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50 free Jonah trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Jonah is the prophet who ran the wrong way. Told to preach to Nineveh, he booked passage to Tarshish, got thrown overboard in a storm, spent three days inside a great fish, and finally sulked under a withered plant because God had spared the city after all. This Jonah trivia quiz covers the whole four-chapter book, verse by verse, plus what Jews, Christians and Muslims have made of it since. You will find questions on the story itself, on where the tale is read (Yom Kippur), how Jesus used the 'sign of Jonah', why the Quran calls him Dhul-Nun, the tomb ISIL destroyed at Mosul in 2014, and the long argument about whether it was really a whale. Difficulty runs from Sunday-school easy to seminary hard, and every answer is verified and cited to its reference page. If you enjoy this quiz, try our other Bible and religion quizzes.
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Q 01Which people ruled the city Jonah was sent to prophesy against?
The Assyrians
Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, stood near present-day Mosul in Iraq; a mosque said to hold Jonah's tomb stood there until 2014.
Q 02How long did Jonah remain inside the sea creature?
Three days and nights
Jesus later compared the span to the time he would spend 'in the heart of the earth'.
Q 03Which port did Jonah flee to in order to sail away from his mission?
Jaffa
The port is also transliterated Joppa; from there he took a ship bound for Tarshish.
Q 04For which destination did Jonah's ship set sail?
Tarshish
The location is uncertain, but it was understood as somewhere far to the west, the opposite direction from Nineveh.
Q 05How did the sailors discover that Jonah was to blame for the storm?
They cast lots
They initially refused to throw him overboard and kept rowing, but eventually gave in and the sea grew calm.
Q 06What did the sailors do once the storm calmed?
Offered sacrifices to God
Their readiness to worship contrasts ironically with Jonah's own reluctance.
Q 07How did Jonah leave the creature's belly?
It vomited him out at God's command
Inside, Jonah had prayed and promised to give thanks and pay what he had vowed.
Q 08What warning did Jonah cry out as he walked through the city?
In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown
The people believed him and proclaimed a fast, and the city was spared.
Q 09What did the king of Nineveh do on hearing Jonah's message?
Put on sackcloth and sat in ashes
His decree required fasting, sackcloth, prayer and repentance for the people and even the livestock.
Q 10How did Jonah react when God spared Nineveh?
He was displeased and angry
He argued that since God is merciful, the reprieve had been inevitable, and went outside the city to watch.
Q 11What is the Hebrew name for the plant God grew over Jonah's shelter?
Kikayon
The King James Version calls it a gourd; a worm bit its root and it withered overnight.
Q 12What killed the plant that shaded Jonah?
A worm bit its root
Exposed to the sun, Jonah begged God to let him die, setting up the book's final rebuke.
Q 13How many people did God say lived in Nineveh who could not tell right hand from left?
More than 120,000
God adds 'and many cattle as well', the closing words of the book.
Q 21Which Jewish concept, meaning repentance, does the story of Jonah teach?
Teshuva
Jonah, son of 'truth', resists asking Nineveh to repent, and the text is critical of him for it.
Q 22According to Rabbi Eliezer, what was the inside of the fish's mouth like?
A synagogue
The fish's eyes were like windows and a pearl inside gave extra light, in this midrashic tradition.
Q 23In the Midrash, which monster threatened to eat both Jonah and the fish?
Leviathan
Jonah threatened to leash it by the tongue; seeing he was circumcised and under God's protection, it fled.
Q 14What does the name Jonah mean in Hebrew?
Dove
Scholars note the irony that a bird associated with peace names a prophet so militant in his views.
Q 15Who was Jonah's father?
Amittai
His name means 'truth' in Hebrew, which Jewish commentators tie to Jonah's stubborn preference for truth over forgiveness.
Q 16From which town was Jonah, according to 2 Kings?
Gath-hepher
The village of Mashhad in Galilee stands on the ancient site and claims one of several tombs of Jonah.
Q 17During which king's reign does 2 Kings place Jonah?
Jeroboam II
That dates the historical prophet to 786-746 BCE, though the book itself names no king.
Q 18How many chapters does the Book of Jonah have?
Four
It is one of the twelve minor prophets, and despite its brevity has been adapted countless times.
Q 19On which Jewish holy day is the Book of Jonah read in full?
Yom Kippur
It is the Haftarah at the afternoon mincha prayer, chosen to stress God's willingness to forgive those who repent.
Q 20What does the Hebrew text actually call the creature that swallowed Jonah?
A great fish
Tyndale's 1534 translation rendered the Greek ketos in Matthew as 'whale', and the idea stuck in English.
Q 24Which medieval scholar argued that Jonah's experiences were visions, not actualities?
Abraham ibn Ezra
Abarbanel later countered that Jonah could easily have survived, since fetuses live nine months without fresh air.
Q 25What did Jesus promise the Pharisees when they demanded a miracle?
The sign of Jonah
Jonah's three days in the fish prefigured the resurrection; Jesus said 'something greater than Jonah is here'.
Q 26In which two Gospels is Jonah mentioned?
Matthew and Luke
In Luke the reference comes as an eschatological prophecy after a woman in the crowd blesses Jesus's mother.
Q 27On what date is Jonah's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church?
21 September
The Eastern Orthodox calendar keeps it a day later, on 22 September of the Julian calendar.
Q 28Which observance in the Syriac and Oriental Orthodox churches commemorates Jonah's mission?
The Fast of Nineveh
The Armenian Apostolic Church holds moveable feasts for Jonah as one of the Twelve Minor Prophets.
Q 29Which reformer said the plant shading Jonah represented Judaism and the worm Christ?
Martin Luther
Luther also doubted anyone would read the book as literal history had it not been in the Bible.
Q 30Which reformer called the Book of Jonah the prophet's own personal confession of guilt?
John Calvin
He likened Jonah's time in the fish to the fires of Hell and called the sailors 'iron-hearted, like Cyclops'.