JONAH AND THE WHALE THE GREAT FISH TALE a study by Wayne E. McMorran 2007 by Wayne McMorran
Page 1 INTRODUCTION If you think there is something fishy about the title page, you are correct. However, I assume it got your attention. It is hoped that this study will clear up the myths that circulate about this account. There are those who say that the type of whale found in the Mediterranean Sea is not capable of swallowing a man whole. They are correct except that they do not understand the Bible! What does the Bible say about whales? Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. Ezekiel 32:2 (KJV) Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? Job 7:12 (KJV) What do these two verses tell us? First, there is no mention of any whale in the book of Jonah. As a matter of fact, only the KJV has whale in the above two passages! The Septuagint has in these verses, äñáêùí (drakon) = dragon. The Hebrew is ïé 1 (tannin) = serpent, dragon, sea-monster. In other words, a whale is not mentioned anywhere is the Bible. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40 (KJV) Similarly, the KJV is the only (common) translation that has whale, the translation of 2 êçôåïò (ketos) which is a sea-monster, whale, huge fish The word has other meanings than whale and since the Septuagint has dragon (see above), whale is not the correct translation here. This may satisfy some of the skeptics but there will still be those that say, whale, sea monster, great fish, none of these could swallow a man alive and have him live. Let me 1 Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon 2 Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon
Page 2 make some pertinent points here. 1. The text says that God prepared a great fish. It does no say a big fish just happened to swim by - in other words, this fish, whatever it was, may have been a special creation for this purpose but it also may have been a regular fish that God ordained for the job.. 2. There are several reported incidents of a man being swallowed by a large fish and regurgitated up on the beach (they did not fare as well as Jonah, but at least one of them was alive (see below). 3. Whatever the circumstances, God performed a miracle in this instance. Why do I say this? So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows. Jonah 1:15-16 (NKJV) Not only was there a miracle involved in the fish swallowing Jonah, there was also a miracle performed with regard to the raging sea which became calm as soon as Jonah was thrown overboard. This was a miracle of the same nature as when Jesus calmed the Sea of Galilee. Going back to the fish swallowing Jonah whole, There are, however, several documented accounts of people who have been swallowed by whales and large fish, and have lived to tell about it, even after several days. One species of fish, the "Sea Dog" (Carcharodon carcharias), is found in all warm seas [including the Mediterranean] and can reach a length of 40 feet. In the year 1758, a sailor fell overboard from a boat in the Mediterranean and was swallowed by a sea dog. The captain of the vessel ordered a cannon on the deck to be fired at the fish, which vomited up the sailor alive and unharmed after it was struck. Sperm whales can swallow lumps of food eight feet in diameter. Entire skeletons of sharks up to sixteen feet in length have been found in them. In February of 1891, James Bartley, a sailor aboard the whaling ship "Star of the East," was swallowed by a whale in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. He was within the whale for more than forty-eight hours, and after he was found inside the whale, which had been harpooned and brought aboard the whaling ship, it took him two weeks to recover from the ordeal. Sir Francis Fox wrote as follows about this: Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not from lack of air. He remembers the sensation
Page 3 of being thrown out of the boat into the sea.... He was then encompassed by a great darkness and he felt he was slipping along a smooth passage of some sort that seemed to move and carry him forward. The sensation lasted but a short time and then he realized he had more room. He felt about him and his hands came in contact with a yielding slimy substance that seemed to shrink from his touch. It finally dawned upon him that he had been swallowed by the whale... he could easily breathe; but the heat was terrible. It was not of a scorching, stifling nature, but it seemed to open the pores of his skin and draw out his vitality.... His skin where it was exposed to the action of the gastric juice... face, neck and hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness and took on the appearance of parchment... (and) never recovered its natural appearance... (though otherwise) his health did not seem affected by his terrible experience. http://www.grmi.org/richard_riss/evidences/8jonah.html So, enough about the Fish. What about Jonah? Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:1-3 (NKJV) God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Many of Jonah's countrymen had experienced the atrocities of these fierce people. The last place Jonah wanted to go was on a missionary trip to Nineveh! So he went in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship in Joppa that was headed for Tarshish. But Jonah could not run from God. 3 Jonah was like a lot of people today. If they are asked to do anything for the Lord (or for the church), they run in the opposite direction. It is one thing to be slack in obeying the Lord s call, but, doing just the opposite is a real sin. What would happen to Nineveh? The Lord would destroy them. So, you see, Jonah had a good reason for what he did. He was going to make sure that the Ninevites were wiped of the face of the Earth. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It had been there for a long time! 3 Tyndale Handbook of Bible Charts & Maps
Page 4 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, Genesis 10:8-11 (KJV) The city was destroyed. Not because Jonah obeyed the Lord and not because he fled. We need to fill in the details between Jonah s dereliction and the fall of this city. In 612 b.c. the ancient splendid city and capital of the Assyrian Empire was so completely obliterated, according to its prophesied decimation by Hebrew prophets, that it became like a myth until its discovery by Sir Austen Layard and others in the nineteenth century. New Unger's Bible Dictionary God has strange ways of working for,... the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Jonah 1:4-9 (NKJV) In order to see whose fault the great storm was, they cast lots. What? Is that any way to determine something like this? And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen "to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Acts 1:24-26 (NKJV)
Page 5 The disciples cast lots to choose the successor to Judas. Was this proper? In order to answer that you must go back a few verses. "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, "beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection." And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. Acts 1:21-23 (NKJV) The disciples had done their homework. They had searched a consider a number of people but, ultimately, there were two men who seemed equally qualified. Would it be right to choose one arbitrarily? It would not be better, or as good as, casting lots. So the Lot fell on Jonah - which fact shows that the casting of lots was successful. Having determined that Jonah was at fault what happened? Jonah was given (forced to have?) the opportunity to tell them about the Lord God. He fled one opportunity to witness only the be thrust into another. Jonah learns to pray! Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly. And he said: "I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You,
Page 6 Into Your holy temple. "Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. ' So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:1-10 (NKJV) Note that his prayer is poetic. Do you make rhyme when you pray? I don t but the Hebrews often did because their poetry is of a different nature than ours and is such that deeper thoughts and feelings may be expressed. In the account above of a man who was extracted from a whale, the experience was very unusual. It is not surprising, then, that Jonah felt as he where in the very heart of Sheol. Normally, he would have been! It also curious to note that weeds wrapped around his head. Some have noted that this may have prevent his head from being attacked by the stomach acids. "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; I think this pretty well sums up our feelings. When all else fails, pray! We should pray first. Finally, note that Jonah promised the Lord that he would pay what I have vowed. So, having made this promise, the Lord gave the fish indigestion and Jonah was again on dry land. Dr. McGee make an admittedly corny conclusion. I cannot resist making this corny statement: It just goes to show that you can't keep a good man down! Someone else has put it like this, "Even a fish couldn't digest Jonah, the backsliding prophet." But Jonah is a different man now. He's made some vows to God, and one of them is that he is going to Nineveh. His ticket is now to Nineveh. J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible Not one of the commentaries I check made any mention of the fact that the fish spewed Jonah out on the dry land. To me this seems unusual. Why not just spew him out anywhere. Of course, the final answer is that God was in control. But as I considered this, I considered what people do when they vomit. If you are sick in bed and need to do this, you just don t lie in your bed to do it (unless it impossible to do otherwise). It would seem to me that the fish would naturally spew up what was in its belly on dry ground for it would
Page 7 not want that stuff floating around with him. God puts this kind of automatic behavior in creatures. How do dogs know to go eat grass when they have upset stomachs? Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Jonah 3:1-4 (NASB) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." The second call was slightly different than the first. The first noted the wickedness of the city. This is a good reason why one would not wish to go there. The second call tells Jonah that Ninevah has forty days left before it will be overthrown. Note that, throughout the Bible, forty days is the time of testing. Now it is a different story. Jonah can go to Nineveh gleefully, telling them they are going to be destroyed. Was that his reason for going? No! He had made a vow to God, but their pending destruction made it a lot easier to do. I suppose Jonah did not know about the forty day rule. So, what happened? Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish." Jonah 3:5-9 (NASB) Even though wicked, the king must have had great common sense. If they were to be destroyed in forty days, so be it. But it certainly would be wise to do all that is in your power to appease God and turn away His anger. Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Page 8 Jonah 3:10 (NKJV) What a great preacher Jonah was. He had turned a large wicked city away from their evil deeds and caused them to repent. That may have been a bigger feat than what has happened at the ever so many Billy Graham meetings. So, Jonah should be very happy about what the Lord accomplished through him. BUT But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" Then the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" Jonah 4:1-4 (NKJV) Elijah had also prayed that the Lord would take his life. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" 1 Kings 19:1-4 (NKJV) But, Elijah prayed that the Lord would take him and thus save him from execution by Ahab. It was a quite different situation. Now it comes to light why Jonah did not go to Nineveh in the first place. He knew God s nature and that, if they repented, God would spare them. He wanted no part in the Ninevites being spared. This may seem simple, but it is a thought that you ought to consider. Are there people you will not go to with the Gospel because you do not like them? Do you think they have no right to be saved? I doubt that this is a conscious thought in the minds of Christians but, subconsciously, it may be so. Assyria and its capital was on its way to capturing Israel and Jonah surly did not want that to happen. The NAC list about a half a dozen reasons why Jonah was so angry - some reasonable, some unreasonable. So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself
Page 9 a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." Jonah 4:5-8 (NKJV) Jonah went up on a hill overlooking Nineveh and made a tent (sort of) to sit under and watch what would happen. Would God really save Nineveh or was their repentance not real and and the destruction would come as promised. Some say, he did not want to be embarrassed that his prophetic utterances did not come to pass. I think that is not the case. Then God did an interesting thing. He helped Jonah out but causing some sort of plant (the specific kind is not stated) that grew up quickly. The text would seem to indicate that the plant grew up overnight. This is not possible except that God is in the miracle making business. God also prepared a worm to eat up the plant. This would seem like a strange thing to do except that God is going to give Jonah a very vivid object lesson. One thing that God changed was Jonah s reason for wanting to die. He was too hot! God arranged that too. So, now, Nineveh is not the center of Jonah s focus, it is the heat. Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" But the LORD said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?" Jonah 4:9-11 (NKJV) Dr. McGee observed, God says to Jonah, "Jonah, a gourd is nothing." My friend, I hate to say this, but a pussycat is nothing, a little dog is nothing, but a human being has a soul that is either going to heaven or hell. And God didn't ask you to love the lost before you go to them. He said, "I love the lost, and I want you to go to them." That is what He is saying to Jonah: "Jonah, I love the Ninevites." J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible and
Page 10 The main lesson of the book. If Jonah so pities a plant which cost him no toil to rear, and which is so short lived and valueless, much more must Jehovah pity those hundreds of thousands of immortal men and women in great Nineveh whom He has made with such a display of creative power, especially when many of them repent, and seeing that, if all 4 in it were destroyed, "more than six score thousand" of unoffending children, besides "much cattle," would be involved in the common destruction Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary Jonah had the gift of prophecy, but had not received that grace which destroys the old man and creates the soul anew in Christ Jesus. This is the love of which St. Paul speaks, which if a man have not, though he had the gift of prophecy, and could miraculously remove mountains, yet in the sight of God, and for any good himself might reap from it, it would be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Jonah was a prophet, and yet had all his old bad tempers about him, in a shameful predominancy. Balaam was of the same kind. So we find that God gave the gift of prophecy even to graceless men. But many of the prophets were sanctified in their nature before their call to the prophetic office, and were the most excellent of men. Adam Clarke's Commentary As far as the statement regarding the fact that 120,000 innocent children (as well as beasts) would be destroyed, we see God s unchanging nature. And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: "Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it." And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty." Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it 4 The text concludes with the statement, one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock. The hundred and twenty thousand who could not discern one hand from the other is not a reference to the ignorant or mentally challenged people. It is a reference to young children.
Page 11 upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty." Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten." So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. Genesis 18:23-33 (NKJV) Abraham was on shaky ground bargaining with the LORD as he did. The point is, however, God would not destroy the cities if there were righteous people dwelling there. As it turned out, only Lot and his family met that criteria so God, instead of sparing Sodom, moved lot and his family out and did destroy the two cities. The point is that God is not willing that any should parish. He will spare a city for the sake of the righteous, whether it be Sodom or Nineveh. This study is to end up in the New Testament. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. Matthew 12:38-42 (NKJV) And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. "For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. Luke 11:29-30 (NKJV)