was jonah a real person

The outline of the book of Jonah:[according to whom? For the glossator, Jonah's pro-Israel motivations correspond to Christ's demurral in the Garden of Gethsemane ("My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me")[35] and the Gospel of Matthew's and Paul's insistence that "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). The Quran never mentions Jonah's father,[74] but Muslim tradition teaches that Jonah was from the tribe of Benjamin and that his father was Amittai. [108] McKenzie and Graham remark that "Jonah is in some ways the most 'orthodox' of Israelite theologians to make a theological point. Aug. 18, 2016. Jesus spoke of Jonah like he was a real person. ", "Exclusive Photos Show Destruction of Nineveh Gates by ISIS", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jonah&oldid=1158681355, a hill now called Giv'at Yonah, "Jonah's Hill", at the northern edge of the Israeli town of, This page was last edited on 5 June 2023, at 15:50. Jonah lived during the time of King Jeroboam II (782-752 B.C. Exposed to the heat and the wind, Jonah is angered by the loss of his plant. "[59], Other Christian interpreters, including Saint Augustine and Martin Luther, have taken a directly opposite approach,[60] regarding Jonah as the epitome of envy and jealousness, which they regarded as inherent characteristics of the Jewish people. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as a type for Jesus. Redheads and women are also to be avoided as passengers. [101] The readiness to worship God displayed by the sailors on the ship and the people of Nineveh contrasts ironically with Jonah's own reluctance,[111] as does Jonah's greater love for kikayon providing him shade than for all the people in Nineveh. [29] Jonah, exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him. [127] In the mid-nineteenth century, Edward Bouverie Pusey, professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, claimed that the Book of Jonah must have been authored by Jonah himself[128] and argued that the fish story must be historically true, or else it would not have been included in the Bible. Mainstream Bible scholars generally regard the Book of Jonah as fictional,[3][4][5] and often at least partially satirical. There are other arguments and lines of approach, this is just one of them. I was thoroughly convinced at that point, but then to top it off, you referenced Tony Stark and his quote from Avengers. Thank you for your comment on my article. [72], Jonah is also mentioned in a few incidents during the lifetime of Muhammad. "[140], Despite its brevity, the Book of Jonah has been adapted numerous times in literature and in popular culture. [116][117] The Septuagint translates this phrase into Greek as ktei megali ( ), meaning "huge fish". He lost and was thrown overboard.Then the whale engulfed him while he was blameworthy.Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah,He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection.But We cast him onto the open (shore), (totally) worn out,and caused a squash plant to grow over him.We (later) sent him (back) to (his city of) at least one hundred thousand people,And they believed, so We allowed them enjoyment for a while. [149][150] Once he returns to the shore, the rejuvenating plant is eaten by a serpent. The majority of scholars date the book much later, to the post-exilic period sometime between the late 5th to early 4th century BC;[2] perhaps (along with Book of Ruth) as a counter to the emphasis on racial purity in the time of Ezra. [28] As for the non-canonical writings, the majority of references to biblical texts were made as appeals to authority. [114], Though art and culture often depicts Jonah's fish as a whale, the Hebrew text, as throughout scripture,[citation needed] refers to no marine species in particular, simply saying "great fish" or "big fish". We listen and review a podcast episode about Jonah. 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,"[9] but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa (sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe). Electromagnetic Energy Plasma Light Orbs using Earths Electromagnetic Energy Fields. NCSY Director of Education David Bashevkin sees Jonah as a thoughtful prophet who comes to religion out of a search for theological truth and is constantly disappointed by those who come to religion to provide mere comfort in the face of adversity inherent to the human condition. Jimmy Williams looks at the options: Jonah was a real person swallowed by a fish or a tall tale. Here are some things that we know that give further support for Jonah. "[143] Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) features the title character and his father Geppetto being swallowed by "the Terrible Dogfish," an allusion to the story of Jonah. As for the whale shark, Dr. E. W. Gudger, an Honorary Associate in Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, notes that, while the whale shark does have a large mouth,[134] its throat is only four inches wide, with a sharp elbow or bend behind the opening,[134] meaning that not even a human arm would be able to pass through it. 2. and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle? Tweet your question to @biblemesh with the hashtag #BibleQA or email us. [38] The medieval Jewish scholar and rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (10921167) argued against any literal interpretation of the Book of Jonah,[39] stating that the "experiences of all the prophets except Moses were visions, not actualities. [76] He then asked how Muhammad knew of this man. (2007). The teenager verbally abused his teachers, bullied his classmates in the school playground, and disrespected every authority figure in his life. [32]:174175,180. Perhaps. In short, it is a story about Gods grace. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The Ordinary Gloss, or Glossa Ordinaria, was the most important Christian commentary on the Bible in the later Middle Ages. Elder Keith Ellis In some quarters the story of Jonah is believed to be a fable or myth which teaches a moral lesson only. Verse 1: The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai. We can confirm that name independently in 1 Kings 14. hold that the contents of the Book of Jonah are ahistorical. Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish; Jesus will spend three days in the grave. He was a real person who lived sometime around 800 BCE, but the story in the Bible that contains his name wasn't written down until about four centuries later, and it hardly represents his life accurately. But Jonah is written in a historical setting, with the names of real, physical cities (Ninevah and Tarshish) as part of the plot. Heres the very brief account as recorded in the Bible: And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. While Jonah would rather see his own life destroyed than extend grace to the Assyrians, the book portrays his God as forgiving, showing grace and mercy to even the vilest and cruelest of people. A true but cheeky statement. I want to work with Edmonton based. [51] In the Armenian Apostolic Church, moveable feasts are held in commemoration of Jonah as a single prophet and as one of the Twelve Minor Prophets. [48], 39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! According to the biblical account, God orders Jonah to warn the citizens of Nineveh, a principal Assyrian city, to repent of their wickedness, but Jonah refuses to believe that these hated people deserve salvation. Despite being set during the years of Assyrian reign, the story of Jonah was likely written about the 5th or 4th century bce, after the Babylonian Exile, when memories of the cruelty of Assyrian tyranny would have lingered in legend and oral history. I will briefly list them and mention their strengths and weaknesses. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Have a question about the Bible? We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. ", The peculiarity of this change of gender led later rabbis to conclude that Jonah was comfortable enough in the roomy male fish to not pray, and because of this God transferred him to a smaller, female fish, in which Jonah was uncomfortable, to which he prayed.[42]. [21] God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time. Answer Proud, stubborn, disobedient, unfaithful, a grumbler, and altogether a bad-tempered, cantankerous old curmudgeonthis was Jonah, whose name means "dove"! This view is possible, at least in theory. "[99] Jonah's statements throughout the book are characterized by their militancy,[99][109] but his name ironically means "dove",[99][109] a bird which the ancient Israelites associated with peace. He sets sail for Tarshish. 6. [13] God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out. (, Finally, Jesus himself considered the Jonah story to be historical, and frankly, if its good enough for Jesus, its good enough for you. Australia first met Jonah Takalua during Summer Heights High in 2007. [148], Joseph Campbell suggests that the story of Jonah parallels a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which Gilgamesh obtains a plant from the bottom of the sea. "But the LORD said: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. Some people struggle with believing that Jonah was swallowed by a large sea creature and lived 3 days and 3 nights in it. The big idea is that God is a God of forgiveness, and that his mercy extends to even those we despise. [110] The king of Nineveh's instant repentance parodies the rulers throughout the other writings of the Old Testament who disregard prophetic warnings, such as Ahab and Zedekiah. The earliest Christian interpretations of Jonah are found in the Gospel of Matthew[30] and the Gospel of Luke. And the LORD said: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; Jonah, (flourished 785 bce), one of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Book: Jonah - Q+R Episode 3 51m November 6, 2017 A question and response episode on the book of Jonah . Did the Story of Jonah Really Happen? Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. ", "Afflicted with a Jonah; The Sea Captain's Fear of Parsons' Sons", "The Problem with Herman Melville's Reading of the Book of Jonah", "Previously Untouched 600 BC Palace Discovered Under Shrine Demolished by ISIL in Mosul", "ISIS Destroyed Jonah's Tomb, but Not Its Message", "Taking the Argo to Nineveh: Jonah and Jason in a Mediterranean Context", "How Much Has the Town Where the Scopes Trial Took Place Evolved Since the 1920s? Addas was shocked because he knew that the pagan Arabs had no knowledge of the prophet Jonah. The story of Jonah has a setting, characters, a plot, and themes; it also relies heavily on such literary devices as irony. Davids life was often in jeopardy from his enemies, and similarly Jonah was facing a hopeless fate in being swallowed by a fish in the open sea. Jonah had a father, and a family name. The strength of this approach is that it immediately alleviates any need to explain the impossible. In other words, they think it is unlikely that a man could survive in the body of a beast at sea for several days and live to tell the tale. One can still gain from the Bible the teaching point while not being hung up on the fanciful notions that the story includes. A storm threatens the ship, and the sailors draw lots to find out which man is the cause of their misfortune. This is a story of a fish who is alien ship engulfed Jonah for his disobedience. Since we know that Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later, the fact that he would parallel his experience with Jonahs time in the fish at least suggests that in both instances death and resurrection were the result. On Doubting Gods Existence when Evil Happens, Anxiety, Stress, Freaking Out, Prayer, and God. And as those who believe in the accuracy and truthfulness of Scripture, is easy to conceivethough hard to understandof a scenario where God supernaturally preserves a mans life. Ryan McDermott, trans., "The Ordinary Gloss on Jonah," PMLA 128.2 (2013): 42438. The book also mentions the name of Jonahs father (1:1). In such cases, Sheol is more of a poetic expression about the dire circumstance a person is in. [82] A mosque atop Nabi Yunus was dedicated to the prophet Jonah and contained a shrine, which was revered by both Muslims and Christians as the site of Jonah's tomb. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, but tries to escape this divine mission. Although the creature that swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase dag gadol, which means "big fish". [44], In the New Testament, Jonah is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew[45] and Luke. [40] Saint Jerome later translated the Greek phrase as piscis grandis in his Latin Vulgate, and as ctus in Matthew. For example, he writes: "As, therefore, Jonah passed from the ship to the belly of the whale, so Christ passed from the cross to the sepulchre, or into the abyss of death. At that time the Assyrian empire was one of the cruelest and most aggressive in Mesopotamia. The same people who espouse that idea also believe that the universe created itself out of nothing, evolved into an incredibly complicated ecosystem that can thrive and grow by random chance, that life arose from non-life, and that we are all here by accident and there is no meaning or purpose to life. I am currently taking a course that is an introduction to the Bible. The book of Jonah, written primarily in the third person, does not explicitly name the prophet as the author of his own account, but we have no reason to doubt either the inspiration or the historical veracity of the book. [10] As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offer sacrifices to Yahweh. [31][32] Another tradition holds that he was the son of the woman of Shunem brought back to life by Elisha in 2 Kings[33][34] and that he is called the "son of Amittai" (Truth) due to his mother's recognition of Elisha's identity as a prophet in 2 Kings. [84][86] ISIL had plundered the palace of items to sell on the black market,[84][86] but some of the artifacts that were more difficult to transport still remained in place.[84][86]. An English translation of the most important medieval Christian commentary on Jonah, This page was last edited on 30 May 2023, at 02:05. The thing is utterly improbable and incredible, that a man swallowed with his clothes on should have existed in the inside of a fish. Identified in verse 1 as the son of Amittai, Jonah came from a town called Gath-hepher, near Nazareth in the area that . Nay then, throw them into the sea! [15] While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed. And as Jonah suffered this for the sake of those who were endangered by the storm, so Christ suffered for the sake of those who are tossed on the waves of this world." The story is also retold in the Quran. Required fields are marked *. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The Book of Jonah appears to have served less purpose in the Qumran community than other texts, as the writings make no references to it.[29]. Jonah is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, which details his reluctance in delivering God's judgement on the city of Nineveh. In that way, the problem disappears with convenience. [38] Jonah promised the fish that he would save them. long ago in a land far away). [72] In Quran 21:87[73] and 68:48, Jonah is called Dhul-Nn (Arabic: ; meaning "The One of the Fish"). [2] On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, Jonah's feast day is on 22 September (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian calendar; 22 September currently falls in October on the modern Gregorian calendar). Infidels, rationalists, modernists, and innocent people who have been misled by the so called "higher" critics often refer to the narrative of Jonah as a myth, a fairy tale, a legend, or a piece of fiction. [149] In the Book of Jonah, a worm (in Hebrew tola'ath, "maggot") bites the shade-giving plant's root causing it to wither;[149] whereas in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet and plucks his plant from the floor of the sea. "[134], Sperm whales, however, appear to be a different matter: They regularly eat giant squid, so presumably one could swallow a human. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jonah-biblical-figure. Play Episode Show Notes Transcript Episodes Download Transcript This is our final episode in our YouTube Q+R series. [30], But God said to Jonah: "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" Theology Central Episodes All Episodes 2671 By Category News Commentary 286 Bible Study . [22] The entire city is humbled and broken, with the people (and even the animals)[23][24] wearing sackcloth and ashes. Jonah cannot be real if only for the small detail that no country that has commited a nation-wide or people-wide slaughter has ever asked for repentence in the written history of humankind. Gath-hepher is not a fairytale land; its a real place. [80] Al-Tabari also writes that Allah made the body of the fish transparent, allowing Jonah to see the "wonders of the deep"[81] and that Jonah heard all the fish singing praises to Allah. 3035 at, "Jonah's Path and the Message of Yom Kippur", "Reinventing the Wheel: the Shaping of the Book of Jonah", "The Belly of the Whale | Jungian Analysis", "Jonah and the Varieties of Religious Motivation. [14], 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 silly as it may sound, that reference was a direct confirmation for me. [11] Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a large fish, in whose belly he spends three days and three nights. Here, Jesus plays on the imagery of Sheol found in Jonah's prayer. 5. [95][96][3] Although the prophet Jonah allegedly lived in the eighth century BCE,[1] the Book of Jonah was written centuries later during the time of the Achaemenid Empire. [31] Both Matthew and Luke record a tradition of Jesus' interpretation of the Book of Jonah (notably, Matthew includes two very similar traditions in chapters 12 and 16). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. And if you can't accept the testimony of the biblical authors, archeologists, and the Lord Jesus himself, would Tony Stark do? [41] At some point, ctus became synonymous with whale (cf. Ynus is traditionally viewed as highly important in Islam as a prophet who was faithful to God and delivered His messages. God commands the fish to spit the man out on land, and finally Jonah heads to Nineveh to comply with Gods original instructions to him. The development of whaling from the 18th century onwards made it clear that most, if not all, species of whale could not swallow a human, leading to much controversy about the veracity of the biblical story of Jonah. Jonah, (flourished 785 bce), one of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. 3. My sermon Sunday will cover more and hopefully help people to believe it more than doubt it. For other uses, see. Here's the very brief account as recorded in the Bible: Addas immediately accepted Islam and kissed the hands and feet of Muhammad. Jonah, of course, was a real person not just some Old Testament parable. Believing that isat least as out there as believing the story of Jonah, if not more so. "In the next place, what are we to believe concerning Jonah, who is said to have been three days in a whale's belly? [Mention] when he ran away to the laden ship.Then (to save it from sinking) he drew straws (with other passengers). According to one tradition, Jonah was the boy brought back to life by Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings. A documentary, a school boy and a cancellation: The real story behind Jonah from Tonga. [24], The motif of a protagonist being swallowed by a giant fish or whale became a stock trope of later satirical writings. Once upon a time, there lived a prophet named Jonah. [14], God then once again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and prophesy to its inhabitants. In. There are some Christians who believe that the moral of the story is what matters, not the historical truthfulness of the account. There seems to be good reason why this view is a very real possibility. [130], The debate over the fish in the Book of Jonah played a major role during Clarence Darrow's cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes Trial in 1925. ", "Lives of all saints commemorated on September 22", "Commemoration Day of the 12 Minor Prophets. In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe" and the word ktos (Greek) or cetus (Latin) in Matthew 12:40[124] as "whale". The debate over the credibility of the miracle of Jonah is not simply a modern one. Was the exodus from Egypt just an imaginary story with a moral lesson? Jesus Himself speaks about Jonah as a real person in Matthew 12:40-41 when He compares Jonahs account to His own resurrection. Subsequently he returns to the divine mission after he is swallowed by a large sea creature and then released. I am an undergraduate student at a Christian, and I wanted to say how absolutely helpful your response to the question Is the Book of Jonah Fact or Fiction? is to me. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. "[16] After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people of Nineveh begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast. Jesus fulfills his role as a type of Jonah, however his generation fails to fulfill its role as a type of Nineveh. This troubled me because I have always believed that the Bible is factual from cover to cover. This idea comes from the statement that Godappointeda fish to swallow Jonah. Upon hearing the prophets warning, the king and the people of Nineveh repent, and God does not punish them. Alone in the sea, Jonah is swallowed by a huge fish and spends three days and nights in its belly, where he prays for deliverance. The views expressed by Jonah in the Book of Jonah are a parody of views held by members of Jewish society at the time when it was written. In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe", and he translated the word ktos (Greek) or ctus (Latin) in Matthew as "whale". As a matter of fact, all of the internal biblical evidence argues in favor of the facticity of book of Jonah. Bible portal v t e The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Hebrew Bible, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. [20] The king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer, and repentance. The fourth position, and perhaps the most common among believers, is simply that God somehow kept Jonah alive in the belly of the fish. "[33] "The Ordinary Gloss on Jonah" has been translated into English and printed in a format that emulates the first printing of the Gloss. "[131] Bryan replied that he believed in "a God who can make a whale and can make a man and make both of them do what He pleases. So to say that the Jonah story isnt real is to undermine what Jesus appeared to believedangerous ground to say the least! [135] Similar to a cow, sperm whales have four-chambered stomachs. Ryan McDermott comments that "The Gloss on Jonah relies almost exclusively on Jerome's commentary on Jonah (c.396), so its Latin often has a tone of urbane classicism.

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