Jonah 1:17
Verse
Context
Sermons
Warren WiersbeWarren Wiersbe
Chuck Smith
Zac Poonen
George Warnock
Leonard Ravenhill
Major Ian ThomasSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish - דג גדול dag gadol. This could not have been a whale, for the throat of that animal can scarcely admit a man's leg; but it might have been a shark, which abounds in the Mediterranean, and whose mouth and stomach are exceedingly capacious. In several cases they have been known to swallow a man when thrown overboard. See the note on Mat 12:40 (note), where the whole subject of this verse is considered at large. That days and nights do not, among the Hebrews, signify complete days and nights of twenty-four hours, see Est 4:16, compared with Est 5:1; Jdg 14:17, Jdg 14:18. Our Lord lay in the grave one natural day, and part of two others; and it is most likely that this was the precise time that Jonah was in the fish's belly.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
(Heb. Ch. 2:1). "And Jehovah appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah." מנּה does not mean to create, but to determine, to appoint. The thought is this: Jehovah ordained that a great fish should swallow him. The great fish (lxx κῆτος, cf. Mat 12:40), which is not more precisely defined, was not a whale, because this is extremely rare in the Mediterranean, and has too small a throat to swallow a man, but a large shark or sea-dog, canis carcharias, or squalus carcharias L., which is very common in the Mediterranean, and has so large a throat, that it can swallow a living man whole. (Note: The aqualus carcharias L., the true shark, Requin, or rather Requiem, reaches, according to Cuvier, the length of 25 feet, and according to Oken the length of four fathoms, and has about 400 lance-shaped teeth in its jaw, arranged in six rows, which the animal can either elevate or depress, as they are simply fixed in cells in the skin. It is common in the Mediterranean, where it generally remains in deep water, and is very voracious, swallowing everything that comes in its way - plaice, seals, and tunny-fish, with which it sometimes gets into the fishermen's net on the coat of Sardinia, and is caught. As many as a dozen undigested tunny-fish have been found in a shark weighing three or four hundredweight; in one a whole horse was found, and its weight was estimated at fifteen hundredweight. Rondelet (Oken, p. 58) says that he saw one on the western coast of France, through whose throat a fat man could very easily have passed. Oken also mentions a fact, which is more elaborately described in Mller's Vollstndiges Natur-system des Ritters Carl v. Linn (Th. iii. p. 268), namely, that in the year 1758 a sailor fell overboard from a frigate, in very stormy weather, into the Mediterranean Sea, and was immediately taken into the jaws of a sea-dog (carcharias), and disappeared. The captain, however, ordered a gun, which was standing on the deck, to be discharged at the shark, and the cannon-ball struck it, so that it vomited up again the sailor that it had swallowed, who was then taken up alive, and very little hurt, into the boat that had been lowered for his rescue.) The miracle consisted therefore, not so much in the fact that Jonah was swallowed alive, as in the fact that he was kept alive for three days in the shark's belly, and then vomited unhurt upon the land. The three days and three nights are not to be regarded as fully three times twenty hours, but are to be interpreted according to Hebrew usage, as signifying that Jonah was vomited up again on the third day after he had been swallowed (compare Est 4:16 with Est 5:1 and Tob. 3:12, 13, according to the Lutheran text).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
prepared a great fish--not created specially for this purpose, but appointed in His providence, to which all creatures are subservient. The fish, through a mistranslation of , was formerly supposed to be a whale; there, as here, the original means "a great fish." The whale's neck is too narrow to receive a man. BOCHART thinks, the dog-fish, the stomach of which is so large that the body of a man in armor was once found in it [Hierozoicon, 2.5.12]. Others, the shark [JEBB]. The cavity in the whale's throat, large enough, according to CAPTAIN SCORESBY, to hold a ship's jolly boat full of men. A miracle in any view is needed, and we have no data to speculate further. A "sign" or miracle it is expressly called by our Lord in . Respiration in such a position could only be by miracle. The miraculous interposition was not without a sufficient reason; it was calculated to affect not only Jonah, but also Nineveh and Israel. The life of a prophet was often marked by experiences which made him, through sympathy, best suited for discharging the prophetical function to his hearers and his people. The infinite resources of God in mercy as well as judgment are prefigured in the devourer being transformed into Jonah's preserver. Jonah's condition under punishment, shut out from the outer world, was rendered as much as possible the emblem of death, a present type to Nineveh and Israel, of the death in sin, as his deliverance was of the spiritual resurrection on repentance; as also, a future type of Jesus' literal death for sin, and resurrection by the Spirit of God. three days and three nights--probably, like the Antitype, Christ, Jonah was cast forth on the land on the third day (); the Hebrew counting the first and third parts of days as whole twenty-four hour days. Next: Jonah Chapter 2
John Gill Bible Commentary
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah,.... Not from the creation of the world, as say the Jews (p); for this is to be understood, not of the formation or making of it; but of the ordering and disposition of it by the providence of God to be near the ship, and its mouth open to receive Jonah, as soon as he was cast forth from thence: and a great one it must be, to take him at once into its mouth, and swallow him down its throat, and retain him whole in its belly; and such great fishes there are in the sea, particularly the "carcharias", or dog fish; the same with Triton's dog, said to swallow Hercules, in which he was three days; and which fable perhaps took its rise from hence. In Mat 12:40, it is said to be a "whale"; but then that must be understood, not as the proper name of a fish, but as common to all great fishes; otherwise the whale, properly so called, it is said, has not a swallow large enough to take down a man; though some deny this, and assert they are capable of it. Of the "balaena", which is one kind of whale, it is reported (q), that when it apprehends its young ones in danger, will take them, and hide them within itself; and then afterwards throw them out again; and certain it is that the whale is a very great fish, if not the greatest. Pliny (r) speaks of whales six hundred feet long, and three hundred and sixty broad; and of the bones of a fish, which were brought to Rome from Joppa, and there shown as a miracle, which were forty feet long; and said to be the bones of the monstrous fish to which Andromede at Joppa was exposed (s); which story seems to be hammered out of this history of Jonah; and the same is reported by Solinus (t); however, it is out of doubt that there are fishes capable of swallowing a man. Nierembergius (u) speaks of a fish taken near Valencia in Spain, so large that a man on horseback could stand in its mouth; the cavity of the, brain held seven men; its jaw bones, which were kept in the Escurial, were seventeen feet long; and two carcasses were found in its stomach: he says it was called "piscis mularis"; but some learned men took it to be the dog fish before mentioned; and such a large devouring creature is the shark, of which the present bishop of Bergen (w), and others, interpret this fish here; in which sometimes has been found the body of a man, and even of a man in armour, as many writers (x) have observed. Some (y) think it was a crocodile, which, though a river fish, yet, for the most part, is at the entrance of rivers, and sometimes goes into the sea many miles, and is capable of swallowing a man; some are above thirty feet long; and in the belly of one of them, in the Indies, was found a woman with all her clothes on (z): and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights: that is, one whole natural day, consisting of twenty four hours, and part of two others; the Jews having no other way of expressing a natural day but by day and night; and to this the antitype answers; namely, our Lord's being so long in the grave; of whose death, burial, and resurrection, this was a type, as appears from Mat 12:40; for which reason Jonah was so miraculously preserved; and a miracle it was that he should not in this time be digested in the stomach of the creature; that he was not suffocated in it, but breathed and lived; and that he was able to bear the stench of the creature's maw; and that he should have his senses, and be in such a frame of mind as both to pray and praise; but what is it that the power of God cannot do? Here some begin the second chapter, and not amiss. (p) Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 2. (q) Philostrat. Vit. Apollonii, l. 1. c. 7. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 32, c. 1. (s) Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 5. (t) Polyhistor. c. 47. (u) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 26. apud Schotti Physics Curiosa, par. 2. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 9. (w) Pantoppidan's History of Norway, par. 2. p. 114, 116. (x) Vid, Lipen. Jonae Displus, c. 2. th. 6. in Dissert. Theolog. Philol. tom. 1. p. 987. (y) Vid. Texelii Phoenix, l. 3. c. 6. p. 242, 243. (z) Mandelsloe in Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 1. B. 1. c. 2. p. 759.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:17 Some critics consider it impossible that Jonah could be delivered from death in the belly of a great fish. In making this judgment, they oppose themselves to one of the book’s main theological themes—that God is supremely sovereign over nature. If God exists, and he created and controls nature (1:9, 16; see also Gen 1:21), a miraculous event of this magnitude is not unfathomable. The book presents the fish episode as a historical event. • No indication is given as to the species of the fish, nor is identifying a species crucial to validating the significance of the account. Granted God’s creative power, the fish that swallowed Jonah might well have been specially formed and appointed by the Lord for this particular event. If God exists and can work miracles, Jonah’s need for oxygen and protection from digestive processes poses no problem (cp. Dan 3:14-27). On the other hand, certain species are large enough to have served the purpose (e.g., the whale shark), and similar incidents have been recorded in modern times. • Jesus later referred to Jonah’s stay in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights in predicting the duration of his time in the grave (Matt 12:39-41). • Arranged for is the first of four occurrences of the same Hebrew word in the book (see Jon 4:6, 7, 8). All four occurrences speak of God’s effortless control over the forces of nature.
Jonah 1:17
Jonah Cast into the Sea
16Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.17Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
A Worm's Eye View of Missions
By Warren Wiersbe15K38:16MissionsEXO 34:6NUM 14:17JON 1:17JON 2:9JON 3:10JON 4:9MIC 1:1In this sermon, the preacher discusses the lessons Jonah learned about God in the first three chapters of the book of Jonah. In chapter one, Jonah learns about God's providence and how he cannot run away from God. In chapter two, Jonah learns about God's pardon and how he can be forgiven if he cries out to the Lord. In chapter three, Jonah learns about God's power and how obedience to God leads to powerful works. However, in chapter four, Jonah learns the most important lesson that God is more concerned about the worker than the work. The preacher emphasizes the importance of truly knowing God and not just knowing about Him. Jonah's prayers are shown to be selfish and lacking in compassion for others. The sermon concludes by highlighting the need to know God deeply and to become more like Him.
How to Save a City
By Warren Wiersbe5.3K40:51JON 1:17JON 3:10JON 4:11MAT 12:38MAT 18:21MAT 28:19In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Jonah and the city of Nineveh. He highlights the incredible missionary miracle that occurred when the entire city, possibly consisting of up to a million people, repented and turned from their evil ways. Despite the magnitude of this task, Jonah, the reluctant preacher, faced the challenge of preaching to a million people without any modern tools or resources. The preacher emphasizes the greatness of God's grace, mercy, and kindness, and urges the audience to recognize the importance of the great commission, the concern for lost souls, the possibility of great change, and the potential for great condemnation.
Better the Easy Way Than the Hard Way
By Chuck Smith4.6K32:54JON 1:17
This sermon delves into the story of Jonah, highlighting the lessons learned about obedience, God's all-encompassing presence, and the consequences of trying to run from God's call. It emphasizes the importance of confessing sins, receiving God's forgiveness, and the joy of being freed from guilt and condemnation through Jesus Christ.
(Basics) 30. Praise Opens Closed Doors
By Zac Poonen3.3K12:572CH 20:17PSA 50:23JON 1:17JON 2:9MAT 6:33ACT 16:25ROM 10:11In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the message of not being afraid and trusting in God's power. He uses the example of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, who admitted his powerlessness and looked to God for help. The preacher also highlights the promise in Romans 10:11 that those who believe in the Lord will never be disappointed. He further discusses the story of Jonah, who praised God while in the belly of a fish, showing the power of praise to deliver from difficult situations. The sermon concludes with the encouragement to have faith and trust in God, knowing that he will never disappoint and will ultimately set his children free.
Love Never Faileth
By George Warnock2.1K1:10:08LovePSA 51:7PSA 51:15ISA 8:18JON 1:17MAT 18:21LUK 2:34HEB 4:12In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of truth and wisdom in our inner being. He quotes from Psalm 51, where David asks God to purify him and make him clean. The speaker also discusses the role of knowledge and love in our spiritual growth. He believes that we are in a time when God is calling for truth to be established in us, and that love is essential in enduring and not giving up. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the need for a vision in our lives, as stated in Proverbs 29:18.
Gv1601 Prayer
By Leonard Ravenhill1.8K35:07Prayer2CH 7:14JOL 1:13JOL 2:13AMO 1:9JON 1:17MAL 3:1MAT 6:33ROM 9:2JUD 1:20In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of prayer and the need to prioritize it in our lives. He shares an example of a man named Buck Singh who dedicated three hours of his Sunday service to praise and worship, three hours to prayer, and three hours to other spiritual activities. The speaker also mentions the story of Hannah from the book of Samuel, highlighting how she fervently prayed to God for a child. He encourages listeners to make the most of their time and prioritize prayer, as it has the power to bring about blessings and change in our lives.
Esther - Spiritually Alive Yet Carnally Controlled
By Major Ian Thomas1.6K1:14:42CarnalityJON 1:17MAT 28:6EPH 4:30In this sermon, the preacher explores the book of Esther and its allegorical significance. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the Old Testament as a picture of God's divine intervention, particularly through the person of Jesus Christ. The preacher highlights Jesus' role in bringing God's invisible nature into the open and demonstrating what God had in mind when He created man. He also references biblical stories such as Jonah and Abraham to illustrate the themes of resurrection and God's timeless plan. Additionally, the preacher briefly discusses the concept of conscience and its role in determining what is right.
Jonah #5: Jonah's Attitude
By Ed Miller1.3K54:10JON 1:17JON 4:1JON 4:10MAT 6:33LUK 11:29In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the fourth chapter of the book of Jonah. He addresses the questions that arise from Jonah's apparent lack of change in his heart towards Nineveh. The preacher emphasizes that God's purpose in dealing with Jonah's heart was to transform him into a sign. He highlights the progression of Jonah's journey, from surrender to understanding the undeserved mercy of God, to becoming a sign of Jesus to the Ninevites. The preacher concludes that God is not finished with Jonah and will bring him to a deeper understanding of the divine end, which is the satisfaction of his heart.
Jehovah's Obedient Servant
By Charles E. Fuller1.3K49:51ObedienceEXO 25:22JON 1:17JON 2:4JON 3:1In this sermon, the speaker discusses the story of Jonah and how he found himself in a place of darkness and despair. Despite feeling cast out and surrounded by death, Jonah looked towards the holy temple and had faith in God's mercy and forgiveness. The speaker emphasizes the importance of looking to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, for salvation and redemption. He encourages listeners to pray for souls to be saved and to kneel before God, acknowledging their sinfulness and asking for His mercy.
Mark - via Sickness Into Blessing
By J. Glyn Owen82040:22SicknessJON 1:17MAT 6:33MRK 5:25JHN 3:14ROM 3:23In this sermon, the speaker addresses a situation where someone has been gradually overcome by a problem that has separated them from God and society. The speaker emphasizes the importance of listening to the Word of God, as it may hold vital significance and provide answers to their struggles. While the sermon does not directly address physical or spiritual needs, the speaker encourages those who may be in such situations to take the significance of what God has done in their lives and seek His explanation through His word. The sermon concludes with an invitation to come to Jesus just as they are, believing in His sacrifice on the cross for their freedom from sin.
Jonah - the Training of a Disciple - Part 1
By Alan Redpath78147:03DiscipleshipJON 1:17JON 3:3JON 3:5JON 3:10JON 4:2MAT 6:33JHN 1:14In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the theme of grace and the story of Jonah from the Bible. He highlights the gracious nature of God, emphasizing that God is slow to anger, full of mercy, and quick to pardon. The preacher also points out the importance of having both grace and truth in preaching, as sometimes truth can be presented without grace. He then discusses the significance of God recommissioning Jonah after his failures and rebellion, highlighting the matchless grace of God. The sermon concludes by mentioning some key events in the book of Jonah, such as the disciples' rebellion, repentance, reward, reaction, resurrection, and the word of the Lord coming to Jonah the second time.
On Eagles' Wings Pt 28
By Don Courville29727:05Radio ShowGEN 37:23EXO 2:11EXO 3:7DAN 9:2JON 1:17MAT 16:25GAL 2:1In this sermon by Jack VanIppy, the focus is on the concept of time and how it should be managed. The speaker emphasizes the importance of redeeming time and not allowing it to be wasted. He encourages listeners to prioritize serving the Lord and not be manipulated by circumstances or others. The ultimate goal, as exemplified by Jesus, is to please the Father in all actions. The sermon also highlights the need for believers to use their time to share the good news and win souls for Christ.
He Destroyed the Grave
By Michael Koulianos3322:25DeathResurrectionVictory over DeathGEN 3:15PSA 16:5PSA 22:21PSA 88:6ISA 53:10DAN 12:2JON 1:17JON 2:3LUK 11:29Michael Koulianos passionately preaches about the resurrection of Christ, emphasizing its profound significance and the mystery of God becoming man. He connects the resurrection to the Protoevangelion in Genesis and highlights how the Old Testament foreshadows Jesus' victory over death. Koulianos illustrates that the grave could not hold Jesus due to His perfection, and he encourages believers to recognize that Christ's resurrection is also their own. The sermon culminates in a call to worship, acknowledging the wonder of God's plan for salvation and resurrection.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish - דג גדול dag gadol. This could not have been a whale, for the throat of that animal can scarcely admit a man's leg; but it might have been a shark, which abounds in the Mediterranean, and whose mouth and stomach are exceedingly capacious. In several cases they have been known to swallow a man when thrown overboard. See the note on Mat 12:40 (note), where the whole subject of this verse is considered at large. That days and nights do not, among the Hebrews, signify complete days and nights of twenty-four hours, see Est 4:16, compared with Est 5:1; Jdg 14:17, Jdg 14:18. Our Lord lay in the grave one natural day, and part of two others; and it is most likely that this was the precise time that Jonah was in the fish's belly.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
(Heb. Ch. 2:1). "And Jehovah appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah." מנּה does not mean to create, but to determine, to appoint. The thought is this: Jehovah ordained that a great fish should swallow him. The great fish (lxx κῆτος, cf. Mat 12:40), which is not more precisely defined, was not a whale, because this is extremely rare in the Mediterranean, and has too small a throat to swallow a man, but a large shark or sea-dog, canis carcharias, or squalus carcharias L., which is very common in the Mediterranean, and has so large a throat, that it can swallow a living man whole. (Note: The aqualus carcharias L., the true shark, Requin, or rather Requiem, reaches, according to Cuvier, the length of 25 feet, and according to Oken the length of four fathoms, and has about 400 lance-shaped teeth in its jaw, arranged in six rows, which the animal can either elevate or depress, as they are simply fixed in cells in the skin. It is common in the Mediterranean, where it generally remains in deep water, and is very voracious, swallowing everything that comes in its way - plaice, seals, and tunny-fish, with which it sometimes gets into the fishermen's net on the coat of Sardinia, and is caught. As many as a dozen undigested tunny-fish have been found in a shark weighing three or four hundredweight; in one a whole horse was found, and its weight was estimated at fifteen hundredweight. Rondelet (Oken, p. 58) says that he saw one on the western coast of France, through whose throat a fat man could very easily have passed. Oken also mentions a fact, which is more elaborately described in Mller's Vollstndiges Natur-system des Ritters Carl v. Linn (Th. iii. p. 268), namely, that in the year 1758 a sailor fell overboard from a frigate, in very stormy weather, into the Mediterranean Sea, and was immediately taken into the jaws of a sea-dog (carcharias), and disappeared. The captain, however, ordered a gun, which was standing on the deck, to be discharged at the shark, and the cannon-ball struck it, so that it vomited up again the sailor that it had swallowed, who was then taken up alive, and very little hurt, into the boat that had been lowered for his rescue.) The miracle consisted therefore, not so much in the fact that Jonah was swallowed alive, as in the fact that he was kept alive for three days in the shark's belly, and then vomited unhurt upon the land. The three days and three nights are not to be regarded as fully three times twenty hours, but are to be interpreted according to Hebrew usage, as signifying that Jonah was vomited up again on the third day after he had been swallowed (compare Est 4:16 with Est 5:1 and Tob. 3:12, 13, according to the Lutheran text).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
prepared a great fish--not created specially for this purpose, but appointed in His providence, to which all creatures are subservient. The fish, through a mistranslation of , was formerly supposed to be a whale; there, as here, the original means "a great fish." The whale's neck is too narrow to receive a man. BOCHART thinks, the dog-fish, the stomach of which is so large that the body of a man in armor was once found in it [Hierozoicon, 2.5.12]. Others, the shark [JEBB]. The cavity in the whale's throat, large enough, according to CAPTAIN SCORESBY, to hold a ship's jolly boat full of men. A miracle in any view is needed, and we have no data to speculate further. A "sign" or miracle it is expressly called by our Lord in . Respiration in such a position could only be by miracle. The miraculous interposition was not without a sufficient reason; it was calculated to affect not only Jonah, but also Nineveh and Israel. The life of a prophet was often marked by experiences which made him, through sympathy, best suited for discharging the prophetical function to his hearers and his people. The infinite resources of God in mercy as well as judgment are prefigured in the devourer being transformed into Jonah's preserver. Jonah's condition under punishment, shut out from the outer world, was rendered as much as possible the emblem of death, a present type to Nineveh and Israel, of the death in sin, as his deliverance was of the spiritual resurrection on repentance; as also, a future type of Jesus' literal death for sin, and resurrection by the Spirit of God. three days and three nights--probably, like the Antitype, Christ, Jonah was cast forth on the land on the third day (); the Hebrew counting the first and third parts of days as whole twenty-four hour days. Next: Jonah Chapter 2
John Gill Bible Commentary
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah,.... Not from the creation of the world, as say the Jews (p); for this is to be understood, not of the formation or making of it; but of the ordering and disposition of it by the providence of God to be near the ship, and its mouth open to receive Jonah, as soon as he was cast forth from thence: and a great one it must be, to take him at once into its mouth, and swallow him down its throat, and retain him whole in its belly; and such great fishes there are in the sea, particularly the "carcharias", or dog fish; the same with Triton's dog, said to swallow Hercules, in which he was three days; and which fable perhaps took its rise from hence. In Mat 12:40, it is said to be a "whale"; but then that must be understood, not as the proper name of a fish, but as common to all great fishes; otherwise the whale, properly so called, it is said, has not a swallow large enough to take down a man; though some deny this, and assert they are capable of it. Of the "balaena", which is one kind of whale, it is reported (q), that when it apprehends its young ones in danger, will take them, and hide them within itself; and then afterwards throw them out again; and certain it is that the whale is a very great fish, if not the greatest. Pliny (r) speaks of whales six hundred feet long, and three hundred and sixty broad; and of the bones of a fish, which were brought to Rome from Joppa, and there shown as a miracle, which were forty feet long; and said to be the bones of the monstrous fish to which Andromede at Joppa was exposed (s); which story seems to be hammered out of this history of Jonah; and the same is reported by Solinus (t); however, it is out of doubt that there are fishes capable of swallowing a man. Nierembergius (u) speaks of a fish taken near Valencia in Spain, so large that a man on horseback could stand in its mouth; the cavity of the, brain held seven men; its jaw bones, which were kept in the Escurial, were seventeen feet long; and two carcasses were found in its stomach: he says it was called "piscis mularis"; but some learned men took it to be the dog fish before mentioned; and such a large devouring creature is the shark, of which the present bishop of Bergen (w), and others, interpret this fish here; in which sometimes has been found the body of a man, and even of a man in armour, as many writers (x) have observed. Some (y) think it was a crocodile, which, though a river fish, yet, for the most part, is at the entrance of rivers, and sometimes goes into the sea many miles, and is capable of swallowing a man; some are above thirty feet long; and in the belly of one of them, in the Indies, was found a woman with all her clothes on (z): and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights: that is, one whole natural day, consisting of twenty four hours, and part of two others; the Jews having no other way of expressing a natural day but by day and night; and to this the antitype answers; namely, our Lord's being so long in the grave; of whose death, burial, and resurrection, this was a type, as appears from Mat 12:40; for which reason Jonah was so miraculously preserved; and a miracle it was that he should not in this time be digested in the stomach of the creature; that he was not suffocated in it, but breathed and lived; and that he was able to bear the stench of the creature's maw; and that he should have his senses, and be in such a frame of mind as both to pray and praise; but what is it that the power of God cannot do? Here some begin the second chapter, and not amiss. (p) Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 2. (q) Philostrat. Vit. Apollonii, l. 1. c. 7. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 32, c. 1. (s) Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 5. (t) Polyhistor. c. 47. (u) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 26. apud Schotti Physics Curiosa, par. 2. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 9. (w) Pantoppidan's History of Norway, par. 2. p. 114, 116. (x) Vid, Lipen. Jonae Displus, c. 2. th. 6. in Dissert. Theolog. Philol. tom. 1. p. 987. (y) Vid. Texelii Phoenix, l. 3. c. 6. p. 242, 243. (z) Mandelsloe in Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 1. B. 1. c. 2. p. 759.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:17 Some critics consider it impossible that Jonah could be delivered from death in the belly of a great fish. In making this judgment, they oppose themselves to one of the book’s main theological themes—that God is supremely sovereign over nature. If God exists, and he created and controls nature (1:9, 16; see also Gen 1:21), a miraculous event of this magnitude is not unfathomable. The book presents the fish episode as a historical event. • No indication is given as to the species of the fish, nor is identifying a species crucial to validating the significance of the account. Granted God’s creative power, the fish that swallowed Jonah might well have been specially formed and appointed by the Lord for this particular event. If God exists and can work miracles, Jonah’s need for oxygen and protection from digestive processes poses no problem (cp. Dan 3:14-27). On the other hand, certain species are large enough to have served the purpose (e.g., the whale shark), and similar incidents have been recorded in modern times. • Jesus later referred to Jonah’s stay in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights in predicting the duration of his time in the grave (Matt 12:39-41). • Arranged for is the first of four occurrences of the same Hebrew word in the book (see Jon 4:6, 7, 8). All four occurrences speak of God’s effortless control over the forces of nature.