Jonah is the author of the book, and his name means ‘dove’, which is a name that God called Ephraim, Hosea 7:11, who are viewed as being easily deceived and senseless.
Jonah’s father was Amittai, who was a prophet from Gath Hepher, 2 Kings 14:25 / Joshua 19:10 / Joshua 19:13. It was Nathanael who asked Philip, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? It’s very possible that this is the region Jonah came from.
He was the first prophet after the death of Elisha to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and he was successful in his mission of telling the people of the Northern Kingdom how the territory would expand and would become prosperous under Jeroboam.
He worked in the early reign of Jeroboam II., and was contemporary with Hosea and Amos, but it’s possible he came before them. As with most of the Old Testament prophets, all we know about him and his personal life comes from the book itself.
We know that he was sent on a mission trip by God to Nineveh, and he was from Gath-Hepher, Joshua 19:10-13. There’s no doubt that Jonah loved his people, his fellow Israelites, but he does appear to have a problem with loving other nations, Exodus 19:5-6 / Isaiah 49:6.
The book of Jonah is probably one of the most attacked books in the Bible, concerning its authenticity. Some see the book as a myth, some see it as an allegorical story, and some see it as a fable, but if people took the time to read outside the book itself, they would find sufficient proof that Jonah was a real person and that what happened to him really happened.
2 Kings 14:25 tells us that Jonah was around and was a prophet of that time. Jesus Himself refers to Jonah; He uses what happened to Jonah as a sign for the Pharisees.
He also speaks of the people of Nineveh condemning others in judgment. He speaks of how they repented, and how they would stand as a condemnation to all those who didn’t, Matthew 12:39-49 / Matthew 16:4 / Luke 11:28-32.
The theme of the book is simply God’s dealings with the Assyrians.
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