Jonah

About the Book of Jonah

This book records what happened to a man called Jonah. Jonah lived in Gath Hepher, a town in Israel. Israel is east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the home of God's special people, the Jews.
We also read about Jonah in one other part of the Old Testament. This is in 2 Kings 14:25. The king was Jeroboam the Second. He ruled in the 8th century BC. A country near Israel, called Syria, had taken some of Israel's land by war. We read that Jonah spoke God's words to the Jews. He said that the people in Israel would win back this land by war from Syria. And that is what had happened. So people knew Jonah as a prophet. But Jonah's book is not about the words that Jonah spoke. It records something that happened in his life.
We do not know when the writer wrote the book. It may have been about 750 BC. Jonah may have written the book. Or another prophet may have written it. Usually these prophets of God spoke only to the Jews in Israel and Judah.