2 Kings 14 · a question people ask
Is this the same Jonah as the book of Jonah?
Both give him the same name and father. This chapter speaks of "his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher" (14:25), and the book of Jonah opens, "Now the LORD’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai" (Jonah 1:1). In the Hebrew Bible the name Amittai comes only in those two verses (tap Jonah). What 2 Kings adds is his town, that he was "the prophet", and that the LORD spoke a word by him which was kept when Jeroboam restored the border (14:25). 2 Kings doesn't quote that word, doesn't say when it was spoken, and doesn't connect Jonah with Nineveh; the book of Jonah doesn't name Jeroboam or Gath Hepher. Jesus speaks of "the sign of Jonah the prophet" (Matthew 12:39), and of the men of Nineveh who "repented at the preaching of Jonah" (Matthew 12:41).
The verses
“He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.”
“Now the LORD’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,”
“But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.”
“The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here.”