Bible Study Jonah: A Piece of History

[Nereus]

Upon the emergence of Higher Criticism, many Old Testament Books that were previously held to as factual, began to have their history questioned, and shortly after this, rejected. Due to the literary style, and extraordinary events that take place, Jonah was quickly rejected, and critics stated that rather than being a historical document, the Book of Jonah is a mere story seeking to communicate a particular message.

Higher critics tend to have a distinct bias that rejects all supernatural occurrences. Yet to one who is open to what we may call 'miracles,' the Book of Jonah is not hard to accept.

Jonah is no mere parable. He is spoken of in the historical masterpiece 'Kings.' 2 Kings 14:25 states '...Yahweh, the God of Israel, had spoken through his servant Jonah, son of Amittai...' This is the same Jonah that we read about in the Book bearing his name. Jonah 1:1 begins, 'The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah, son of Amittai...' We may not question the historical nature of his prophetic book (Jonah), without also questioning the prophetic account, given in the historical Book (Kings).

The testimony of Jesus also powerfully favors Jonah's historicity. Matthew 12:41-42 states, "Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke, 'Master, we should like to see a sign from you.' Jesus replied, '...The only sign that you will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of a sea monster for three days and three nights (He is directly quoting Jonah 2:1 here) so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Yet on judgment day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented.’â€Â

The Pharisees were asking Jesus for a miracle to prove his authority. He cites Jonah, who for three days was in a sea monsters belly. When Jonah got his act together, he marched into the capital city of Israel’s archenemy and preached ‘Only forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed. And the people of Nineveh believed in God.’ (Jonah 3:4-5). Yet, Jesus would die, be buried and then rise from the dead (a sign that would verify his claims) and these same skeptics still would not accept him. That is why he said that the people of Nineveh would judge them.

We believe that God will one day judge all, but that he is just and yet merciful. If the Book of Jonah is a mere parable, then Jonah did not preach to Nineveh and they did not repent. Besides severely undermining Jesus’ authority, if the people of Nineveh would still condemn the Pharisees it would be most unjust and unfair. These are two terms that I do not associate with God. Hence I must conclude, and would encourage you also to promote the belief, that Jonah was historical.

(Archeological evidence may also favor Jonah. A grave was found in Northern Israel, placed there for the prophet Jonah. Also ancient coins have been found with inscriptions of a man coming out of a fish’s mouth. I do not include either as evidence, because I cannot find their source, and they pale in comparison to the Biblical evidence favoring Jonah)

Kelly J. Wilson

 

[evanman]

Mt 12:40 For 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.
Lu 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

Jesus accepted this as historical fact!

 

[paxigoth7]

Not necessarily. In antiquity, parables were commonplace and people could easily seen a less-than-literal account as being true. We're the ones who have a hard time thinking the way they thought.

The gospel writers used the Jonah story in telling the Jesus story, much the same way as they did with the story of Moses. That the saw it as truth is obvious, that they saw it as historical fact isn't.

Much of the Old Testament falls neither into the category of history or fiction. The either/or mindset is ridiculous. Much of it is history metaphoricised. In other words, it is a retelling of history through a religious interpretation. This is why archaelogical evidence seems to send both conservatives and liberals into a frenzy. Conservatives say it is all history and liberals say its a bunch of made up stories. Evidence seems to say that there were real people like Joshua and Jonah and Moses and that real events, like the fall of Jericho happened--but these events were told with a religious interpretation, for the sake of highlighting spiritual truth. The use of Numbers is a great example. In ancient Jewish thought, numbers had spiritual significance. 7 meant perfection. Thus, a way of saying something was perfect was to designate it with the number 7. This means that the author interprets the event as perfect, not necessarily that that is how it literally happened.

We don't know what literally happened, but we do know the spiritual truth the Bible wants to teach us. The Bible is inspired truth -- and some of it happened.

 

[Guest]

We got our bibles because the stories were accepted as facts in
history,and when they tried to add false accounts to the bible they
were rejected and eventually taken out.

 

[serapha]

Hi there!

The point is nothing about the story is totally impossible: There are "fish" large enough to swallow a man; men have been known to survive inside a "fish"; the Bible says it really happened; Christ said Jonah’s experience was an analogy of His own death and resurrection; and God is alive and capable of this feat.

*Dr. John Morris

 

[Bryan]

What an odd poll. There is no "Book of Jonah".

Jesus made reference to the historicity of the Jonah in the belly of the fish while prophesying his resurrection. You can't clain to be a believer in Christ, and then turn around and call him a liar.

 

[evanman]

What an odd poll. There is no "Book of Jonah".

Jesus made reference to the historicity of the Jonah in the belly of the fish while prophesying his resurrection. You can't clain to be a believer in Christ, and then turn around and call him a liar.

What's the book that comes between Obadiah and Micah in the Old Testament?

 

[cubedbee]

Jesus made reference to the historicity of the Jonah in the belly of the fish while prophesying his resurrection. You can't clain to be a believer in Christ, and then turn around and call him a liar.

Jesus made references to Jonah. He didn't say "Jonah was a man who definitely lived on this earth", he simply referred to the story of Jonah that the Jews already had and said it was symbolic of him. Jesus also referred to dozens of made-up stories of his own that were symbolic of him or the kingdom of God. Just because Jesus accepts the story as a parable doesn't mean it historically happened.

 

[Nereus]

Cudebee
That is a commonly raised and interesting point. Here is the problem. Christ speaks of Jonah's tale the same way he speaks of Moses raising the bronze serpent, or the manna in the desert, or even the events surrounding Jacob's ladder. These are events that students of the Bible believe are true, and in speaking of Jonah in a similar manner, we must assume that Christ believed that the Book detailing Jonah's life was also true.
Jesus also said that on the day of Judgement the men of Ninevah would rise and speak out against the Pharasees, for when these men heard Jonah they would believe, but the Pharasees would not believe 'something here that was greater than Jonah. I believe this is significant, for Christ is saying in this passage that his resurrection is as real as the events he references in Jonah.
kelly j. Wilson

 

[Bryan]

What an odd poll. There is no "Book of Jonah".

Jesus made reference to the historicity of the Jonah in the belly of the fish while prophesying his resurrection. You can't clain to be a believer in Christ, and then turn around and call him a liar.

What's the book that comes between Obadiah and Micah in the Old Testament?

What an odd thing for me to say. I don't know why, but for some reason I was thinking that the story of Jonah was contained in 2 Kings. My only defense is that it was late, and I was tired, and even that's pretty weak. Obviously my OT isn't nearly as good as my NT. My bad.

Regardless,

Jesus said, "for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." [Matt 12:40, NASB]

Just as. If it didn't happen to Jonah, then Jesus would be saying that it didn't really happen to him. If Jonah's story is a parable, then so is the ressurrection.

 

[Nereus]

Bryan
An excellent conclusion.
kelly j Wilson

 

[cubedbee]

Interesting spin Brian. So, in the parable of the sower, we read in Matt 13:40

So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

So, by your reasoning, either the sower was a man that really existed, or there's not really going to be a judgement and hell.

 

[serapha]

Josephus.....Antiquities 9.10.2

2. Now I cannot but think it necessary for me, who have promised to give an accurate account of our affairs, to describe the actions of this prophet, so far as I have found them written down in the Hebrew books.

Jonah had been commanded by God to go to the kingdom of Nineveh; and when he was there, to publish it in that city, how it should lose the dominion it had over the nations. But he went not, out of fear; nay, he ran away from God to the city of Joppa, and finding a ship there, he went into it, and sailed to Tarsus, in Cilicia (19) and upon the rise of a most terrible storm, which was so great that the ship was in danger of sinking, the mariners, the master, and the pilot himself, made prayers and vows, in case they escaped the sea: but Jonah lay still and covered [in the ship,] without imitating any thing that the others did; but as the waves grew greater, and the sea became more violent by the winds, they suspected, as is usual in such cases, that some one of the persons that sailed with them was the occasion of this storm, and agreed to discover by lot which of them it was.

When they had cast lots, (21) the lot fell upon the prophet; and when they asked him whence he came, and what he had done? he replied, that he was a Hebrew by nation, and a prophet of Almighty God; and he persuaded them to cast him into the sea, if they would escape the danger they were in, for that he was the occasion of the storm which was upon them.


Now at the first they durst not do so, as esteeming it a wicked thing to cast a man who was a stranger, and who had committed his life to them, into such manifest perdition; but at last, when their misfortune overbore them, and the ship was just going to be drowned, and when they were animated to do it by the prophet himself, and by the fear concerning their own safety, they cast him into the sea; upon which the sea became calm.

It is also reported that Jonah was swallowed down by a whale, and that when he had been there three days, and as many nights, he was vomited out upon the Euxine Sea, and this alive, and without any hurt upon his body; and there, on his prayer to God, he obtained pardon for his sins, and went to the city Nineveh, where he stood so as to be heard, and preached, that in a very little time they should lose the dominion of Asia. And when he had published this, he returned. Now I have given this account about him as I found it written [in our books.]

I find it interesting that historically, Josephus did not discredit the Hebrew Scriptures.


~serapha~

 

[Vic C.]

Bryan
An excellent conclusion.
kelly j Wilson

I agree with Kelly...nice conclusion Bryan.

Interesting spin Brian. So, in the parable of the sower, we read in Matt 13:40

So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

So, by your reasoning, either the sower was a man that really existed, or there's not really going to be a judgement and hell.

Bee, read Matthew 13:37 and you'll find out the Sower WAS a real man! :

Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

And look here. He's back to reap what He sowed.

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

 

[cubedbee]

Bryan
An excellent conclusion.
kelly j Wilson

I agree with Kelly...nice conclusion Bryan.

Interesting spin Brian. So, in the parable of the sower, we read in Matt 13:40

So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

So, by your reasoning, either the sower was a man that really existed, or there's not really going to be a judgement and hell.

Bee, read Matthew 13:37 and you'll find out the Sower WAS a real man! :
[quote2152]Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

And look here. He's back to reap what He sowed.

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

[/quote2152]

So Jesus literally sowed seeds? I thought he grew up a carpenter. If he didn't really sow seeds, then there really isn't final judgement?

 

[Vic C.]

Mat 13:36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus made it a habit to explain His parables because of this...

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Now, are you a disciple or are you one of them? To put it as simply as possible, a Biblical parable is an Earthly story with a Heavenly meaning.

 

[Vic C.]

Hi there!

The point is nothing about the story is totally impossible: There are "fish" large enough to swallow a man; men have been known to survive inside a "fish"; the Bible says it really happened; Christ said Jonah’s experience was an analogy of His own death and resurrection; and God is alive and capable of this feat.

*Dr. John Morris

The whale shark is one of the biggest fish known to man. It is very possible Jonah was sucked up by one of these fish.

 

[paxigoth7]

Sucked up? yes... but live in it for a few days?

Or maybe Jonah just spent three days and three nights in darkness because he wasn't ready to preach mercy to Ninevah yet and the whale incident is a parable relating this...

Afterall, Jesus used parables, and he was God; so why can't other Biblical writers use parables as well?

 

[evanman]

The fish was prepared by God.

It vomitted Jonah up--no reason to doubt such a thing.

 

[willow the wip]

paxigoth7 if it is possible for david blain to be in a box with no food for just over a month then it is possible for jonah to of suvived for 3 days.