Jonah is most famous as the central figure in the book of the same name who disobeyed God when he was commanded to go preach to the Assyrian city of Nineveh but who fled to Tarshish (very like Spain) instead. The book is the fifth work in the collection of twelve known collectively as the 'Minor Prophets.' Though the book has sometimes been read as non-historical (either as an allegorical or as a parable) Jonah was a historical figure who ministered in the northern kingdom of Israel in the reign of Jeroboam II (782-753 BC; 2 Ki 14:23-28):
He [Jeroboam] was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
We know nothing of Jonah apart from what is said in this verse. The reign of Jeroboam II was a time of political stability, with the major powers of Assyria and Egypt in relative weakness and, therefore, unable or reluctant to interfere in the affairs of Palestine. This had enabled Jeroboam's father, Jehoash (798-782 BC) to capitalize on this freedom to expand the boundaries of Israel, something that Jeroboam continued to do until its borders stretched as far as it did in Solomon's time. Jonah shared, therefore, the same time slot as Amos who, though a Judean, preached to the nothern kingdom "when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel" (Amos 1:1).
Jonah is mentioned 10x in the NT, all of them on the lips of Jesus, as a sign of those unbeliving who asked for a sign that Jesus was in fact the messiah, "But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." By that Jesus meant that by his death and resurrection after three days would the world know that is, in fact, the Saviour of the world.
©ALBERITH
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