The book of Jonah is the fifth book in the Christian canons and the Jewish Tanakh. It is one of 'Trei Asar' (The Twelve) prophets in the tanakh, and in Christian tradition as 'oi dodeka prophetai' or 'ton dodekapropheton' , Greek for "The twelve prophets." It is an important book to both religious traditions (Christianity and Jewish) because of its message of doom upon Israel's long-time enemy - Assyria, whose capital was Nineveh. However, despite the book's small size, scholars continue to dispute its content and date of composition. Some have encountered major themes in the book that does not relate to Jonah's 8th century BCE context but beyond his time. Others have pointed out the different types of Hebrew and argue that the book has been edited by generations after Jonah. This article provides a brief discussion on these issues and where the book of Jonah now stands in modern scholarly discussion.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1170/the-book-of-jonah/.