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“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
(Romans
8:2)
Jonah –
Wikipedia
Prophet
Born 9th century BCE
Gath-hepher, Kingdom of Israel
Died 8th century
BCE[1]
Venerated in Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Baháʼí Faith
Rastafari
Major shrine Tomb of
Jonah (destroyed), Mosul, Iraq
Father Amittai
Feast 21 September
(Catholicism)[2]
Jonah or Jonas (Hebrew: יוֹנָה
Yōnā, lit. 'dove')[a] was a Jewish prophet[3] from Gath-hepher
in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the
Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor
prophets, which details his reluctance in delivering the judgment of God to the
city of Nineveh (near present-day Mosul) in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. After he is
swallowed by a large sea creature (Hebrew: דג גדול,
romanized: dāḡ gāḏol, lit. 'large fish') and then
released, he returns to the divine mission.
In Judaism, the story of Jonah represents the teaching of
repentance in Judaism, the ability to repent to God for forgiveness. In the New
Testament of Christianity, Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah"
and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah" when referring to his
resurrection. Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as a type of Jesus.
Jonah in Islam is regarded as a prophet and the narrative of Jonah appears in a
surah of the Quran named after him, Yūnus.
Many modern Bible scholars suggest the Book of Jonah is
fictional,[4][5][6][7] and at least partially satirical.[8][9] Most scholars
consider the Book of Jonah to have been composed long after the events it
describes due to its use of words and motifs exclusive to postexilic Aramaic
sources.[10][11] The character of Jonah son of Amittai may have been based on
the historical prophet of the same name who prophesied during the reign of King
Amaziah of Judah, as mentioned in 2 Kings.[12]
Although the creature that swallowed Jonah is often
depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase
"large fish". In the 17th century and early 18th century, the species
of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation by naturalists,
who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Some modern
scholars of folklore, on the other hand, note similarities between Jonah and
other legendary religious figures, like the Indian yogi Matsyendranatha
"Lord of the Fishes", the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, and the Greek hero
Jason.
Book of Jonah
Main article: Book of Jonah
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in
which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it
"for their great wickedness is come up before me",[13] but Jonah
instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to
Jaffa (sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe). He sets sail for
Tarshish.[14] A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no
ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame.[15] Jonah admits
this and says that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease.[16] The
sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail, and
they eventually throw Jonah overboard.[17] As a result, the storm calms and the
sailors offer sacrifices to God.[18]
After being cast from the ship, Jonah is swallowed by a
large fish, within the belly of which he remains for three days and three
nights.[19] While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and
commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed.[20] God commands the
fish to vomit Jonah out.[21]
God again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and prophesy
to its inhabitants.[22] This time he travels there and enters the city, crying,
"In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown."[23] After Jonah has walked
across Nineveh, the people begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast.[24]
The king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation
which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer and repentance.[25] God
sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time.[26] The entire
city is humbled and broken, with the people (and even the livestock)[27][28]
wearing sackcloth and ashes.[29]
Displeased by this, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to
Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that
God would turn from the threatened calamities.[30] He leaves the city and makes
a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed.[31] God
causes a plant (in Hebrew a kikayon) to grow over Jonah's shelter to give him
some shade from the sun.[32] Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant's root
and it withers.[33] Jonah, exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint
and pleads for God to kill him.[34]
But God said to Jonah: "Do you have a right to be
angry about the vine?" And he said: "I do. I am angry enough to
die."
But the LORD said: "You have been concerned about this
vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight, and
died overnight.
But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand
people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as
well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
The Book of Jonah (Hebrew: יונה,
Yonah) is one of the twelve minor prophets included in the Hebrew Bible. According
to one tradition, Jonah was the boy brought back to life by Elijah the prophet
in 1 Kings.[35][36] Another tradition holds that he was the son of the woman of
Shunem brought back to life by Elisha in 2 Kings[37][38] and that he is called
the "son of Amittai" ('Truth') due to his mother's recognition of
Elijah's identity as a prophet in 1 Kings.[39][38] The Book of Jonah is read
every year, in its original Hebrew and in its entirety, on Yom Kippur – the Day
of Atonement – as the Haftarah at the afternoon mincha prayer.[40][41]
According to Rabbi Eliezer, the fish that swallowed Jonah was created in the
primordial era[42] and the inside of its mouth was like a synagogue;[42] the
fish's eyes were like windows[42] and a pearl inside its mouth provided further
illumination.[42]
According to the Midrash, while Jonah was inside the fish,
the fish told him that its life was nearly over because soon the Leviathan
would eat them both.[42] Jonah promised the fish that he would save them.[42]
Following Jonah's directions, the fish swam up alongside the Leviathan[42] and
Jonah threatened to leash the Leviathan by its tongue and let the other fish
eat it.[42] The Leviathan heard Jonah's threats, saw that he was circumcised,
and realized that he was protected by the Lord,[42] so it fled in terror,
leaving Jonah and the fish alive.[42]
The medieval Jewish scholar and rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra
(1092–1167) argued against any literal interpretation of the Book of Jonah,[43]
stating that the "experiences of all the prophets except Moses were
visions, not actualities."[43] The later scholar Isaac Abarbanel
(1437–1509), however, argued that Jonah could have easily survived in the belly
of the fish for three days,[44] because "after all, fetuses live nine
months without access to fresh air".[45]
Teshuva – the ability to repent and be forgiven by God – is
a prominent idea in Jewish thought. This concept is developed in the Book of
Jonah: Jonah, the son of truth (the name of his father Amitai in Hebrew means
'truth'), refuses to ask the people of Nineveh to repent. He seeks the truth
only, and not forgiveness. When forced to go, his call is heard loud and clear,
and the people of Nineveh repent ecstatically, "fasting, including the
sheep", and the Jewish text is critical of this.[46] The Book of Jonah
also highlights the sometimes unstable relationship between two religious
needs: comfort and truth.[47]
Twelfth-century Jewish rabbi and explorer Petachiah of
Regensburg visited Jonah's tomb during his visit to the Holy Land, and wrote:
"There is a beautiful palace built over it. Near it is a pleasure garden
wherein all kinds of fruit are found. The keeper of the pleasure garden is a
Gentile. Nevertheless, when Gentiles come there he gives them no fruit, but
when Jews come he gives them a friendly reception, saying, Jonah, son of
Amittai, was a Jew, therefore it is due to you to partake of what is his, and
then gives to the Jews to eat thereof." Petachiah did not provide details
about the exact location of the tomb.[48]
In the Book of Tobit
Jonah is mentioned twice in the fourteenth chapter of the
Vaticanus version of deuterocanonical Book of Tobit,[49] the conclusion of
which finds Tobit's son, Tobias, rejoicing at the news of Nineveh's destruction
by Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus in apparent fulfillment of Jonah's prophecy
against the Assyrian capital.[49][50] The Codex Sinaiticus version of the book,
which is longer and aligns more closely with the Dead Sea Scrolls, refers to
Nahum instead of Jonah, as well as Cyaxares instead of Nebuchadnezzar and
Ahasuerus.[51] This more reliable version of the story is the basis for most
modern translations.[52]
In the New Testament
In the New Testament, Jonah is mentioned in the gospels of
Matthew[53] and Luke.[54][55] In Matthew, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah when
he is asked for a sign by some of the scribes and the Pharisees.[56][57] Jesus
says that the sign will be the sign of Jonah:[56][57] Jonah's restoration after
three days and three night inside the great fish prefigures his own
resurrection.[56]
39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation
asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet
Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge
fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation
and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something
greater than Jonah is here."
— Gospel
of Matthew, 12:39–41[58] (New International Version)
In Luke, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah in an
eschatological prophecy, after a woman in the crowd suddenly exclaims,
"Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked" (Luke 11:27 - King James Version):
29And when the people were gathered thick together, he
began to say, "This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there
shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 30For as Jonas
was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this
generation. 31The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men
of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is
here. 32The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold,
a greater than Jonas is here. 33No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth
it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they
which come in may see the light. 34The light of the body is the eye: therefore
when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine
eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35Take heed therefore that the
light which is in thee be not darkness. 36If thy whole body therefore be full
of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the
bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."
— Gospel
of Luke, 11:29–36[59] (King James Version)
Jonah is regarded as a saint by a number of Christian
denominations. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is on 21 September,
according to the Martyrologium Romanum.[2] On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical
calendar, Jonah's feast day is on 22 September (for those churches which follow
the traditional Julian calendar; 22 September currently falls in October on the
modern Gregorian calendar).[60] In the Armenian Apostolic Church, moveable
feasts are held in commemoration of Jonah as a single prophet and as one of the
Twelve Minor Prophets.[61][62][63] Jonah's mission to the Ninevites is
commemorated by the Fast of Nineveh in Syriac and Oriental Orthodox
Churches.[64] Jonah is commemorated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of
the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church on 22 September.[65]
Christian theologians have traditionally interpreted Jonah
as a type for Jesus Christ.[66] Jonah being in swallowed by the giant fish was
regarded as a foreshadowing of Jesus's crucifixion[67] and Jonah emerging from
the fish after three days was seen as a parallel for Jesus emerging from the
tomb after three days.[67] Saint Jerome equates Jonah with Jesus's more
nationalistic side,[68] and justifies Jonah's actions by arguing that
"Jonah acts thus as a patriot, not so much that he hates the Ninevites, as
that he does not want to destroy his own people."[68]
Post-Biblical views
Other Christian interpreters, including Saint Augustine and
Martin Luther, have taken a directly opposite approach,[69] regarding Jonah as
the epitome of envy and jealousness, which they regarded as inherent
characteristics of the Jewish people.[70] Luther likewise concludes that the
kikayon (plant) represents Judaism,[71] and that the worm which devours it
represents Christ.[72] Luther also questioned the idea that the Book of Jonah
was ever intended as literal history,[73] commenting that he found it hard to
believe that anyone would have interpreted it as such if it were not in the
Bible.[73] Luther's antisemitic interpretation of Jonah remained the prevailing
interpretation among German Protestants throughout early modern history.[74] J.
D. Michaelis comments that "the meaning of the fable hits you right
between the eyes",[70] and concludes that the Book of Jonah is a polemic
against "the Israelite people's hate and envy towards all the other
nations of the earth."[70] Albert Eichhorn was a strong supporter of
Michaelis's interpretation.[75]
John Calvin and John Hooper regarded the Book of Jonah as a
warning to all those who might attempt to flee from the wrath of God.[76] While
Luther had been careful to maintain that the Book of Jonah was not written by
Jonah,[77] Calvin declared that the Book of Jonah was Jonah's personal
confession of guilt.[77] Calvin sees Jonah's time inside the fish's belly as
equivalent to the fires of Hell, intended to correct Jonah and set him on the
path of righteousness.[78] Also, unlike Luther, Calvin finds fault with all the
characters in the story,[77] describing the sailors on the boat as "hard
and iron-hearted, like Cyclops'",[77] the penitence of the Ninevites as
"untrained",[77] and the king of Nineveh as a "novice".[77]
Hooper, on the other hand, sees Jonah as the archetypal dissident[79] and the
ship he is cast out from as a symbol of the state.[79] Hooper deplores such
dissidents,[79] decrying: "Can you live quietly with so many Jonasses? Nay
then, throw them into the sea!"[80] In the eighteenth century, German
professors were forbidden from teaching that the Book of Jonah was anything
other than a literal, historical account.[73]
In Islam
Quran
Jonah (Arabic: يُونُس,
romanized: Yūnus) is the title of the tenth chapter of the Quran.
Yūnus is traditionally viewed as highly important in Islam as a prophet
who was faithful to God and delivered His messages. Jonah is the only one of
Judaism's Twelve Minor Prophets to be named in the Quran.[81] In Quran
21:87[82] and 68:48, Jonah is called Dhul-Nūn (Arabic: ذُو
ٱلنُّوْن; meaning "The One
of the Fish").[83] In 4:163 and 6:86, he is referred to as "an
apostle of Allah".[83] Surah 37:139–148 retells the full story of
Jonah:[83]
And verily, Jonah was among the messengers.
[Mention] when he ran away to the laden ship.
Then (to save it from sinking) he drew straws (with other
passengers). He lost and was thrown overboard.
Then the whale engulfed him while he was blameworthy.
Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah,
He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the
Day of Resurrection.
But We cast him onto the open (shore), (totally) worn out,
and caused a squash plant to grow over him.
We (later) sent him (back) to (his city of) at least one
hundred thousand people,
And they believed, so We allowed them enjoyment for a
while.
— Surah
As-Saaffat 37:139
The Quran never mentions Jonah's father,[83] but Muslim
tradition teaches that Jonah was from the tribe of Benjamin and that his father
was Amittai.[81]
Hadiths
Jonah trying to hide his nakedness in the midst of bushes;
Jeremiah in the wilderness (top left); Uzeyr awakened after the destruction of
Jerusalem. Zubdat al-Tawarikh, Ottoman miniature, 1583.[84]
Jonah is also mentioned in a few incidents during the
lifetime of Muhammad. Quraysh sent their servant, Addas, to serve him grapes
for sustenance.[85] Muhammad asked Addas where he was from and the servant
replied Nineveh. "The town of Jonah the just, son of Amittai!" Muhammad
exclaimed. Addas was shocked because he knew that the pagan Arabs had no
knowledge of the prophet Jonah.[85] He then asked how Muhammad knew of this
man. "We are brothers", Muhammad replied. "Jonah was a Prophet
of God and I, too, am a Prophet of God." Addas immediately accepted Islam
and kissed the hands and feet of Muhammad.[85]
One of the sayings attributed to Muhammad, in the
collection of Imam Bukhari, says that Muhammad said "One should not say
that I am better than Jonah".[86][87][88][89] Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, an
older contemporary of Muhammad, taught that, had Jonah not prayed to Allah, he
would have remained trapped inside the fish until Judgement Day,[89] but,
because of his prayer, Jonah "stayed only a few days within the belly of
the fish".[89]
The ninth-century Persian historian Al-Tabari records that,
while Jonah was inside the fish, "none of his bones or members were
injured".[89] Al-Tabari also writes that Allah made the body of the fish
transparent, allowing Jonah to see the "wonders of the deep"[90] and
that Jonah heard all the fish singing praises to Allah.[90] Kisai Marvazi, a
tenth-century poet, records that Jonah's father was seventy years old when
Jonah was born[89] and that he died soon afterwards,[89] leaving Jonah's mother
with nothing but a wooden spoon, which turned out to be a cornucopia.[89]
Claimed tombs
Nineveh's current location is marked by excavations of five
gates, parts of walls on four sides, and two large mounds: the hill of Kuyunjik
and hill of Nabi Yunus.[91] The Al-Nabi Yunus Mosque resting upon Nabi Yunus
was dedicated to the prophet Jonah and contained a shrine, which was revered by
both Muslims and Christians as the site of Jonah's tomb.[92] The tomb was a
popular pilgrimage site[93] and a symbol of unity to Jews, Christians, and
Muslims across the Middle East.[93] On July 24, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL) destroyed the mosque containing the tomb as part of a
campaign to destroy religious sanctuaries it deemed to be idolatrous.[94][93]
After Mosul was taken back from ISIL in January 2017, an ancient Assyrian
palace built by Esarhaddon dating to around the first half of the 7th century
BCE was discovered beneath the ruined mosque.[93][95] ISIL had plundered the
palace of items to sell on the black market,[93][95] but some of the artifacts
that were more difficult to transport still remained in place.[93][95]
Other reputed locations of Jonah's tomb include:
the Arab village of Mashhad, located on the ancient site of
Gath-hepher in Israel;[55]
the Nabi Yunis mosque of the Palestinian town of Halhul, in
the West Bank, 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Hebron, was purportedly built over
Jonah's tomb;[96][97]
a sanctuary near the city of Sarafand (Sarepta) in
Lebanon;[98]
a hill now called Giv'at Yonah, "Jonah's Hill",
at the northern edge of the Israeli town of Ashdod, at a site covered by a
modern lighthouse;
a "tomb of Jonah" in the city of Diyarbakir,
Turkey, located behind the mihrab at Fatih Pasha Mosque[99][100] – Evliya
Çelebi states in his Seyahatname that he visited the tombs of prophet Jonah and
prophet George in the city.[101][102]
Scholarly interpretations
The story of a man surviving after being swallowed by a
whale or giant fish is classified in the catalogue of folktale types as ATU
1889G.[103]
Historicity
Jonah and the sea monster, from Christian artwork in Roman
catacombs at the end of 2nd century CE. From right to left: Johah jumps off the
ship, where a sea monster waits; he is eaten (or spit out) by that sea monster;
Johah rests on the beach after release from the monster's belly. The sea
monster drawn by the Roman Christians resembles a hippocampus.
Many Biblical scholars hold that the contents of the Book
of Jonah are ahistorical.[5][104][105] Although the prophet Jonah allegedly
lived in the eighth century BCE,[1] the Book of Jonah was written centuries
later during the time of the Achaemenid Empire.[1][106] The Hebrew used in the
Book of Jonah shows strong influences from Aramaic[1] and the cultural
practices described in it match those of the Achaemenid Persians.[1][28] Some
scholars regard the Book of Jonah as an intentional work of parody or
satire.[8][9][107][108][109][110] If this is the case, then it was probably
admitted into the canon of the Hebrew Bible by sages who misunderstood its
satirical nature[111][109][110] and mistakenly interpreted it as a serious
prophetic work.[111][109][110]
Jonah himself may have been a historical prophet;[112] he
is briefly mentioned in the Second Book of Kings:[113][5]
He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of
Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God
of Israel, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai,
the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.
— 2
Kings[114]
In a lecture delivered in 1978 and published in 1979,
Assyriologist Donald Wiseman defended the plausibility of many aspects of the
story, supporting "the tradition that many features in the narrative
exhibit an intimate and accurate knowledge of Assyria which could stem from an
historical event as early as the eighth century B.C.", concluding that
"the story of Jonah need not be considered as a late story or
parable".[115]
Parodic elements
Modern restoration of the Adad gate at Nineveh in a
photograph taken prior to the gate's total destruction by ISIL in April
2016.[116] The Book of Jonah exaggerates the size of Nineveh far beyond what it
actually was historically.[1][28]
The views expressed by Jonah in the Book of Jonah are a
parody of views held by members of Jewish society at the time when it was
written.[9][117][108] The primary target of the satire may have been a faction
whom Morton Smith calls "Separationists",[118] who believed that God
would destroy those who disobeyed him,[108] that sinful cities would be
obliterated,[108] and that God's mercy did not extend to those outside the
Abrahamic covenant.[118] McKenzie and Graham remark that "Jonah is in some
ways the most 'orthodox' of Israelite theologians – to make a theological
point."[108] Jonah's statements throughout the book are characterized by
their militancy,[108][119] but his name ironically means
"dove",[108][119] a bird which the ancient Israelites associated with
peace.[108]
Jonah's rejection of God's commands is a parody of the
obedience of the prophets described in other Old Testament writings.[120] The
king of Nineveh's instant repentance parodies the rulers throughout the other
writings of the Old Testament who disregard prophetic warnings, such as Ahab
and Zedekiah.[110] The readiness to worship God displayed by the sailors on the
ship and the people of Nineveh contrasts ironically with Jonah's own
reluctance,[121] as does Jonah's greater love for kikayon providing him shade
than for all the people in Nineveh.[121]
The Book of Jonah also employs elements of literary
absurdism;[28] it exaggerates the size of the city of Nineveh to an implausible
degree[1][28] and incorrectly refers to the administrator of the city as a
"king".[1][28] According to scholars, no human could realistically survive
for three days inside a fish,[1] and the description of the livestock in
Nineveh fasting alongside their owners is "silly".[28] Some of these
points are countered in the aforementioned lecture of Donald Wiseman.[115]
The motif of a protagonist being swallowed by a giant fish
or whale became a stock trope of later satirical writings.[122] Similar
incidents are recounted in Lucian of Samosata's A True Story, which was written
in the second century CE,[123] and in the novel Baron Munchausen's Narrative of
his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, published by Rudolf Erich Raspe
in 1785.[124]
The fish
Translation
Though art and culture often depicts Jonah's fish as a
whale, the Hebrew text, as throughout scripture,[citation needed] refers to no
marine species in particular, simply saying "great fish" or "big
fish". While some biblical scholars suggest the size and habits of the
great white shark correspond better to the representations of Jonah's
experiences, normally an adult human is too large to be swallowed whole. The
development of whaling from the 18th century onwards made it clear that most,
if not all, species of whale are incapable of swallowing a human, leading to
much controversy about the veracity of the biblical story of Jonah.[125]
In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translations), the Hebrew
text reads dag gadol[126] (דג גדול) or, in
the Hebrew Masoretic Text, dāḡ gāḏōl (דָּ֣ג
גָּד֔וֹל), which means
"great fish".[126][127] The Septuagint translates this phrase into
Greek as kētei megalōi (κήτει
μεγάλῳ), meaning "huge fish".[128] In
Greek mythology, the same word meaning "fish" (kętos) is used to
describe the sea monster slain by the hero Perseus that nearly devoured the
Princess Andromeda.[129] Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis grandis
in his Latin Vulgate.[130] He translated koilia kétous, however, as ventre ceti
in Matthew 12:40:[131] this second case occurs only in this verse of the New
Testament.[132][133]
At some point cetus became synonymous with
"whale" (the study of whales is now called cetology). In his 1534
translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate
fyshe" and the word kétos (Greek) or cetus (Latin) in Matthew 12:40[134]
as "whale". Tyndale's translation was later incorporated into the
Authorized Version of 1611. Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2
has been most often interpreted as a whale. In English some translations use the
word "whale" for Matthew 12:40, while others use "sea
creature" or "big fish".[135]
Scientific speculation
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, naturalists,
interpreting the Jonah story as a historical account, became obsessed with
trying to identify the exact species of the fish that swallowed Jonah.[137] In
the mid-nineteenth century, Edward Bouverie Pusey, professor of Hebrew at
Oxford University, claimed that the Book of Jonah must have been authored by
Jonah himself[138] and argued that the fish story must be historically true, or
else it would not have been included in the Bible.[138] Pusey attempted to
scientifically catalogue the fish,[139] hoping to "shame those who speak
of the miracle of Jonah's preservation in the fish as a thing less credible
than any of God's other miraculous doings".[140]
The debate over the fish in the Book of Jonah played a
major role during Clarence Darrow's cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan
at the Scopes trial in 1925.[141][142][73] Darrow asked Bryan, "When you
read that ... the whale swallowed Jonah ... how do you literally interpret
that?".[141] Bryan replied that he believed in "a God who can make a
whale and can make a man and make both of them do what He
pleases."[141][73] Bryan ultimately admitted that it was necessary to
interpret the Bible,[141] and is generally regarded as having come off looking
like a "buffoon".[142]
The largest of all whales – blue whales – are baleen whales
which eat plankton; and "it is commonly said that this species would be
choked if it attempted to swallow a herring."[143] The largest of all
fishes – the whale shark – has a large mouth, but its throat is only four
inches wide, with a sharp elbow or bend behind the opening, such that not even
a human arm would be able to pass through it. Therefore, Jonah could not have
been swallowed by a whale shark.[144]
Sperm whales, however, appear to be a different matter:
They regularly eat giant squid, so presumably one could swallow a human.[145]
Similar to a cow, sperm whales have four-chambered stomachs.[145] The first
chamber has no gastric juices but has muscular walls to crush its
food.[146][147] On the other hand, it is not possible to breathe inside the
sperm whale's stomach because there is no air (but probably methane
instead).[145] A 2023 novel by Daniel Kraus explores the idea of a man
surviving being swallowed by a sperm whale, but with an oxygen tank.[148]
Cultural influence
In Turkish, "Jonah's fish" (yunus
balığı) is the term used for dolphins.[149] A long-established
expression among sailors uses the term "a Jonah" to mean a
sailor/passenger whose presence on board brings bad luck and endangers the
ship.[150] Later, this meaning was extended to "a person who carries a
jinx, one who will bring bad luck to any enterprise."[151]
Despite its brevity, the Book of Jonah has been adapted
numerous times in literature and in popular culture.[152][153] In Herman
Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Father Mapple delivers a sermon on the Book of
Jonah. Mapple asks why Jonah does not show remorse for disobeying God while he
is inside of the fish. He concludes that Jonah admirably understands that
"his dreadful punishment is just."[154] Carlo Collodi's The
Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) features the title character and his father
Geppetto being swallowed by "the Terrible Dogfish", an allusion to the
story of Jonah.[155] Walt Disney's 1940 film adaptation of the novel retains
this allusion.[156] The story of Jonah was adapted into Phil Vischer and Mike
Nawrocki's animated film Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002). In the film, Jonah
(portrayed by Archibald Asparagus) is swallowed by a gargantuan whale.[157]
Suggested connections to legends
Epic of Gilgamesh
Joseph Campbell suggests that the story of Jonah parallels
a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which Gilgamesh obtains a plant from the
bottom of the sea.[158] In the Book of Jonah, a worm (in Hebrew tola'ath,
"maggot") bites the shade-giving plant's root causing it to wither;[158]
whereas in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet and plucks
his plant from the floor of the sea.[158][159] Once he returns to the shore,
the rejuvenating plant is eaten by a serpent.[158][160]
Jason (Greek mythology)
Campbell also noted several similarities between the story
of Jonah and that of Jason in Greek mythology.[158] The Greek rendering of the
name Jonah is Jonas (Ἰωνᾶς), which differs from
Jason (Ἰάσων) only in the order of sounds – both os
are omegas suggesting that Jason may have been confused with Jonah.[158] Gildas
Hamel, drawing on the Book of Jonah and Greco-Roman sources – including Greek
vases and the accounts of Apollonius of Rhodes, Gaius Valerius Flaccus and
Orphic Argonautica – identifies a number of shared motifs, including the names
of the heroes, the presence of a dove, the idea of "fleeing" like the
wind and causing a storm, the attitude of the sailors, the presence of a
sea-monster or dragon threatening the hero or swallowing him, and the form and
the word used for the "gourd" (kikayon). Hamel takes the view that it
was the Hebrew author who reacted to and adapted this mythological material to
communicate his own quite different message.[161]