Jonah and the Whale: a Sea Monster Myth?

Was Jonah from the Bible swallowed by a Whale, a Big Fish or a Sea Monster? In the ancient world these categories overlapped. That's why in Matthew 12:40 the Greek is translated as "sea monster" rather than whale. Ancient peoples had many sea monster myths such as Leviathan, Andromeda's sea monster and the ketos of Troy, slain by Herakles; was Jonah one of these Sea Monster myths?
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @tabletsandtemples
Patreon: / tabletsandtemples
+ Help me make more videos!
Paypal: www.paypal.com/paypalme/Lachl...
BTC Wallet: 1MJYqAi5VMfPH3qcJeeCCmhcnJyKwWgPwN
+ Stay in the loop:
Instagram: / tabletsandtemples
FB: / bibleunbox
Twitter: / tablets_temples
Subscribe: kzbin.info...
This channel is now known as Tablets and Temples, unpacking ancient history and religion. Formerly known as Bible Unboxed.
Secondary sources:
Much of the research for this video was based on: John K. Papadopoulos, Deborah Ruscillo, A Ketos in Early Athens: An Archaeology of Whales (2002)
On the claim that ancients believed the remains of Andromeda's sea monster to have washed ashore see: Andromeda und Jona in Jafo by Martin Mulzer 2006
On the claim that ancient people had no accurate depictions of whales see: The Culture of Animals in Antiquity: A Sourcebook with Commentaries by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and Sian Lewis (2018)
For word definitions always check The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT)
Jonah, Jonah Whale, Jonah Sea Monster, Jonah Bible, Jonah Big Fish, Swallowed by a whale, swallowed by a fish, Jonah in the bible, Jonah 1-4, Jonah 1, Jonah 2, Jonah 3, ketos, jonah and the whale, mythvision, jonah swallowed by a big fish, porphyrios whale, prophet jonah, the book of jonah, who did swallow jonah, story of jonah, jonah gets eaten by a whale, dan mcclellan jonah, dan mcclellan whale, religion for breakfast whale, isthatinthebible jonah, mythvision podcast whale

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Alternate title: Why Ancient People Really Sucked at Drawing Whales

[@ClayandPapyrus]

So VeggieTales WAS right about this one?

[@wannabe_scholar82]

They're always right though 😄

[@mustachemac5229]

Thanks Lachlan. Great break down. I like the sea monster idea.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Me too!

[@borborokoites]

There's a very interesting parallel text to Jonah in the works of Lucian (2nd century CE): in True Histories 1.30ff, the protagonist and his companions are swallowed by a κῆτος and find several groups of people living in its stomach; they later escape. I wonder if Lucian was reading Jonah or some related text?

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Lucian wrote satirically about Christians, so there is a non-zero chance he was familiar with the story of Jonah. He also describes a city in True Story in a very similar way to the city in Revelation. So I personally think he may have been aware of at least some of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament

[@locodiver8665]

Kipp sent me 👍

[@0125AR]

Me too

[@J_Z913]

Love it! I got sent here by Kipp Davis. Subscribed!

[@PirateRadioPodcasts]

More likely a USO (Unidentified Submerged Object)

[@zachdaniels8484]

Thank you so very much I needed this.

[@InquisitiveBible]

Nice, I've been looking forward to this one. Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if Krayt dragon battle in season two, episode one of the Mandalorian is also inspired by the Heracles myth. Edit 2: Great "studio logo" animation at the end there.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Ooh I didn't even think about that when I watched that. I just watched it again, that is very Herakles-esque!

[@wannabe_scholar82]

Great video! What do you think the similarities to other Greek stories mean about the dating of the book? I've heard dating ranges from 8th to 2nd (I think) century BCE. Also do you think the prayer in the belly is original to the book, I've heard the idea it may not be but was later inserted in. Anyways, great video, I love the book of Jonah Def, one of my favorites.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

I don't think the similarities change much about why the book was written. I think it was probably in part a satirical critique of exclusivist attitudes among the ancient Israelites, quite possibly in the post-exilic period. That's a pretty common view. The similarities to other myths just let us know that the author was likely drawing from common narrative motifs present within the levant during that cultural mileu. I'm not sure about the prayer, I haven't looked into it enough.

[@baarbacoa]

Very interesting, professional quality video

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Thanks for watching!

[@drsingingeagle]

Maybe it was the same creature that swallowed Captain Jack Sparrow!

[@marmieRH]

Merci beaucoup du Québec, I just subscribed ! In french we say " le téléphone arabe" 😊 it changes stories 😊

[@redstar4636]

Ether way this is scary

[@user-bl6vb3vk5q]

Maybe it was orcas they are doing this to ships right now?

[@satyayana1399]

islam got some pieces of legend about the jonah fish. and here they are : -the fish aint whale species. it just a big fish, so big that the width of its mouth alone would took 3 month trip from one end to the other -the fish also appear in solomon story as fish who ate everything solomon had prepare for all of ocean inhabitant -the fish still live and lie dormant somewhere in the ocean. it said at end of times it would be awaken and causing huge wave

[@Tatskrijgs777]

For it is so definite that it is Big fish not whale in scripture but cause maybe we not see that creature now many only interpret it as whale. Sola Scriptura

[@roar]

you should sync your channel with Odysee

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Never heard of it before. Thanks I might do that.

[@frankallen3634]

And which whale can swallow items as large as a human? Oh right none of them not to mention if you could be you'd drown in a minute. It's a ridiculous tale about how little ancient savages understood about the planet

[@TabletsAndTemples]

I highly doubt the earliest audiences of the Jonah story thought it really happened.

[@MicahDaniels-c5o]

@@TabletsAndTemples Jew's as far as we know including Jesus regarded the narrative and Jonah as historical.

[@davidposey8959]

The narrative of Jonah and the whale are historically accurate. Dont believe in miracles? Look in the mirror! Or consider your fingerprint is like no other on earth! If the earth was just a tad bit further from or closer to the sun life on earth would perish! Jesus loves you and died and was buried and rose again for you and appeared to over 500 people at once and 4 winesses of his ressurection wrote Matthew, mark, luke, and John and gave up their lives standing behind their eyewitness accounts. The clearest thought youll ever have is JESUS LOVES YOU! Bless you!!!

[@MicahDaniels-c5o]

This is what happens when you rule out god or miracles to begin with, and then presuppose a number of very questionable historical and literary methods and hypothesis's upon a text. Jonah lived and Jesus affirmed it, and if he rose which is very very likely then it follows Jonah and the whale incident is true, ignore these channels brother. They never both to examine the actual historical evidence.

[@MicahDaniels-c5o]

This is just atheistic liberal scholarship at it's finest, this channel is complete nonsense. Over and over I examined the arguments and sources, let me guess you believe in the documentary hypothesis too? or the unhistorical exodus myth? Just change the description from "No dogma, just the scholarship" to: "Presupposition dogma, Just the secular scholarship"

[@TabletsAndTemples]

I believe the overwhelming evidence that scribes updated and changed texts, yes. I don't personally hold to the classical Documentary Hypothesis model no. Modern scholarshio has moved more in the direction of supplementary hypothesis.

[@MicahDaniels-c5o]

@@TabletsAndTemples We know some editing took place, but to the extent most of these hypotheses postulate is almost nutty. I don't see why you seem to ignore other views and don't weigh the evidence. No offense, but it seems like this channel and your respective video's isn't about scholarship so much as just what one part of scholarship (secular) think's of this topic, and even some of them would disagree with the many things you have in your videos like the noah's ark video a few months ago you posted. History should be about weighing the evidence against alternative hypothesis's, not about what one person dogmatically thinks about it, and from the last 7 videos I watched you never seem to weigh the evidences and hypothesis's but focus on 1 view, a secular one and that's it.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

@@MicahDaniels-c5o you do realize that the majority of people who write about things like the documentary hypothesis and supplementary hypothesis have a faith background right? It's a myth that this is just a secular belief, these theories were invented by protestant scholars. What we do in scholarship is follow the evidence.

[@MicahDaniels-c5o]

@@TabletsAndTemples Not really, when you examine the scholarship it's true most Christian and religious scholars would hold to something along the lines of the supplementary hypothesis (with massive changes to the standard models) and do discuss this. But you have to also realize most of the scholarship is now secularized, including the major institutions. And no, these scholars that propagated these hypotheses weren't really protestant nor Christian. Most we're heretical unbelieving protestants that absorbed the post-enlightenment rationalism and bias against religion. For example, the founder's and makers of the documentary hypothesis very much we're this way, or the likes of Bultmann. As for your claim, "What we do in scholarship is follow the evidence" I disagree that this is always the case, and even member's of the Jesus seminar and other schools of thought like for example the Minimalist movement in Old Testament studies is ideology driven, not "evidence" driven. Many of the sources in your own video's you quote like Dan Mclecclan openly distort, lie and misrepresent data to cover his own Mormon dogma. My whole problem is you don't seem to examine both sides, you seem to take the liberal view (which itself relies on presuppositions and hypothesized thing's that I find questionable) and pass this as if this is fact.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

@@MicahDaniels-c5o This is just the no tue Scotsman fallacy.

[@YOUARESOFT.]

people trying to make sense of this is comical to me