《舊約》中十二小先知之一，其事蹟記錄在〈約拿書〉中（他的預言書在猶太教正典中是較大的“十二先知書”的一部分。）上帝命約拿去亞述國大城市尼尼微宣告該城將遭災難，但他不認爲居民如此罪惡深重的外國城市應得解救，所以將船朝反方向駛離。當這艘船受到暴風雨威脅將被摧毀時，他懺悔自己的過錯並要求船員將他丟出船外。他被大魚吞吃，但他因禱告求救，被魚吐到旱地上。約拿來到尼尼微傳達上帝的教誨，這個罪惡城市的人民悔改。〈約拿書〉可能寫於西元前5或4世紀。padding-bottom: 75%;">One of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, whose story is told in the Book of Jonah. (His narrative is part of a larger book, The Twelve, in the Jewish canon.) God orders Jonah to prophesy against the wickedness of Nineveh, but Jonah refuses to believe that the people of this hated foreign city deserve salvation, and sails away on a ship in the opposite direction. When a great storm threatens to destroy the ship, he confesses his fault and asks the crew to throw him overboard. A great fish swallows him, but he prays for deliverance and the fish spews him out on dry ground. He goes on to Nineveh and preaches God's message, and its sinful people repent. The book was probably written in the 5th or 4th century BC.
