Days of Jonah

This book is about the historical setting of Jonah's mission to Nineveh. The author examined a broad array of data encompassing the biblical text, biblical chronology, historical evidence, royal inscriptions of Assyrian kings, chronicles of ancient Assyria, religious practices and traditions of ancient Assyria, archaeological evidence, and scientific evidence. He proposes that Jonah visited Nineveh in the aftermath of a chain of cataclysmic events when Ashur-Dan III was king of Assyria and Jeroboam II was king of Israel. The events reached a breaking point in 758 BC. That would have been an ideal time for a prophet of the God of Israel to arrive at Nineveh and proclaim a message of doom for the city. Something extraordinary happened that year. A three year period of peace broke out. The author proposes that Jonah arrived in 758 BC and preached to people that were already convinced their city was doomed. The Ninevites repented and God rewarded the entire Assyrian Empire with an interlude of peace. Other scholars have argued that Jonah visited Nineveh in that general time frame. However, this book may be unique in that it draws heavily from data recorded in the chronicles of Assyrian kings.