Jonah Preaching to the Ninevites (1866) by Gustave Doré God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out. While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed. After being cast from the ship, Jonah is swallowed by a large fish, within the belly of which he remains for three days and three nights. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offer sacrifices to God. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they eventually throw Jonah overboard. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame.
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa (sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe), and sets sail for Tarshish. Jonah and the Whale (1621) by Pieter Lastman Some modern scholars of folklore say there are similarities between Jonah and other legendary figures, specifically Gilgamesh and the Greek hero Jason. In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the species of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation for naturalists, who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Īlthough the creature which swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text actually uses the phrase dag gadol, which means "big fish". Mainstream Bible scholars generally regard the Book of Jonah as fictional, and often at least partially satirical, but the character of Jonah son of Amittai may have been based on the historical prophet of the same name who prophesied during the reign of Amaziah of Judah, as mentioned in 2 Kings. Jonah is regarded as a prophet in Islam and the biblical narrative of Jonah is repeated, with a few notable differences, in the Quran. Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as a type for Jesus. In the New Testament, Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah" and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah", which is his resurrection. In Judaism, the story of Jonah represents the teaching of teshuva, which is the ability to repent and be forgiven by God. Jonah is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, which details his reluctance in delivering God's judgement on the city of Nineveh, and then his subsequent, albeit begrudged, return to the divine mission after he is swallowed by a large sea creature. Jonah or Jonas, son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BCE. Michelangelo's Prophet Jonah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling