Jonah is listed as a prophet in the Bible but he is not a historical figure like Isaiah or Jeremiah. The Book of Jonah is a parable, a story told to illustrate a point. While written probably in the 3rd century before Christ it describes the hated villains of Jesus history, the Assyrians who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, as capable of receiving God’s mercy. Jonah, resents this — he wants the enemy punished. But God informs him (and us) “there’s a wideness to God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea.” By happy coincidence (providence!) on this, the holiest day of the Jewish year Yom Kippur, both Christians and Jews read from Jonah so that we will trust in the mercy of God.
