Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Now ..." Enemies of this book do not hesitate to take the ax to the very first word in it, affirming that, "Jonah is a fragment, the continuation of a larger work";[2] but, of course, such criticisms are apparently founded in ignorance of the truth that, "This is a common formulary linking together revelations and histories, and is continually used in the Old Testament at the beginning of independent works."[3]; Joshua 1:1;  Judges 1:1;  1 Samuel 1:1;  Esther 1:1; and  Ezekiel 1:1 all have this same beginning.  "This by no means warrants the assumption that Jonah is the fragment of a larger work."[4]