Jonah and The Whale: An Astonishing Layer to the Event

Once upon a time it was presumed that with the advent of the internet we would all be living in The Information Age.

Oddly, that period lasted for only a few years and we are now in the Post Information Age where detailed information is hidden under a hundredfold as much detritus suitable for those with almost no interest in accurate information.

Meme Culture is one of its results.

Yet, every so often some rogue peddler in intellectual samizdat finds a way to break through.

I don't know why this meme succeeded in doing so (but its author likely does) and it achieved some small amount of popularity on reddit where it attracted like a magnet tossed into a haystack, those needles of intelligence in appreciation of the message and with an interest in knowing more.

Here's a comment by somebody pointing out that idealized numbers in the Bible are often idiomatic rather than numerical. You can see my encouraging response and the follow up I just received to it.

My more detailed response to the follow up deals with the matter of Jonah specifically and the Jewish understanding of God’s relationship to the world generally.

I hope you enjoy it.

And if you haven't done so yet, there's only 15 hours left to the ⚡ Flash Sale ⚡ of my complete 📚 15 hour Exotic Jewish History audiobook at a 60% discount. You don't need anything but your phone or computer to play the series as it's available to be played online or to download as many times as you want and is yours to keep forever.

🌍 And here's my promise for a 100% money back guarantee if you don't absolutely love it. Heck, even if you do love it, if you don't learn over 100 fascinating facts from this series I’ll double your money back. I’m that sure you’ll enjoy it.

🎧 Exotic Jewish History SALE

Thanks!

There was a local legend about a man appearing out of a fish so while the symbol likely predates any memory of either Jonah or a story it's based on, we can't rule out a connection.

Your latter assimption is more plausible.

The original intention of the various parts of the Bible is far too often entirely lost upon modern readers who assume that their sunday school teachers are capable of understanding and conveying what the Bible's authors originally intended.

You can see the most clearly when it comes to the New Testament because it's from a time and place we know a great deal about and also still within our social frame of referencem. This makes it relatively simple to understand the original meaning and to see how wildly it contrasts with the meaning presumed by most people today.

To make that point clearly, I made this video about the first chapter of the New Testament to explain it to those people whom Jesus originally intended to reach. Fellow Orthodox Jewish Rabbis.

As for Nineveh, I'm less certain about the connection but it seems pretty likely to refer, as you said, to Jonah feeling "lost" in the belly of The Great Fish and seeing his mission as hopeless.

It seems from the complete context of the story that Jonah understood that Nineveh was ultimately incorrigible. In fact the Biblical book of Nahum prophesized against them a century later, a prophecy which quickly came to fulfillment. And in the interim Nineveh had destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and conquered and oppressed much of Judah.

So while I can't say for certain, it seems pretty likely that Jonah didn't want Nineveh to be saved from immediate destruction just because they could say sorry and be good for a few years before returning to overrun Israel, Judea, and much of the Middle East with great cruelty.

Thus his time in the belly of the fish would speak to his feeling overwhelmed by the task of his feeling a need to inspire true and lasting repentance and feeling hinself unheard.

When he subsequently acquiesced to giving them the "second chance" that God had commanded him to give, he saw that their insincere and probably temporary repentance was accepted and was depressed about it.

So God pointed out to him that from His Own perspective as Creator he couldn't bear to destroy his creatures without giving them a second chance -- regardless of consequences.

This message of God's willingness to accept our self betterment even on less than perfect terms is highlighted every Yom Kippur when Jews read the Book of Jonah in every synagogue.

I had the good fortune to read the book for the tiny Karaite population of Istanbul on the very last Yom Kippur service they've ever been able to hold. Here's a 20 second video collage from that service.

If you enjoy my perspective I have a Substack as well where I'm currently selling my 15 hour audiobook on Exotic Jewish History on sale, today only for 60% off with a 100% money back guarantee if you don't absolutely love it.

🎉 Have a wonderful day and may you be both blessed and a blessing. 🎉

⏳ Get Your Audiobook Deal Now! ⌛