Jonah 1:17

King James Version (KJV)

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Translations

Jonah 1:17 - Amplified Bible

Now the Lord had prepared {and} appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - American Standard Version

And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - Bible in Basic English

And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - Darby Bible

And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - English Standard Version

a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - King James Version

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - La Biblia de las Americas

Y el SEÑOR dispuso un gran pez que se tragara a Jonás; y Jonás estuvo en el vientre del pez tres dìas y tres noches.

Jonah 1:17 - The Message

Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish’s belly three days and nights.

Jonah 1:17 - New American Standard Bible

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Y el SEÑOR dispuso un gran pez que se tragara a Jonás; y Jonás estuvo en el vientre del pez tres dìas y tres noches.

Jonah 1:17 - World English Bible

Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - Young's Living Translation

And Jehovah appointeth a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17 - Additional Comments

The term here for fish is the same one used in the story of Noah (Gen 9:2). The word in the New Testament means great fish, whale, sea serpent (Matt 12:40).
If this wasn't a whale, what was it? Can fish grow that big? There are some extinct fish species that could have, e.g. dunkleosteus, of which skulls have been found at 4 feet tall. Fish that big did exist. And even so, God could have created a fish just for Jonah. (Note that God had "prepared" the fish for Jonah.)
How was Jonah protected from the fish's natural digestive process? "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 (NIV) In the same way, God miraculously preserved both Jonah and Jesus.
We must remember that the story of Jonah is about God and Jonah, not a fish and Jonah. We must pay attention to what God was doing with Jonah.
Was the story of Jonah a parable or a real occurrence? Jesus spoke as it being real - Matthew 12:38-41.
Regardless of whether we see it possible for a man or animal to survive inside a fish, this could have been the only occurrence of it, and it would still be valid, because God enabled it.

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