Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 1

A great fish swallows Jonah

Jonah 1:17

Mostly, Israel was an agricultural nation. Its people did not make boats and few of them went to sea. For much of Israel’s history, people from foreign nations such as Philistia and Tyre controlled Israel’s coasts.

Still, Israel’s people were very aware of the sea with its great storms (Psalm 107:23-28) and strange animals (Psalm 104:24-26). They studied about the different kinds of fish in the sea (1 Kings 4:33). God made all the sea animals and fishes (Genesis 1:20-22). Even the sea animals and the fishes have a duty to obey God’s commands. So, when the men threw Jonah into the sea, God sent a huge fish to swallow him.

There are modern accounts of people who have had a similar experience. There are several different kinds of sea animals that are large enough to swallow a person. Sometimes a person has been able to stay alive and to breathe for several hours inside such an animal. However, Jonah remained alive inside the fish for three days. So clearly, God was acting in an extraordinary way to save Jonah.

Jonah did not die. However, it was as if he died (2:1-6); and then he became alive again. Jesus referred to this incident as a sign, or evidence, of what God was doing in his life (Matthew 12:38-40). Jonah had been in the fish for three days; Jesus would be in the grave, dead, for a similar period before God raised him to life again.

Inside the great fish, Jonah had an opportunity again to think about his life and his attitudes. He realised that only God could save him now. He had been trying to escape from God’s command for his life. However, inside the fish, Jonah realised that he desired nothing more than to have a right relationship again with God. So, he decided to obey God, if only God would permit him to live.

Next part: Jonah's prayer from inside the fish (Jonah 2:1)

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