Jonah and The Fish

• Excerpt from Jonah Chapter 1 [NIV]

12
"Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will
become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has
come upon you."
13
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they
could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they
cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking
this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an
innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." 15
Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging
sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and
they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
17
But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
was inside the fish three days and three nights.
• Claim:
Not enough space inside a fish for a man to survive.

• Claim:
No one could survive inside a fish’s digestive tract.

• Claim:
The whole city wouldn’t turn from all its evil in just three days.
• Not enough space inside a fish
Are there fish big enough to fit a man inside?
Let’s say the fish had similar dimensions

to a whale:
How big do these whales get? In 1933 a
sulfur bottom whale was caught off the
coast of cape cod it was 100 ft long and
had a mouth over 10 foot wide. A man who was unfortunate enough to
be swallowed could take refuge in any one of the whale’s stomach
chambers, or the large cranial cavities (extensions of the nasal sinus)
which measure 7 feet high, 7ft wide and 14 ft long. More than big
enough for a man to hide safely inside.
• Not enough space inside a fish
But are there fish that big in the Mediterranean?
Large sperm whales have esophaguses that

measure as large as 50 centimeters, or roughly
a foot and a half wide. They can be found in the
Mediterranean.
Sperm whales don't have to chew their food, they can move it into
their stomachs by peristaltic or muscle action -- so Jonah could have
been swallowed whole.
Other options in the Mediterranean include Great White Sharks and

Sea Dogs.
• Can’t survive in a fish’s digestive tract
The conditions are just too deadly:
- No air: actually in many fish air does exist in various compartments

in order to keep the fish afloat.
- Gastric juices (strong corrosive acids): this is a problem with warm

blooded whales, but less of a problem with cold blooded fish – their
digestive process is slower.
- The oppressive heat: the heat is livable but harsh. Estimates range
the heat inside to be between 104 to 108° F.
• Does history list people being swallowed?
There actually is documentation of sailors being swallowed whole.
One species of fish, the "Sea Dog"

(Carcharodon carcharias), is found in all warm
seas, 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.
• Quick and fun shark facts
Similar to white sharks, the Megalodon is the biggest fish ever
recorded.
20 ft shark has a jaw size

36 in. wide, 30 in. high.
Megalodon averages
50 ft in length.
Humans are not healthy for sharks

because their digestion is too slow
to cope with the humans body’s high ratio of bone to muscle and fat.
End Result? – The shark may vomit

• Does history list people being swallowed?
More fish swallowing stories:
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:
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 of being thrown out of the boat into the sea…
• The James Bartley ordeal
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.
• One last fish story
Another individual, Marshall Jenkins, was swallowed by a Sperm
Whale in the South Seas. The Boston Post Boy, October 14, 1771,
reported that an Edgartown (U.S.A.) whaling vessel struck a whale, and
that after the whale had bitten one of the boats in two, it took Jenkins in
its mouth and went under the water with him. After returning to the
surface, the whale vomited him on to the wreckage of the broken boat,
"much bruised but not seriously injured."
And the number one reason Christians should believe the Jonah story:
Jesus believed it - "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." Matthew 12:40
• Why would Nineveh change so quickly?
The Bible says it took Jonah three days and then all the people in
Nineveh from the least to the greatest humbled themselves.
How was this done in such a short amount of time?
The Lord was well aware of Nineveh’s current beliefs:
Images of a fish-god were found guarding the entrance to the palace

and temple in the ruins of Nineveh.
During Jonah's time, the people of Nineveh believed in a divinity who

sent messages to them by a person who rose out of the sea, as part
fish and part man, and they would undoubtedly have been very
receptive to Jonah's ministry if he had been vomited out of a fish.
• Why would Nineveh change so quickly?
H. Clay Trumbull wrote of this as follows:
What better heralding, as a divinely sent messenger to Nineveh, could

Jonah have had, than to be thrown up out of the mouth of a great fish,
in the presence of witnesses, say, on the coast of Phoenicia, where the
fish-god was a favorite object of worship? . . . The recorded sudden
and profound alarm of the people of an entire city at his warning was
most natural, as a result of the coincidence of this miracle with their
religious beliefs and expectations.
• Jonah evidence found in archeology
Berosis, a Babylonian historian, gives the name of the Assyrian fish-
god as "Oannes.” Since the name Dagan appears frequently in the
Assyrian records from earlier dates, and no trace has been found in
them of the name "Oannes," it is possible that this name is a reference
to Jonah, as the supposed manifestation of the fish-god himself. The
name Oannes for Jonah appears in the Septuagint and in the New
Testament with the addition of I before it (Ioannes). However, according
to Dr. Herman V. Hilprecht, the eminent Assyriologist, in the Assyrian
inscriptions the J of foreign words becomes I, or disappears altogether.
Hence Joannes, as the Greek representation of Jonah would appear in
Assyrian either as Ioannes or as Oannes. Therefore, in his opinion,
Oannes would be a regular Greco-Babylonian writing for Jonah.
• Jonah evidence found in archeology
The preservation of the name "Yunas" or "Jonah" at the ruins of
Nineveh also confirms the historicity of the Jonah story. As soon as
modern discoverers unearthed the mound that had been known for
centuries by the name of "Neby Yunas," they found beneath it the
ruined palaces of the kings of Nineveh.
• Conclusion
The Biblical account of Jonah is shown to be both accurate and
possible:
There are suitable candidates found in the Mediterranean to swallow

Jonah.
Men being swallowed and surviving inside whales and fish has been
documented historically.
Archeological evidence bolsters the claim that Jonah visited Nineveh

and had a lasting impact on its culture.
Jesus Himself believed the validity of the Jonah story and you should
too.

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• Excerpt from Jonah Chapter 1 [NIV]

Let’s say the fish had similar dimensions

Large sperm whales have esophaguses that

Other options in the Mediterranean include Great White Sharks and

- No air: actually in many fish air does exist in various compartments

- Gastric juices (strong corrosive acids): this is a problem with warm

One species of fish, the "Sea Dog"

20 ft shark has a jaw size

Humans are not healthy for sharks

End Result? – The shark may vomit

In February of 1891, James Bartley, a sailor aboard the whaling ship

Images of a fish-god were found guarding the entrance to the palace

During Jonah's time, the people of Nineveh believed in a divinity who

What better heralding, as a divinely sent messenger to Nineveh, could

There are suitable candidates found in the Mediterranean to swallow

Archeological evidence bolsters the claim that Jonah visited Nineveh

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