Amittai
Jonah’s father: named only twice in the Bible, from a Galilee village near Nazareth.
Old Testament · c. 800 BC · Jonah, 2 Kings · Also known as Father of Jonah
About Amittai
Amittai is known only as the father of the prophet Jonah. The book of Jonah begins, "Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai." 2 Kings adds where the family came from: Jonah was "the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher," a village in Galilee in the tribe of Zebulun, a few miles from where Nazareth would later stand. That is all Scripture records about him.
Amittai has no recorded words, so this guide speaks about him, and is honest that little is known. His name comes from the Hebrew word for truth or faithfulness. Gath-hepher was in Zebulun; Jewish tradition remembered Jonah’s tomb nearby.
The story
Jonah the son of Amittai
"Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."
Jonah 1:1-2
Of Gathhepher
Jonah had already served as a prophet in Israel. King Jeroboam "restored the coast of Israel... according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher."
2 Kings 14:25
Out of Galilee
Gath-hepher lay in Zebulun, close to the later town of Nazareth. Centuries later, some Pharisees said of Jesus, "Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," forgetting that Amittai’s son had come from Galilee. Jesus himself spoke of "the sign of the prophet Jonas."
John 7:52; Matthew 12:39-40
Key moments
- Named as Jonah’s father: "Jonah the son of Amittai." (Jonah 1:1)
- Family from Gath-hepher: In Galilee. (2 Kings 14:25)
Questions about Amittai
What do we know about Amittai?
Very little: his name, his son, and his hometown. "Jonah the son of Amittai" opens the book of Jonah, and 2 Kings adds that the family was "of Gathhepher." Scripture records nothing of his own life, faith or words, and it’s better to say so than to invent them.
Where did Amittai’s family live?
Gath-hepher, a village in the territory of Zebulun in Galilee, listed among Zebulun’s towns in Joshua. It lay only a few miles from Nazareth. So when some said, "out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," they had forgotten Jonah.
What does the name Amittai mean?
It comes from the Hebrew word for truth or faithfulness, and is often explained as "truthful" or "my truth." Some find it a gentle irony that the son of "Truth" ran away from the word God gave him, yet God remained faithful to Jonah and to Nineveh.
Connected people
Read it yourself
Start with Jonah 1:1; 2 Kings 14:25.