Gath-Hepher

Gath-hepher is a town in the territory of Zebulun, named in scripture as the hometown of the prophet Jonah son of Amittai.

The Home of Jonah the Prophet

The single mention of the place ties it to a prophetic word fulfilled under Jeroboam II of Israel. The narrator reports: "He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his slave Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher" (2Ki 14:25). Gath-hepher thus stands behind the recovery of Israelite territory in the eighth century, identifying the prophet whose oracle authorized Jeroboam's military success.