the great fish?

Accepted Answer

3 days and 3 nights

Question 6

Where did Jonah try to flee to instead of going to Nineveh?

Accepted Answer

Tarshish

Question 7

What happened at sea when Jonah was on the ship?

Accepted Answer

A great storm arose

Question 8

When is the Book of Jonah read in the synagogue?

Accepted Answer

Yom Kippur afternoon (Mincha)

Question 9

What did the people of Nineveh do when they heard Jonah's prophecy?

Accepted Answer

They repented and fasted

Question 10

How did the sailors determine that Jonah was the cause of the storm?

Accepted Answer

They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah

Question 11

What did the people of Nineveh wear as a sign of their repentance?

Accepted Answer

Sackcloth

Question 12

What did Jonah do inside the fish?

Accepted Answer

He prayed to God

Question 13

What was Jonah's message to the people of Nineveh?

Accepted Answer

In 40 days Nineveh will be overturned

Question 14

After Nineveh repented, what did God do?

Accepted Answer

Relented from the punishment He had planned

Question 15

What kind of transportation did Jonah use to flee to Tarshish?

Accepted Answer

A ship

Question 16

What grew over Jonah to give him shade after he left Nineveh?

Accepted Answer

A kikayon (gourd) plant

Question 17

Who was Jonah's father?

Accepted Answer

Amittai

Question 18

What was Jonah's reaction when God spared Nineveh?

Accepted Answer

He was angry and displeased

Question 19

Nineveh was the capital of which ancient empire?

Accepted Answer

Assyria

Question 20

In the Book of Jonah, where was Jonah when the storm raged on the ship?

Accepted Answer

Sleeping below deck

Question 21

From which port did Jonah board the ship to Tarshish?

Accepted Answer

Jaffa (Yafo)

Question 22

What did the king of Nineveh do when he heard the prophecy?

Accepted Answer

He rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in ashes

Question 23

According to the text, what destroyed the kikayon plant that shaded Jonah?

Accepted Answer

A worm that God appointed

Question 24

In Jonah's prayer from the fish (Chapter 2), he says 'Salvation belongs to' whom?

Accepted Answer

The Lord (Hashem)

Question 25

What does God say Nineveh has more than 120,000 of?

Accepted Answer

People who cannot tell their right hand from their left

Question 26

The Book of Jonah is part of which section of the Hebrew Bible?

Accepted Answer

Trei Asar (The Twelve Minor Prophets)

Question 27

What did the sailors do after throwing Jonah into the sea?

Accepted Answer

They feared the Lord greatly and offered sacrifices and made vows

Question 28

According to the narrative, after the fish vomited Jonah out, God spoke to him:

Accepted Answer

A second time, telling him again to go to Nineveh

Question 29

In Jonah 4, besides the kikayon plant, God also appointed:

Accepted Answer

A scorching east wind and the sun to beat on Jonah's head

Question 30

Why is the Book of Jonah read on Yom Kippur?

Accepted Answer

Because it teaches about teshuvah (repentance) and God's mercy

Question 31

The king of Nineveh decreed that even which creatures should fast and wear sackcloth?

Accepted Answer

The animals (cattle and flocks)

Question 32

What is Tarshish generally identified with by many commentators?

Accepted Answer

A distant western location, possibly Spain or North Africa

Question 33

In Jonah Chapter 2, Jonah's prayer from the fish echoes the style of which biblical book?

Accepted Answer

Psalms (Tehillim)

Question 34

How does the Book of Jonah end?

Accepted Answer

God asks Jonah a rhetorical question about mercy

Question 35

Jonah told the sailors to throw him into the sea because:

Accepted Answer

He knew the storm was his fault

Question 36

How did the sailors initially try to save the ship before throwing Jonah overboard?

Accepted Answer

They hurled cargo into the sea to lighten the load

Question 37

What emotion did Jonah feel when the kikayon plant died?

Accepted Answer

Deep grief and anger - he wished to die

Question 38

According to Jonah 4:2, Jonah explains he fled because he knew God is:

Accepted Answer

Gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness

Question 39

Nineveh is described in the text as:

Accepted Answer

An exceedingly great city - a three-day walk across

Question 40

After being vomited out by the fish, where did Jonah go?

Accepted Answer

To Nineveh as God commanded

Question 41

According to Rashi, why did Jonah flee from his prophetic mission?

Accepted Answer

He feared the gentiles would repent, making Israel look bad for not repenting

Question 42

In Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 10), what does the great fish show Jonah inside its belly?

Accepted Answer

Wonders of the deep sea, including the foundations of the Temple

Question 43

According to tradition, when Jonah says 'I am a Hebrew' (Ivri) to the sailors, what does Rashi note?

Accepted Answer

He was identifying himself as a descendant of Abraham who crossed (avar) the river

Question 44

In the Gemara (Sanhedrin 89b), what is stated about a prophet who suppresses his prophecy?

Accepted Answer

He is liable to death at the hands of Heaven

Question 45

According to the Zohar, what does the story of Jonah allegorically represent?

Accepted Answer

The journey of the soul (neshamah) in this world

Question 46

According to Radak, what was the nature of the 'overturning' (nehepachet) of Nineveh in Jonah's prophecy?

Accepted Answer

It was overturned from evil to good - repentance fulfilled the prophecy

Question 47

In Melachim Bet (2 Kings), Jonah ben Amittai is mentioned in connection with which Israelite king?

Accepted Answer

King Jeroboam ben Joash (Jeroboam II)

Question 48

According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, the great fish that swallowed Jonah was:

Accepted Answer

Specially created at twilight of the sixth day of creation

Question 49

The Malbim explains that Jonah initially thought prophecy to the nations could only occur:

Accepted Answer

In the Land of Israel, so fleeing abroad would end his obligation

Question 50

According to the Talmud (Yevamot 98a), what halachic principle is derived from the Book of Jonah?

Accepted Answer

The sailors' actions relate to the status of a gentile's conversion

Question 51

Rashi comments that the phrase 'God appointed a great fish' (vayeman) teaches:

Accepted Answer

The fish was prepared and designated for this purpose from creation

Question 52

According to Midrashic tradition, after exiting the fish, Jonah's appearance was:

Accepted Answer

His skin and hair were affected by the fish's digestive fluids

Question 53

The Book of Jonah uniquely demonstrates which theological principle about God?

Accepted Answer

God's mercy extends to all nations, not only Israel

Question 54

According to some Midrashic sources, from which tribe of Israel was Jonah?

Accepted Answer

Asher (or Zevulun according to some)

Question 55

In Jonah's prayer (Chapter 2), he mentions being cast into the deep. The Hebrew word 'metzulah' refers to:

Accepted Answer

The depths of the sea

Question 56

The Midrash teaches that the sailors on Jonah's ship represented:

Accepted Answer

The 70 nations of the world

Question 57

According to the Zohar's allegorical reading, the 'ship' that Jonah boards represents:

Accepted Answer

The body that carries the soul through life

Question 58

In the haftarah reading, the Book of Jonah is paired with which additional prophetic reading on Yom Kippur?

Accepted Answer

The last three verses of Micah (7:18-20) - 'Mi El Kamocha'

Question 59

According to Rashi on Jonah 2:1, Jonah first prayed in a spacious fish, then was transferred to:

Accepted Answer

A cramped female fish full of embryos, to increase his distress and prayer

Question 60

The Radak explains that Jonah's anger at Nineveh's salvation was because:

Accepted Answer

He feared being seen as a false prophet since his prediction did not come true

Question 61

In the Zohar (Parashat Vayakhel), what does the 'storm at sea' in Jonah represent?

Accepted Answer

The divine judgment (din) that pursues the soul when it strays from its mission

Question 62

According to the Gemara (Sanhedrin 89a), Jonah is identified as the son of the woman of Tzarfat (Zarephath) who was revived by:

Accepted Answer

Elijah the Prophet

Question 63

The Vilna Gaon comments that the word 'vayitpallel' (and he prayed) in Jonah 2:2 uses a reflexive form to indicate:

Accepted Answer

Jonah judged himself and engaged in deep introspection before praying

Question 64

According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, how many types of sea creatures came to swallow Jonah before the appointed fish?

Accepted Answer

Many fish tried but only the designated one succeeded

✨Book of Jonah Trivia

Choose Difficulty:

Number of Questions:

Choose Difficulty:

Number of Questions:

Related Quizzes

Related Quizzes - Tanakh