Did Jonah Die in the Great Fish?

Recently I read a blog post  and an article proclaiming that Jonah died in the great fish that swallowed him, and that he was resurrected after three days, just as Christ was resurrected after three days in Joseph’s tomb. I thought it was an interesting idea, but wasn’t too sure if the conclusion was accurate or not. Like a Berean, I went straight to the scriptures to study both the Jonah story and related texts for clarification. I also did a bit of research—one of my favorite things—to see what I could find to corroborate either point of view. In the paragraphs below, I’ve summarized what I found.

The book of Jonah is relatively short—only four chapters long—and is considered one of the minor prophets, even though young children typically know this story well because of its unique and miraculous events. To recap the story briefly, Jonah was an Israelite prophet from Galilee during the reign of the evil king Jeroboam II (as recorded in 2 Kings 14:25 and confirmed by the words of our Lord in Matt 12:40). God called him to preach to the wicked city of Nineveh, an enemy of Israel, and later, the capital of Assyria, in what is now Iraq. But Jonah disobeyed and fled to Tarshish, in the opposite direction.

In Joppa, Jonah paid the fare to travel on a ship headed to Tarshish. (Jonah 1:3) The Bible doesn’t tell us much about this ship, but there are a few historical details to help us understand the situation better. First, the ship was probably a Phoenician merchant ship, since it was traveling from the port city of Joppa to Tarshish, a destination that has yet to be identified archeologically. (Some historians speculate that Tarshish was somewhere in Spain.) Although the Israelites had coastline on the Mediterranean for much of their history, they were not known for seafaring, but the Phoenicians were well known as seafarers and merchants. The few Biblical accounts of cargo deliveries to Israel and journeys by sea involved ships from other nationalities.

Because Jonah was probably traveling on a merchant ship since it was carrying cargo, it must have been quite large for its day. By comparison, cargo ships today are the largest of all sea-going vessels, at about 6.5 times the size of the largest cruise ship. Cargo ships are specifically designed to carry heavy loads. Shipbuilders of Jonah’s day may have followed some of the design principles gleaned from Noah’s ark to carry heavy loads some fifteen hundred years earlier. An article by Kyle Butt for Apologetics Press states that the ark was built at “a ratio of 30 to 5 to 3 (length to breadth to height). Until about 1858, the ark was the largest floating ship ever created.” It goes on to say that the Great Britain, one of the largest ships ever built, used almost the exact ratio of the ark—30:5:3, which proves to be the perfect ratio for a huge boat built for seaworthiness and not for speed.  Also, during World War II, shipbuilders used approximately the same ratio to build a ship known as the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien—a huge cargo ship– just like the ark! All of these points are included to support the idea that the principles of building used in the construction of the ark obviously passed the test of time. However, Jonah’s ship was most likely not as large as any of these. It was simply a larger sea-faring ship. The Biblical account states that Jonah paid his fare and went down into the ship, meaning he went to the quarters below the main deck, so we know the ship was at least large enough to carry cargo and to have a lower deck.

The events in Jonah’s story are captivating because not just one, but several miraculous events demonstrate God’s providence and sovereignty in carrying out His will. Jonah 1:4 describes the first event. “But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.” A tempest is described as a sudden powerful storm and is synonymous with a hurricane, cyclone, typhoon, or other huge storm at sea. Imagine a hurricane force wind erupting suddenly while at sea! Is it any wonder that the “mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them?” (Jonah 1:5)

While all this was going on, Jonah, most likely exhausted from the emotional turmoil of his disobedience, “was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay and was fast asleep.” (Jonah 1:5) The captain of the ship called Jonah to wake up and call upon his God for help, while the ship’s crew cast lots to discover who might be responsible for “this evil…upon us.” (Jonah 1:7) When the lot fell upon Jonah, they plied him with questions such as, “Where are you from?” and “What do you do?” and “Who are your people?” Jonah admitted that the storm was a display of God’s anger with him, saying, “For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.” (Jonah 1:12) He urged them to cast him overboard, but the men tried to row the ship to shore unsuccessfully. And then they cast Jonah overboard, praying for asylum, but as soon as they did so, the sea grew calm. (Jonah 1:15) This is the second miraculous event.

The Bible then recounts the third miraculous event: “now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” (Jonah 1:17) I don’t know about you, but I can scarcely imagine what it must be like to be swallowed up by a great fish. However, an interesting news story recently related the tale of a lobster diver who experienced almost the same thing! The lobster diver reported that he was swallowed by a sperm whale and describes the feeling, saying, “I was completely inside; it was completely black…I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’m getting out of here. I’m done, I’m dead.’ All I could think of was my boys — they’re 12 and 15 years old.” No doubt Jonah felt the same way, although the diver stayed in the whale’s mouth and wasn’t swallowed, and not long at that, for he was spit out fairly quickly. But “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17)

From inside the fish’s belly, Jonah repented of his sin. He knew that he not only disobeyed God, but also caused God to send the storm at sea that endangered the lives of the ship’s crew. Chapter 2 recounts Jonah’s prayer from inside the fish. Although there is some terminology that might sound as if Jonah had died, perhaps it is a metaphorical death rather than a physical death. Would Jonah be able to pray after he had died? Verse 2 says, “From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” And verse 7 says, ““When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” Does this indicate death, or perhaps a “near-death experience?” I lean toward a near-death experience in this case. Jonah mentioned the “realm of the dead, but said his life was ebbing away, rather than completely gone. Certainly with all the miracles that occurred in this story, God could have kept Jonah alive inside the fish in order to complete His plans for him and see that he preached to the people in Nineveh.

It is indeed an interesting point that Jonah may have died in the fish, and there is definitely a parallel. Jesus pointed it out himself in Matt 12:40, saying, “For just as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” However, Jesus physically died on the cross and his side was pierced to prove his death, while nothing in scripture clearly indicates that Jonah was pierced or died. Moreover, Jesus was resurrected. While there are multiple other Biblical accounts of those who were resurrected, each one has someone or something to resurrect them and clearly indicates being raised from death:

Widow’s son raised by Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24)

Shunammite woman’s son raised by Elisha (2 Kings 4:18-32)

Unknown man in Elisha’s tomb raised by touching Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20-21)

Numerous saints raised at the time of Jesus’ resurrection (Matt 27:53)

Widow of Nain’s son by Jesus (Luke 7:11-17)

Jairus’ daughter raised by Jesus (Luke 8:48-50)

Lazarus raised by Jesus (John 11:38-44)

Dorcas raised by Peter (Acts 9:40-42)

Eutychus raised by Paul (Acts 20:7-12)

So what about Jonah? My conclusion is that Jonah, like all of us, was as good as dead for disobeying. Disobedience is sin and the wages of sin is death. Rom 6:23. So whether he died physically or not, Jonah was temporarily dead to God. After he repented and prayed to God from the belly of the fish, the fourth miraculous event took place: God was merciful and caused the great fish to spit Jonah out onto dry land. “And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” The fish was even close to land, rather than spitting Jonah back into the ocean, where he may have drowned. Only God could do that! (Jonah 2:10)

Jonah then carried out God’s plans to preach to Nineveh and “the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:5) Even the king repented and sat in sackcloth and ashes, and declared that all of Nineveh should fast and that every man and beast should be covered in sackcloth and ashes and repent from their evil ways. This is the fifth miraculous event. Stubborn Jonah repented enough to be used of God and the entire kingdom of Nineveh also repented! So, God spared both Nineveh and Jonah.

Whether Jonah died or not doesn’t take away from the story. Miraculous events occurred. Jonah’s life was spared as were the lives of all the residents of Nineveh. I believe we must study the Bible carefully and seek to understand as much as we can, but that we must not add to it nor take away from it. (2 Cor 4:2) I believe that we must not rely on what is believed to be scientifically possible, either. God the Creator is not limited by our beliefs about what is possible; in fact, He is not limited in any way! Jonah may have been kept alive in the body of the fish for as long as God determined necessary to accomplish His purposes. If the Bible says that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, we might also consider it as a spiritual rather than a physical resurrection and as a type of Christ. The Bible contains many of these.

References: https://www.comereason.org/story-of-jonah.asp