Era: Approximately 780-750 BC
Jonah was an Israelite prophet from Gath-hepher, a small village about three miles northeast of modern-day Nazareth in Israel. He served during the reign of King Jeroboam II, one of Israel’s most prosperous periods.
While Jonah was prophesying, the Assyrian Empire (headquartered in Nineveh, near modern-day Mosul, Iraq) was terrorizing the ancient world. Meanwhile, in Greece, the first Olympic Games were being organized, and Rome was still a collection of hilltop villages centuries away from becoming an empire.
What makes Jonah unforgettable isn’t the fish—it’s his brutal honesty. He’s the only prophet who openly admits running from God, confesses he’d rather die than see his enemies forgiven, and ends his story without resolution. We never learn if he changed. His book asks us a question and waits for our answer.