The Book of Jonah
The Reluctant and Angry Prophet The name Jonah means dove. The Bible says Jonah was from a town named Gath-Hepher near Nazareth. This town according to Joshua 19:13 was in the tribal land of Zebulun in the north country. Jonah prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II king of Israel (793-753 B.C.) according to 2 Kings 14:25. This would make him an eighth century prophet. God commanded Jonah to go east to Nineveh the capital city in Assyria and prophesy against it. Jonah is the only prophet in the Old Testament told to travel to a foreign nation to prophesy. Jonah refused and decided to travel far west to Tarshish which scholars claimed was in the region of Spain. Jonah simply wanted to get as far away from Nineveh as he could. A brief history of the Assyrians The nation Assyria gets its name from Asshur the son of Shem (Gen 10:22). Assyria was located on the west bank of the Tigris River which today