who wrote jonah

The Book of Jonah is traditionally attributed to Jonah son of Amittai , but many scholars think the book was written by an unknown later author.

Why there are two views

• Traditional view: Jonah himself wrote it, since the book centers on him and includes a first-person prayer in chapter 2.

• Critical view: The book is mostly written in the third person and never directly names an author, so many scholars call it anonymous.

Quick scoop

So the shortest honest answer is: we don’t know for sure. If you want the traditional answer, it’s Jonah; if you want the academic answer, it’s an anonymous writer.

TL;DR: Traditionally Jonah; academically, probably an unknown author.