The Book of Jonah Chapter 1

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amathi, saying: [2] Arise, and go to Ninive the great city, and preach in it: for the wickedness thereof is come up before me.

[3] And Jonah rose up to flee into Tharsis

[4] But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea: and a great tempest was raised in the sea, and the ship was in danger to be broken.

[7] And they said every one to his fellow: Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

[11] And they said to him: What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea flowed and swelled. [12] And he said to them: Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

[15] And they took Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging.

Chapter 2

[1] Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah: and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

[2] And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God to be out of the belly of the fish.

[11] And the Lord spoke to the fish: and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

In order to believe this story, it is necessary to accept blindly a string of miracles.

Miracle 1. Jonah is thrown overboard, whereupon the storm ceased.

Miracle 2. God prepares a great fish which was large enough to swallow a man whole. No such fish exists. For centuries, the translation was a “whale”, which remained until whaling began in the 17th century, at which time it was learned that no whale had a throat large enough to allow a man to pass. The Vulgate Bible (about 400 AD) reads “a great fish”.

Miracle 3. The normal metabolic processes of the fish must have been suspended in order to prevent the digestion of Jonah.

Miracle 4. Somehow, oxygen must have been provided so that Jonah could breathe.

Miracle 5. It follows that Jonah’s normal excretory functions were suspended.

Miracle 6. Three days and nights without moving would have had a severe impact on Jonah’s body. Perhaps those effects were also suspended.

In 409 AD, Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote to Deogratias concerning the challenges of some [persons] to the miracles recorded in the Book of Jonah. He wrote: “The thing is utterly improbable and incredible, that a man swallowed with his clothes on should have existed in the inside of a fish. If, however, the story is figurative, be pleased to explain it.”— (Letter CII, Section 30)