Jonah (prophet)

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A prophet in the Book of Jonah famous for being swallowed by a great fish.

According to the book of Jonah

Jonah's call to prophesy

God orders Jonah to prophesy to the city of Nineveh.[1] Jonah attempts to avoid God's command by going to Joppa and sailing to Tarshish.[2] A huge storm arises.[3] The sailors realized this was no ordinary storm, cast lots, and learn that Jonah is to blame.[4] Jonah admits this,[5] and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease.[6] The sailors eventually throw him overboard, and the seas calmed,[7] and the sailors worshiped the LORD.[8]

Jonah is miraculously swallowed by a large fish, where he survived for three days and nights.[9] While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God and asks forgiveness and thanks God for being so forgiving, and, as a result, God commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.[10]

Jonah's prophesies

Historicity and facticity

The NIV Bible commentary states that the 3 days and 3 nights spent in the great fish was an approximation,[11] although others believe this is an eisegesis.

Jesus on historicity of Jonah's sojourn

According the the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Jesus completely accepted the facticity of Jonah's sojourn in the belly of a fish.[12] For example, in the book of Matthew and Luke, Jesus stated that he would repeat the miracle of Jonah:


“ MT 12:39 [Jesus] answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For 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. 41 The 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 one greater than Jonah is here..."[13] ”

Other theologians quoted in The Bible Encyclopedia argue that Jesus is using an illustration in the same way that we might quote one of His parables, and that this does not necessarily mean that the events literally happened in the same way that we accept that the stories in the parables of Jesus did not literally happen. [14]

Other Bible Commentators on Jonah

Some theologians argue that the story of Jonah and the whale is an allegory prefiguring of the three days between the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [15] [16]

Others, particularly Jewish scholars, argue that it is a Midrash [17]

More recent theological commentators have outlined reasons for thinking of the story of Jonah as not even a Midrash or allegory but as satire [18].

Rabbinical Tradition

According to some rabbinical traditions, the great fish that swallowed Jonah had been created in the begining for the purpose of swallowing Jonah.[19] According to other traditions, the crew of the ship threw away their idols, sailed back to Joppa, went to Jerusalem, and submitted to circumcision, and became Jews.[20]

Challenges from secular humanists, atheists, and agnostics

Not only some humanists, atheists and agnostics but many Christians also assert that if this event actually occurred, it must have been a miracle, as the gullet of a whale is only about nine inches in diameter, and it would not be physically possible for a whale to swallow a human being whole.[21] Moreover, bodies of squid recovered from the stomachs of whales show corrosion from digestive juices.

References

  1. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JNH 1:2
  2. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JNH 1:3-4
  3. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JNH 1:4-6
  4. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JHN 1:7
  5. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JNH 1:9-11
  6. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JHN 1:12
  7. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JNH 1:15
  8. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JHN 1:16
  9. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JHN 1:17
  10. ↑ Zondervan 2002, JHN 2
  11. ↑ Barker and Kohlenberger 1999
  12. ↑ Archer 1982
  13. ↑ Zondervan 2002, MT 12:39-41, see also MT 16:4, LK 11:29-32,
  14. ↑ http://www.bible-history.com/isbe/J/JONAH,+THE+BOOK+OF/
  15. ↑ http://www.answers.com/topic/typology-theology
  16. ↑ http://www.ctsfw.edu/library/files/pb/1253
  17. ↑ http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Prophets_1460/TOLiteraryProphets/MinorProphets/JonahSimon.htm
  18. ↑ http://seminary.csl.edu/facultypubs/TheologyandPractice/tabid/87/ctl/Details/mid/494/ItemID/40/Default.aspx
  19. ↑ Hirsch, Budde, and Schechter 2002
  20. ↑ Hirsch, Budde, and Schechter 2002
  21. ↑ http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/whales/shore_whaling_industry.html

Sources

  • Archer, G. (2006), Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Zondervan Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0310435709
  • Barker, Kenneth L. & John R., III Kohlenberger (1999), NIV Bible Commentary, Zondervan Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0310578505
  • Hirsch, Emil G.; Karl Budde & Solomon Schechter (2002), Jonah, JewishEncyclopedia.com Retrieved on 2007-05-11
  • Zondervan (2002), Zondervan NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0310929550
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