Jonah
A reluctant prophet is sent to Nineveh and learns of God’s mercy to a foreign city.
What the sources say, and how sure we are
- The text says
A prophet named Jonah son of Amittai served in the time of Jeroboam II. The book that bears his name is told in the third person and does not name its author.2 Kgs 14:25; Jonah 1:1
- Outside evidence
Nineveh was a major Assyrian city. Its ruins lie at Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus in modern Mosul, Iraq. Assyrian records do not mention Jonah or a citywide repentance.
- Debated
Readers differ on how to read the book: as history, as history told with a lesson, or as a parable or satire. The date of writing is also debated, from the 8th century BC to after the exile.
- Christian conclusion
Jesus speaks of the “sign of Jonah” as pointing to his own death and resurrection and holds up the repentance of Nineveh as a rebuke.Matt 12:39–41