4 THE DATE OF JONAH ALTHOUGH IT USED TO BE taken for granted that the book was written in the eighth century BCE by Jonah ben Amittai, the book itself does not so claim; indeed, it is not written in the first person but in the third. In fact, scholars nowadays have abandoned the pre-exilic date for the composition in favour of a post-exilic date. Since the book begins with a reference to Jonah ben Amittai the terminus a quo must surely be in the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel whose dates are c.786–746