Jonah

Jonah was a prophet from the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE. His story is told in the Book of Jonah, one of the minor prophets. Jonah was asked by God to go to the city of Nineveh and warn the people there about their wrongdoings, but he did not want to.

Jonah tried to run away from God, but he was caught in a big storm at sea. The sailors threw him into the water, and he was swallowed by a large fish. After being inside the fish for three days, Jonah asked God for help. The fish spit Jonah out, and he went to Nineveh as God had asked.

The people of Nineveh listened to Jonah and changed their ways. This story is important in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the New Testament, Jesus used Jonah’s story to talk about his own return after dying. In the Quran, Jonah is also a prophet. Many scholars think the Book of Jonah may be a made-up story to teach a lesson.

Book of Jonah

Main article: Book of Jonah

Jonah Cast Forth by the Whale (1874) by Gustave Doré

Jonah is a special person in a story from long ago. God asked Jonah to go to a big city called Nineveh and tell the people to change their ways because they were doing bad things. But Jonah didn’t want to go, so he tried to run away by boat to a place called Tarshish. On the way, a huge storm came, and the people on the boat found out Jonah was the reason. They threw him into the water, and a big fish swallowed him.

Inside the fish, Jonah prayed to God. After three days, God told the fish to let Jonah go. God then asked Jonah again to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah went, and he told the people that in forty days the city would be turned over. The people believed him and started to fast and pray, even the king! God saw that they were sorry and decided not to destroy the city. Jonah was upset about this and made a little shelter to wait and see what would happen. But God made a plant grow to give Jonah shade, and later made it wither away. Jonah got very hot and angry, but God reminded him to care for the many people and animals in the city.

Religious views

In Judaism

The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Jonah is thought to have been brought back to life by Elijah, or to be the son of the woman of Shunem, saved by Elisha. The Book of Jonah is read every year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, during the afternoon prayer service.

Illustration of Jonah being swallowed by the fish from the Kennicott Bible, folio 305r (1476), in the Bodleian Library, Oxford

Jewish teachings explain that while Jonah was inside a large fish, the fish told him it was in danger of being eaten by a Leviathan. Jonah promised to save them both. Following Jonah's directions, they escaped the danger.

In Christianity

Jonah is mentioned in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus refers to Jonah’s time inside the fish to compare it to his own future resurrection. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus also uses Jonah’s story as a sign for the people of his time.

In his fresco The Last Judgment, Michelangelo depicted Christ below Jonah (IONAS) to qualify the prophet as his precursor.

Jonah is honored as a saint in several Christian traditions, with feast days celebrated in September. Some Christian thinkers have seen Jonah’s story as a symbol of Jesus’s own journey, while others have focused on Jonah’s reluctance and the lessons it teaches.

In Islam

In Islam, Jonah is an important prophet mentioned in the Quran. The Quran tells the story of Jonah being swallowed by a fish and later saved. Jonah is known in Arabic as Yūnus and is respected for his faithfulness to God. Islamic tradition adds details about Jonah’s life and family, and there are several places around the world believed to be his tomb.

Scholarly interpretations

The story of a man surviving after being swallowed by a large sea creature is known as a type of folktale.

Jonah and the sea monster, from Christian artwork in Roman catacombs at the end of 2nd century CE. From right to left: Johah jumps off the ship, where a sea monster waits; he is eaten (or spit out) by that sea monster; Johah rests on the beach after release from the monster's belly. The sea monster drawn by the Roman Christians resembles a hippocampus.

Many Biblical scholars believe the Book of Jonah was not based on real events. Though the prophet Jonah may have lived long ago, the book was written much later, during the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The language and customs in the book match that time period. Some scholars think the book was meant to be funny or make a point, but it was later taken seriously by others.

Jonah might have been a real prophet, as he is mentioned in the Second Book of Kings. The book uses exaggerated and unusual details, such as a very large city and people and animals fasting together, to make its points in a humorous way. The idea of someone being swallowed by a big fish became a common theme in later funny stories.

The fish

The story of Jonah includes a part where he is swallowed by a large sea creature. The Bible calls it a "great fish" or "big fish," not naming a specific kind of animal. Over time, many people have imagined it as a whale, but the ancient text doesn’t say this. Some thinkers have wondered which sea animal could have done this, but it’s important to remember that this is a special story with deeper meaning.

Depiction of Jonah and the "great fish" on the south doorway of the Gothic-era Dom St. Peter, in Worms, Germany

Different people have tried to guess exactly which kind of fish or sea animal might have been involved. Some even talked about whales, but we know today that most whales cannot swallow a person. Other large fish, like the whale shark, also have bodies that wouldn’t allow a person to pass through. Still, the story of Jonah is about more than just the animal — it’s about a journey and a lesson.

Cultural influence

Depiction of Jonah in a champlevé enamel (1181) by Nicholas of Verdun in the Verduner altar at Klosterneuburg abbey, Austria

In Turkish, "Jonah's fish" (yunus balığı) is the term used for dolphins. Sailors have a saying that a "Jonah" is someone whose presence brings bad luck and danger to a ship. This idea later grew to mean anyone who might bring bad luck to any plan.

The story of Jonah has been used in many books and popular culture. In Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), a character named Father Mapple gives a talk about Jonah’s story. In Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), Pinocchio and his father Geppetto are swallowed by a big fish, which refers to Jonah’s story. Walt Disney’s 1940 movie of the book keeps this idea. The tale of Jonah was also made into an animated film called Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki. In the film, Jonah (played by Archibald Asparagus) is swallowed by a very large whale.

Suggested connections to legends

Epic of Gilgamesh

Joseph Campbell suggests that the story of Jonah is similar to a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Book of Jonah, a worm bites the root of a plant that gives shade, causing it to dry up. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet and pulls a plant from the sea floor. When he returns to shore, a serpent eats the plant.

Jason (Greek mythology)

Campbell also noticed similarities between Jonah’s story and the tale of Jason from Greek mythology. The Greek name for Jonah is Jonas, which sounds almost like Jason. Gildas Hamel studied the Book of Jonah along with old Greek stories and art. He found many shared ideas, such as the heroes’ names, a dove appearing, storms caused by quick movement, the sailors’ reactions, a big sea creature threatening or swallowing the hero, and the use of a special plant called a kikayon. Hamel believes the Hebrew writer used these older stories but changed them to share his own message.