JONAS (1)

jo'-nas (Ionas; the King James Version, Jonan):

(1) Son of Eliasib (1 Esdras 9:1).

(2) Corresponds in 1 Esdras 9:23 to "Eliezer" in Ezra 10:23.

(3) The prophet Jonah (2 Esdras 1:39; Tobit 14:4, 8).

JONAS (2)

jo'-nas (yonah, or yochanan; Iona):

(1) The name given in Matthew 12:39-41; Matthew 16:4 Luke 11:29-32 the King James Version to the Old Testament prophet Jonah (the Revised Version (British and American) renders "Jonah").

See JONAH.

(2) (Ioanes): The name given in John 21:15, 16 the King James Version to the father of the apostle Simon Peter. Nothing further is known of him, except the different forms of his name. In John 1:42 the King James Version he is called Jona (compare also Matthew 16:17 the King James Version). In John 1:42; John 21:15, 16 the Revised Version (British and American) he is called John, with the marginal note "Gr Joanes." In Matthew 16:17 the Revised Version (British and American) Simon Peter is called Simon Bar-Jonah.

Jonas may be a contraction for Joanes (Keim). It has also been suggested that the father of Simon may have had a double name, Jona-Johannes (compare F. H. Chase in HDB, article "John, father of Simon Peter").

C. M. Kerr