Jonah in Hebrew is Yonah Meaning: Dove
The ‘yonah’ dove, in the Scripture is much more than just a beautiful, lovely bird. It is the most symbol-rich creature in the Scriptures.
First, the Yonah with the olive branch in its beak is the world’s symbol of peace. This is after the famous verse:
And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noach knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
BERE’SHIYTH (GENESIS) 8:11
This dove symbolized peace on earth because the olive branch it brought back to the ark indicated the end of YAHUAH’s wrath over mankind and his Creation.
The Yonah is also a symbol of love, or more precisely, the female beloved:
Behold you, lovely shepherdess; behold you, you have the lovely eyes of doves.
SHIYR HASHIYRIYM (SONG OF SOLOMON) 1:15
I am sleeping, but my heart is aroused with the sound of my darling knocking: Open to me, my sister, my shepherdess, my dove, my flawless one: for my head is filled with nightmist, and my locks with the moistures of the night.
SHIYR HASHIYRIYM (SONG OF SOLOMON) 5:2
It is also mentioned as an imagery of the eyes of a male beloved:
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fully set.
SHIYR HASHIYRIYM (SONG OF SOLOMON) 5:12
The most powerful symbol of the Yonah may be found in the metaphor of YAHUAH’s appearance as a dove:
And YAHUSHA, when he was immersed, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the RUACH YAHUAH descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
MATTITHYAHU (MATTHEW) 3:16
Yonah, dove, is the exact same Hebrew name of the prophet Jonah. ‘J’ sounds do not exist in Hebrew, and if you came across an English Scriptural name with this letter, you can convert the ‘J’ to a ‘Y’ and keep the vowels as they are.
Quick quiz questions:
What is then the Hebrew name of Joseph?
How about the Ancient Scriptural name ‘Jerusalem’?
The answers are: 1. Yoceph
2. Ye•ru•sha•lem. This name was later in the Scripture changed to: ‘Ye•ru•sha•la•yim,’ which is the name we use today. Yonah is also a common name, and nowadays it has become both a male’s and female’s name.
