JONAH AND THE BIG FISH: Should We Take It Literally?

One of the most beloved Bible stories is that of the prophet Jonah, who was swallowed by a great fish—probably a whale, though the text never names it—and released after three days. It’s a fascinating account, but it can also make you wonder if it really happened. The event sounds unusual, which is why some scholars argue that the story should be read allegorically, as if it were written to teach a lesson rather than record literal history. In other words, Jonah may indeed have lived and traveled to Nineveh, but certain details (like the giant fish) might have been exaggerated. Ancient literature often used satire or parody based on real events, so this perspective has some merit. Yet there are strong reasons to believe that Jonah’s experience inside the great fish actually took place. Let’s look at a few of them:

1. HISTORY WITH MORALS

Biblical narratives were written not only to report events but also to teach moral truths. It’s undeniable that ancient cultures produced many satirical or parodic stories, but that doesn’t mean every piece of literature from that era was fictional. The details in Jonah can be supported historically, giving us good reason to take the entire account literally, not just portions of it. Joppa was a well-known port on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. Sperm whales have indeed been found in the eastern Mediterranean. Jonah is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, leading scholars to place the events of his book around 790–760 BC. During this period, the Assyrian Empire—which included Nineveh—faced frequent revolts, so it’s not surprising that the people would take seriously a warning about their city’s destruction.

2. MIRACLES ARE REAL

Just because something is extraordinary does not mean it is untrue. Jonah himself viewed his rescue as a miracle from God (Jonah 2:1–9) and explicitly said that the Lord caused it (1:17; 2:10). Scripture consistently shows that God can use anything to accomplish His purpose, for “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24:1). If He could make a donkey speak to correct Balaam (Numbers 22), He could certainly use a giant fish to save and redirect Jonah. As Geisler and Howe (1992) note, “If miracles are possible, there is no real reason to deny that Jonah is historical.”

3. THE WORDS OF JESUS HIMSELF

In Matthew 12:40 Jesus declared, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Here Jesus used Jonah’s ordeal as a foreshadowing of His own death and resurrection. He clearly treated the event as fact. If He had known it to be mere fiction, there would have been no reason to use it as a sign of His coming resurrection (v. 39). Old Testament scholar Gleason Archer (2001) observes, “No fictional past episode can serve as a prophetic type of a future literal fulfillment.” Jesus even said that the people of Nineveh would rise in judgment over His generation (Matt. 12:41) because they repented at Jonah’s preaching—while His own hearers refused to repent. If Jonah’s story were unreliable, their repentance would also be doubtful. Christ’s words confirm that the events in the Book of Jonah actually happened.

________

Whatever species of fish it was, or exactly how Jonah survived inside it, is ultimately not the main issue. Uncertainty over nonessential details should never distract us from the heart of the story. Neither the fish nor Jonah is the real hero—it is God, “who is not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Stay Curious. 

Sources and Studies:

Gleason A.L (2001). “Must Jonah be taken as literal history?”𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 . Zondervan
Hanegraaff, H. (2008). “Was Jonah swallowed by a whale?”𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬. Thomas Nelson.
Howe, T., and Geisler, N. (1992). “JONAH 1:1 —Is the Book of Jonah fact or fiction?” 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘬. Victor Books.