Gath-hepher

Gath-hepher (meaning: a wine-press of digging) was a town in the territory of Zebulun in the lower Galilee region, identified in Joshua 19:13 as marking the boundary of Zebulun's inheritance. Its primary biblical significance lies in being the birthplace of the prophet Jonah son of Amittai (2 Kings 14:25), who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II that Israel's borders would be restored — a prophecy that was fulfilled. Gath-hepher thus provides the hometown of one of the most famous of the Old Testament prophets.

The site is identified with modern el-Meshhed, approximately three miles northeast of Nazareth in the Galilee region, where a tomb traditionally associated with Jonah has been venerated since antiquity. This location in Galilee is significant in light of the Pharisees' claim that no prophet arises from Galilee (John 7:52) — a claim contradicted by both Jonah's Galilean origin and, of course, Jesus himself. The town appears only in these two Old Testament references, making Jonah the primary reason for its preservation in the biblical record.