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The literal Hebrew of verse 6 is wonderful for it says, " . . . my head to the bases of the mountains I went down, the earth with her bars was about me forever. But you brought up from the pit my life . . ." The term "pit" is a place in Sheol. Jonah says he died and God brought him back to life - "brought my life from the pit." J. Vernon McGee says,
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What we have here . . . is a definite statement by Jonah that he died. The miracle here is resurrection . . . |
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J. Vernon McGee. Jonah. Thru The Bible. Nelson Publishing, 1982. |
Three days & Three Nights. How long was Jonah inside the fish? Was he there three days and three nights? We cannot assume he was there for a literal three days and three nights because the passage does not say that he was there for seventy-two hours. But the best reason is that the Jews counted parts of a day as a full day.
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In the Jewish tract Schabbath, we find a discussion about the length of three days. "But how much is the space of an Onah? Rabbi Jochanan says either a day or a night." In the Jerusalem Talmud we read, "Rabbi Akiba fixed a day for an Onah, and a night for an Onah: but the tradition is, that Rabbi Eliezar Ben Azariah said, 'A day and a night make an Onah, and a part of an Onah is as the whole.' And Rabbi Ismael computeth a part of the Onah for the whole." |
The Onah was a measure of time. The point is clear that the ancient Jewish custom counted any part of a day as the whole day. So Jonah could have been tossed overboard in the late afternoon (first Onah or first day) and been spit out not the next morning (second Onah or second day), but the following morning (third Onah or third day). The expression "three days and three nights" referred to three Onahs since an Onah referred to a part of a day or the full day. That adds up to three days according to ancient culture. Jesus was in the grave late in the first day and returned to life the second morning. That adds up to three days according to Jewish custom. Both Jonah and Jesus died, were buried (Jesus in a tomb, Jonah in a fish), and came back to life after three days and three nights. Jesus fulfilled the sign of Jonah.
Conclusion: Jesus fulfilled the sign of Jonah. Many have tripped over this passage because they have not known the ancient Jewish customs of Jesus' time. Jewish literature, after Jesus' death and return to life, tried to explain away Jesus' miracles by claiming He was demon possessed and that He practiced Egyptian magic. Why try to explain it away? What they have in fact admitted is that Jesus did do miracles! Why try to explain away Jesus' return to life? They have in fact admitted that Jesus did miracles and returned to life. He fulfilled the sign of Jonah. |
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