Jonah and the Whale

Jonah
Jonah, as depicted by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Prophet
Born	9th century BCE
Died	8th century BCE
Venerated in	Judaism Islam Christianity
Major shrine	Tomb of Jonah (destroyed), Mosul, Iraq
Feast	September 21 – Roman Catholicism July 31

Jonah or Jonas (Hebrew: יוֹנָה, Modern Yona, Biblically transliterated Yonah, Tiberian Yônā; dove; Arabic: يونس‎‎ Yūnus, Yūnis or يونان Yūnān ; Latin: Ionas) is the name given in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BCE. He is the eponymous central figure in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish. The biblical narrative of Jonah is repeated, with a few notable differences, in the Quran.

Jonah is the son of Amittai, and he appears in 2 Kings as a prophet from Gath-Hepher, a few miles north of Nazareth. He is therein described as being active during the reign of the second King Jeroboam (c.786–746 BCE), and as predicting that Jeroboam will recover certain lost territories.

Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah. Commanded by God to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," Jonah instead seeks to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa, identified as Joppa or Joppe, and sailing to Tarshish, which, geographically, is in the opposite direction. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors try to dump as much cargo as possible before giving up, but feel forced to throw him overboard, at which point the sea calms. The sailors then offer sacrifices to God. Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a large fish in whose belly he spends three days and three nights. While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to thanksgiving and to paying what he has vowed. God commands the fish to spew Jonah out.