Jonah 1 Footnotes

1:17 Was Jonah swallowed by a fish or a whale? Traditionally dag gadol has been translated “a whale” (e.g., Mt 12:40, KJV). Ancient taxonomy of the animal kingdom did not follow the modern Linnaean system, so perhaps any swimming sea creature might be considered a “fish.” The author of Jonah was not concerned with phylogenic distinctions but with the Lord’s involvement in Jonah’s life. When Jesus speaks of the “huge fish” (Mt 12:40), the text uses the same word found in the Septuagint at Jnh 1:17. If Jesus was speaking Aramaic, or possibly Hebrew, when he made his pronouncement, Matthew—or the source he was using—simply chose the Greek word already available to render Jesus’s words into Greek. Whether it was a fish or a whale in which Jonah was kept alive is less important than the fact that God provided a miraculous means to redirect the wayward prophet to his original task, preaching repentance to Nineveh. God’s plans will not be thwarted by the schemes disobedient people devise to get around them.