A Prophet of the Hebrew Bible, Swallowed by a Great Fish for Three Days
The Book of Jonah records that God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim a message of repentance, but Jonah, unwilling to see that foreign city win God’s mercy, took ship in the opposite direction; a great storm arose at sea, and the sailors, learning by lot that Jonah had brought on God’s wrath, threw him overboard, and he was swallowed by a great fish, spat up on shore after three days and nights, and only then obeyed and went to Nineveh, whose people repented and were spared destruction — at which Jonah, of all things, was displeased. The story is often cited in discussions of the theme that "God’s mercy transcends human prejudice."
After being thrown into the sea and swallowed by the great fish, Jonah prayed and repented to God for three days and nights in its belly, and the fish, at God’s command, spat him up on dry land. This image is cited by Jesus in the New Testament as a foreshadowing of his own death and resurrection.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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