Jonah in the belly of the whale.
Jonah stayed in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. Jonah, in the belly of the whale, prayed to God and repented of his disobedience. The Lord forgave Jonah and commanded the whale to spew the prophet onto dry land. After this event, Jonah always fulfilled the will of the Lord.
In the belly of the whale, Jonah did not lose his presence of mind, he trusted in the Lord, and the Lord again allowed him to see the light. The prayers of Jonah in the belly of the whale formed the basis of the 6th song of the canons.
God sent Jonah with a message to the Gentiles
The holy prophet Jonah received a command from God to go to Nineveh. Photo: derevtsov.com
It was this “dove” that the Lord sent with a message to the huge city, the capital of the kingdom that terrified the surrounding nations, Nineveh. In the book of the prophet Jonah we read: “And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amathite: Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, for its wickedness has come before Me.” (Jonah 1:1, 2)
Interpretation and meaning of the story of Jonah and the whale.
We know that Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days. This three-day stay is often described as a symbolic background to Jesus Christ's three-day stay in the earth.
...for just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (Gospel of Matthew)
The story of Jonah and the whale is a prototype of the death, ascension and preaching of Christ. Just as Jonah voluntarily threw himself into the sea from a ship, so Christ voluntarily ascended to Golgotha. Jonah makes a sacrifice to save the ship and the people on it, Jesus makes a sacrifice to save all the people. Three days later, Jonah emerges unharmed from the body of the whale, and Christ emerges from the heart of the earth. After his miraculous deliverance, Jonah preaches to the inhabitants of Nineveh, and the teachings of Christ spread throughout the Earth after his Resurrection.
The story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale can also be interpreted as the story of every person. Jonah's ship can be compared to our soul, which rushes about in the worldly sea of passions. Only together with God will the soul find a calm haven.
Science's opinion on the veracity of the story of Jonah in the belly of the whale.
Opinions about the veracity of the story of Jonah and the whale can be divided into three groups.
- A large fish or whale (unidentified species) actually swallowed Jonah.
- A special creation of God (not a fish or a whale as we know it) actually swallowed Jonah.
- There was no fish: the story is an allegory, the fish is a literary device, and the story itself is a vision or dream.
Could the story of Jonah and the whale be true, or is it a symbolic story, a kind of allegory? Many scientists believe that the story could have actually happened. Here you should pay attention to the fact that in the original Bible, Jonah was swallowed not by a whale, which in Hebrew is called “tannin,” but by a certain creature designated by the word “dag,” which in translation will be “sea monster” or “monstrous fish.”
We all know that most whales feed on plankton and are physically unable to swallow a person whole. But there are species of whales that can swallow a person, since their esophagus works like a valve and pushes food into a huge stomach under air pressure. Theoretically, such a whale could swallow a person alive.
There is also a true story about a sailor who was swallowed by a whale shark and lived inside the shark for 2 days, after which he was pulled out unconscious by the sailors, who, fortunately, caught the shark and gutted it.
Jonah, the wrong prophet
Sergey Pavlovich7 years agoReply
The solution to the prophet’s seemingly strange behavior seems quite simple and quite obvious, but it does not at all correspond to the interpretations of Jonah’s act that exist today. Surprisingly, most interpreters mistakenly attribute to Jonah behavior unthinkable for an Israeli prophet, namely, the predominance of his own political and moral preferences over the will of God. Such interpreters invite us to believe, for example, in the following absurdity: “Not wanting to give the Ninevites, as pagans and enemies of their fatherland, mercy from God, Jonah boarded a ship and sailed in the opposite direction.” Obviously, such an interpretation is naive and very vulnerable to criticism, for God chooses as prophets only the most worthy of the people, and not those who are able to put their opinion above His word. For those who reject the word of God, the path to becoming prophets is closed. And Jonah was not so naive (like the mentioned interpreters) that he did not understand that his stubbornness would not change anything in the history of Nineveh. There was never a case among the children of Israel that a prophet ran away from fulfilling the will of God, for the opportunity to be His prophet is a great honor and reward for any believer at all times (Num. 11.29 and 1 Cor. 14.1) *(1). It’s time for us to stop “throwing stones” at the prophet, and try to understand what true motives guided Jonah, who was appointed to serve, at the moment when he refused to obey the will of God.
The story of Jonah's escape. Jonah, by the time his story with Nineveh began, already had a reputation as a prophet of God, because earlier the Lord God, through Jonah, spoke a word to Jeroboam about the promise to him of the speedy restoration of the previously lost northern and eastern borders of Israel. And the fact that we know little about Jonah as a prophet of God does not mean at all that he was little known in his time, both in Israel and beyond. Prophets are special people and their lives, as a rule, attract increased attention from others. And if we take into account the developed trade relations that passed through Israel and connected the largest trading centers of the ancient world - Assyria and Egypt, then we can assume that in Nineveh there were people who knew Jonah well. It is clear that Jonah valued and did not at all want to destroy: neither the reputation he had received as a prophet of God, much less the loss of his divine election. It is not difficult to assume that Jonah had the most godly plans for the future. As a prophet, he must have understood his chosenness and felt responsible for unquestioningly observing the will of God, and even, as is typical for many people, he probably dreamed of more, namely, he wanted to reach the level of the most famous Jewish prophets who became legendary in Israel (such as Samuel, Elijah, Elisha). But since at all times among the nations, at the same time as the prophets of God, there exist numerous false prophets, God taught His people to distinguish between them. “If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, but the word does not come to pass and is not fulfilled, then the Lord did not speak this word, but the prophet spoke this out of his boldness” (Deut. 18:22). Based on the fact that Jonah knew in advance the result of his future sermon, announcing the destruction of Nineveh (4.2), it is obvious that it was the fear of the prospect of being a false prophet that stopped him from immediately going to Nineveh with the mission entrusted to him. One can understand Jonah, because any prophet in his place would also be disappointed and discouraged by such a result of his preaching, which is why, being in despair, Jonah made an attempt to hide from the face of the Lord. From the narrative of chapter 1, it is clear that Jonah was even ready to die at sea (1.12), since the shameful fate of being a false prophet was worse for him than death *(2). This same despair of Jonah later reappeared in his prayer that followed the repentance of the Ninevites, in which Jonah begged death personally from the Lord God (4.3).
Another common mistake among interpreters of the book of Jonah is the assertion that the prophet, fulfilling the mission of God, could be verbose and free to engage in explanatory conversations beyond the scope of the sermon assigned to him. Probably, taking into account the possibility of similar behavior of some prophets, God further clarifies for them what should be said (3.2) (Balaam also received similar warnings - Numbers 22.20 and 35). It is obvious that Jonah could not call the inhabitants of Nineveh to repentance, not only because such authority was not given to him (3.2-4), but also because he was absolutely not interested in the repentance of the Ninevites. However, there was no need for a call to repentance, because after Jonah’s persistent and confident preaching: “another forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed,” panic began in the city (and some of the residents may have already begun to prepare to flee the city) , which was immediately reported to the king. At the same time, in any developed and strong state (society) there are always influential people who are sensitive to the dangerous connection between the current situation and its possible consequences. It would be surprising if the king of Nineveh, in such a non-standard situation for him, did not immediately gather for a council his best wise men and scribes, who should have been in abundance at his disposal. And the sages and local prophets, recognizing the solidity of the reasons for the wrath of the Jewish God and the seriousness of the danger of the promised destruction of Nineveh, proposed the most reliable way of repentance (3.7-9). Is this not why Christ cites the repentant Ninevites as an example to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees who were lost in their sins? (Matthew 12.41). For even the inhabitants of Nineveh (foreign peoples who worship other gods), finding themselves in the face of mortal danger, independently realized that hope for the mercy of God (3.9) and salvation is possible only through repentance and disgust by everyone from their evil deeds.
If the story of Jonah had been written not by himself, but by someone who could not have reflected all the important nuances of events in the narrative, then Jonah would probably appear to us as an ordinary false prophet. But the text of the book is compiled in such a way that we not only understand the actions of the prophet and his experiences, but we draw the correct moral and religious conclusions and do not consider Jonah a false prophet *(3). The story of Jonah looks paradoxical to us. On the one hand, God warns about false prophets and gives a method for identifying them, and on the other hand, He sends His prophet to preach about the destruction of Nineveh, intending to save it after repentance. In fact, God ended Jonah's further prophetic career in this way. After all, after the “mistake” with the death of Nineveh, Jonah could have been forgotten about prophetic activity in Israel. To resolve the paradoxical situation, we can assume that the story was provoked by Jonah himself. We know the principle of God: to whom much is given, much will be required. Probably, later Jonah was able to figure it out and understand why God had prepared such a fate for him - to become a false prophet in the eyes of the people (and what’s even worse, in the eyes of Jonah himself). We can only assume that, saving Jonah from some greater misfortune, for example, the pride beginning in him from his chosenness, God dealt with Jonah in this way - he sent him to Nineveh. This understanding of the story of Jonah can be a useful example for us (1 Pet. 2:9).
Notes: *(1) — It is known that Moses and Jeremiah made timid attempts to refuse to fulfill the honorable mission of God at the moment when God first called them to serve. But those cautious doubts about their own capabilities that the future prophets expressed to God look more like their dignity, but not the audacity of resistance. *(2) - There is an interesting detail that speaks of Jonah’s calm and confident fortitude. Anyone who, as a passenger, has experienced a sea storm on a fragile boat will understand what we are talking about. What Jonah did was the surest thing a person can do when he finds himself on a ship in a strong storm - he went down into the hold and went to bed. This is the only sure way to avoid seasickness. And the fact that Jonah fell asleep soundly speaks not only of his courage and confidence in his destiny, but also of his experience of sea travel. *(3) - Much later in time, in the book of Jeremiah, the Lord God explains to us in more detail His motives for resolving situations similar to the story of Jonah - (Jeremiah 18.7–10)
Notes:
- *(1) — It is known that Moses and Jeremiah made timid attempts to refuse to fulfill the honorable mission of God at the moment when God first called them to serve. But those cautious doubts about their own capabilities that the future prophets expressed to God look more like their dignity, but not the audacity of resistance.
- *(2) — There is an interesting detail that speaks of Jonah’s calm and confident fortitude. Anyone who, as a passenger, has experienced a sea storm on a fragile boat will understand what we are talking about. What Jonah did was the surest thing a person can do when he finds himself on a ship in a strong storm - he went down into the hold and went to bed. This is the only sure way to avoid seasickness. And the fact that Jonah fell asleep soundly speaks not only of his courage and confidence in his destiny, but also of his experience of sea travel.
- *(3) — Much later in time, in the book of Jeremiah, the Lord God explains to us in more detail His motives for resolving situations similar to the story of Jonah - (Jeremiah 18.7–10)
Sincerely, the author of the material is Sergey Pavlovich Alekseev. Source.
God grew a plant to teach Jonah pity
Jonah went outside the city and waited. He sat and looked at the city. A large plant grew next to him and, when the midday sun heated everything around him, Jonah was able to hide in the shadow of this plant. By evening, some insect undermined the root and the plant dried out by morning. Jonah was very upset. His grief was so great that he began to ask for death.
Jonah sat at the gates of the city and waited for the Lord to fulfill his formidable promise.
Photo: hristiane.lv
“Then the Lord said: you regret the plant that you did not work on and did not grow, which grew in one night and disappeared in the same night. Should I not have pity on Nineveh, a great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, and a multitude of cattle? (Jonah 4:10,11)
The people of Nineveh heard God's warning
After Jonah was in the belly of the whale, he went to Nineveh without doubt or fear. He walked around the city from morning to evening, as long as he had enough strength, and said that in forty days the city would be destroyed for the sins of its inhabitants.
Jonah preached on the streets of Nineveh, and its inhabitants “believed God.”
Engraving by Gustave Doré, 19th century. Photo: gravure-dore.ru
To Jonah’s surprise, the residents believed his preaching. They began to go out into the streets and cry. Soon the news of this reached the king, and he ordered everyone to declare a fast. “He commanded that it be proclaimed and said in Nineveh on behalf of the king and his nobles: “So that neither people, nor cattle, nor oxen, nor sheep should eat anything, or go to pasture, or drink water, and that people and cattle should be covered with sackcloth and tightly They cried out to God, and that everyone should turn from his evil way and from the violence of his hands.
Who knows, maybe God will have mercy and turn away His burning anger from us, and we will not perish.” (Jonah 3:7-9)
The entire city, including small children, did not eat anything. Cattle were not driven out to pasture. Crying and screaming stood over the huge city. And God took pity on them. It was then that Jonah turned to God with words of sorrow. He was pained by the fact that the word of God could be considered false. He promised to destroy, so it must be destroyed.
The meaning of the story
The content of the parable is an ordinary story of a person of that time. However, it has attracted the attention of theologians and philosophers for many centuries in a row due to the depth of its content. They have an endless debate about what the parable of Jonah teaches. On the very surface lies faith in the Creator. In fact, Jonah was far from denying its existence. But he disobeyed and did not carry out the assigned work. And this already borders on disbelief. The man believed that he could decide for himself what to do, acting out of fear. He was simply afraid that the inhabitants of the city would beat or destroy him for the gloomy news and moral teachings. And this is already apostasy. Jonah put his ego above his soul speaking to the Lord. However, then he repented, deciding to save the lives of involuntary sufferers - fellow travelers - at the cost of his own. He rose above selfishness and was able to overcome his weaknesses. The Lord saved his life for this, but did not relieve him of responsibility for completing the task. The man who managed to realize his duty had to go to certain death, as he imagined it. Surprise awaited him there. The inhabitants of the city heeded the words conveyed by the Lord and repented.
Preliminary Note
It should be noted that the Old and New Testaments contain many texts that are studied by those who wish to master theology. They describe the eternal problems of the world. For example, the Tower of Babel speaks about the clash of peoples, the impossibility of understanding each other without developing rules of behavior. The parable of Jonah has a slightly different, but also eternal meaning. You need to know that different schools interpret it in their own way. It just so happens that everyone tries to use biblical texts to substantiate their own worldview. Theologians, of course, study all points of view. We will not analyze them in detail, it is too long and uninteresting. We will try to outline the main conclusions that a cultured person needs to know so as not to get lost when discussing this topic.
The parable of Jonah is a thought-provoking philosophical story. Its text is worth thinking about. After all, everyone has their own. Try to think about the fate of this real person as you read the text.
Jonah's greatest fear was not the terrible Assyrians, but God's mercy.
The Assyrian king Triglath-pileser III besieges the city and executes defeated enemies. Photo: world_history_dictionary.academic.ru
It’s no wonder that Jonah was scared. But most of all he was afraid that the Lord, in His mercy, would postpone the fulfillment of the prophecy. He decided not to go to the terrible city, but to go in a completely different direction.
Then, after a while, the prophet explained his action to God by saying that God is merciful. “And he prayed to the Lord and said: O Lord! Isn’t this what I said when I was still in my country? That’s why I ran to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a good and merciful God, long-suffering and abounding in mercy, and that You are sorry for the calamity.” (Jonah 4:2)
Nineveh - the city of the great and formidable king
Nineveh was a huge and well-fortified city. Photo: www.syl.ru
The city was truly great.
In the book of Jonah, chapter 4, verse 11, the words of the Lord Himself are quoted, who says that in the city “there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know how to distinguish their right hand from their left.”
More than 170 thousand people lived in Nineveh during the days of Jonah's preaching.
In addition, at this time it was the capital of a great state. More recently, the army of the Assyrian king destroyed Babylon. Almost all the inhabitants were killed, the city was razed to the ground, even the Tower of Babel was destroyed, and the earth was scattered to the wind.
In this huge and beautiful city, people were sacrificed to idols, and ritual debauchery flourished. And it was to this terrible place that God sent the prophet.
