- Jonah’s the best known of all the Minor Prophets. The book of Jonah is also the only one that isn’t a compilation of prophecies condemning the wicked and rewarding the righteous.
- 2 Kings 14:21 mentions a prophet Jonah, son of Amittai, during the reign of Israel’s second king named Jeroboam. This would place the story of Jonah around the same time as Amos, which might explain why Amos is deathly afraid of boats. Jonah is the ultimate “you can run but you can’t hide from God” story.
- Jonah in Hebrew is commonly taken to mean “dove.” (In Italian, it’s “Geppetto”) In the story of Noah in the book of Genesis, a dove finds “no place to set its foot” and instead heads back to the boat. This apparent connection is the perfect set-up for an easy sermon for preachers running out of ideas.