Jonah and the whale - Science and archeology

[kendemyer]

IS THE JONAH AND THE WHALE ACCOUNT SCIENTIFICALLY AND HISTORICALLY PLAUSIBLE?

A common approach used when examining the Book of Jonah is to view it as mere allegory. Many people have done this, however, because they were not aware of various information that is available in the disciplines of science and history that lends credence to the Jonah account. For example, this webpage offers expert testimony and other evidence that supports a sperm whales gullet is big enough to fit a man. Also, I do offer historical/archeological support for the Book of Jonah that readers will find interesting.

In summary, this webpage is devoted to clearing up some of the issues that some Christians and skeptics have regarding the Book of Jonah.

FIRST OF ALL, IT SHOULD BE SAID THAT THERE IS CLEARLY THE MIRACULOUS OCCURING ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF JONAH

Here are some examples:

1. "But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken" - Jonah 1:4

2. "And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil [is] upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah." - Jonah 1:7

3. "Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life...So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging." Jonah 1: 14,15

4. "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." - Jonah 1:17

5. "And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry [land]." - Jonah 2:10

6. The revival of Ninevah Jonah 3: 5-9

7. "And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made [it] to come up over Jonah." - Jonah 4:6

8. "But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered." - Jonah 4:7

9. "But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered." - Jonah 4:8

I want to point these miracles out because we can not rule out supernatural interventions as far as Jonah being able to survive and Jonah clearly does pray for the intervention of God as can be seen here:

Jonah 2:1-3

Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, [and] thou heardest my voice.

And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, [and] thou heardest my voice.

For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me."

see the King James Version at: www.blueletterbible.org

A KEY QUESTION IN REGARDS TO THE BIBLE VERSES IN REGARDS TO THE MIRACULOUS:

We do not know if the sea creature that swallowed Jonah was a whale and this will be clearly demonstrated later.

There seems to be differences of opinion regarding a man being able to survive in a sperm whale in terms of oxygen requirements and the acidity level in various portions of the digestive system. There also seems to be differences of opinions regarding the respiratory tract and this will be discussed later.

With these two issues in mind, I will address the possibilty of supernatural intervention by God in terms of Noah surviving.

What was Jonah being afflicted with (see above verse in Jonah 2:1-3, specifically: "And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD")? The general dire circumstance of being swallowed by a whale? Lack of air? Gastric Juices? We simply do not know. In the context of a God creating the unvierse out of nothing and doing many miracles and many people experiencing miracles today including myself I am led to believe that God could have overcome issues that would have made the whales or other sea creatures internal area inhospitable if necessary. It could have been as easy as having the whale open its mouth more often to provide more air. On the other hand, God could have supernaturally created more iar if it was needed. God saved the men from a fiery furnace for example. Some commentators even postulate that God resurrected Jonah in the whale since the Jonah account is associated with the resurrection of Christ (Jesus compared the duration of his death and resurrection to the time Jonah spent in the whale). I do not favor the resurrection account but again I certainly cannot rule it out since God clearly did intervene more than once in the Jonah/whale account.

THE SCIENCE ISSUES

WAS THE CREATURE THAT SWALLOWED JONAH NECESSARILY A WHALE?

Christian/Jewish scholars rightly point out that the creature in the book of Jonah is not necesarily a whale but should be translated "great fish". For commentary on the Hebrew and Greek please see the following websites:

http://www.tektonics.org/jonfish.html]http://www.tektonics.org/jonfish.html

http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/jonah.html

http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/rr2003/res0301a.htm

THE BEST SUSPECTS FOR THE SEA CREATURE THAT SWALLOWED JONAH

The Book of Jonah says that God prompted the great fish to vomit Jonah on dry land. Therefore, the sea creature that swallowed Jonah must have a large mouth (and esophagus in cases where the esophagus would be used) in order to accomplish this feat. I believe the best suspects for sea creatures are the sperm whale and the great white shark based on my investiagation (I discuss why the other suspects scholars cite are not as good: grouper fish, other whales and sharks, unknown or extinct species).

THE EVIDENCE FOR THE SPERM WHALE BEING THE GREAT FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH

1) THE SPERM WHALE HAS A LARGE ENOUGH MOUTH AND ESOPHAGUS

According to a very well done Jewish website that uses excellent sources the following is true in regards to the sperm whale:

"Robinson, a senior marine science instructor [at Seaworld], and Parham, a science writer,

methodically studied the few clues that the Bible offers for solving the

mystery.

Robinson said that large sperm whales have esophaguses that measure as large

as 50 centimeters, or roughly a foot and a half wide. They can be found in

the Mediterranean.....

However, men often measure more than a foot and a half across their

shoulders, so in order for his swallower to have been a sperm whale, Jonah

would have to have been of fairly slight build. "

taken from:

http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html

Another website concurs and says the following:

Pinney (1964) quoted the Director of a Museum of Natural history:

"Many people asked me if the Bible story of Jonah is true. Could a man be swallowed by a whale? So I pushed my body partly down the throat of a dead sixty foot sperm whale. I could just squeeze through. A fat man couldn

[senerhu]

Does this post come out in hardback?

It would be helpful if you could provide a brief summary in 15,000 words or less...

[Guest Calamity]

Yes, this was long, but I read most of it, and skimmed parts of it, but found it very interesting. I think some people differ on the opinion of whether or not Jonah actually died in the whale's belly, and was brought back to life, or if he was alive in there the whole time. Interesting.

[senerhu]

Yes, this was long, but I read most of it, and skimmed parts of it, but found it very interesting. I think some people differ on the opinion of whether or not Jonah actually died in the whale's belly, and was brought back to life, or if he was alive in there the whole time. Interesting.

To be perfectly honest with you calamity, I don't have a doubt this was a miracle performed by God and I know God took care of all the details outlined in this manuscript....just as it was written...

[salt and light]

Even if it was impossible, if God wanted a whale to swallow Jonah,it is not impossible with God,and it doesn't matter what the creature was,or how big. I believe it was a whale because Jesus said it was in Matt. 12:40,and if Jesus mentioned it, you know it really happened. Several years ago I read I believe in "Readers Digest" that a man fell over board and was swallowed by a whale,and the man was in the whale for several hours or maybe it was days,but anyway when his friends harpooned the whale and killed it, they opened it up and the man was still alive,but all covered with white stuff.

[Bread_of_Life]

I'm not trying to be obtuse, but if the best translation is "great fish", then it can't have been a whale - because as any scientist knows, whales (along with all other cetaceans) are mammals.

[nebula]

Yes - but did people know that back then?

For goodness sakes - even Aristotle didn't know!!

[Guest yod]

one of the things I found most remarkable about Jonah's story when I was an atheist was the mention of mountains under the Meditteranean Sea. This was not known as a scientific fact until the 20th century.

BTW....I believe he died in the whale.

[nebula]

Really?

That's different!

Do you have a Scripture for that - or just how you interpret things or what?

[Bread_of_Life]

Yes - but did people know that back then?

No, I don't suppose they did - my post was really for the strict "biblical inerrancy" lot.

Sorry!