A Fish Story?

Everyone has heard about Jonah and how he got swallowed by a giant fish. We've also heard about the mission that God gave Jonah: to go to Nineveh. But did you know this? The following is from my study Bible:

The name Nineveh is thought to derive from "ninus," i.e., Nimrod, and means the residence of Nimrod or "nunu" (Akkadian for "fish).

Are you kidding me? Nineveh means fish?

Here's more from the study Bible:

The people worshipped the fish goddess Nanshe (the daughter of Ea, the goddess of fresh water) and Dagon the fish god, who was represented as half man and half fish,

So, Ninevah was named after a fish, and they worshipped fish gods. Interesting. Here's a question for you: Do you think the people of this fish town who worshipped their fish gods, would pay any attention to the words of a man who was vomited out of a giant fish's mouth onto their beach? Effectively "half-man and half-fish"? I'm guessing, yes. Yes, they would!

"And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land." - Jonah 2:10

Then this happened:

"The Ninevites believed God." - Jonah 3:5

Here's something else that's interesting. Look at these two verses. See any similarities?

"Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." - Jonah 1:7

"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

The 'three days and three nights' phrases are identical. How about the location? Jonah was 'in the belly of a large fish' while Jesus was 'in the heart (the belly) of the earth.' Very similar.

If these two passages are so similar, what about these similarities?

1. Before Jesus died, He prayed.

"Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” - Luke 23:46

So did Jonah.

2. "From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, 2saying, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice." - Jonah 2:1-2

I believe that Jonah died inside the fish! Why?

"The sign of Jonah" that Jesus gave in Matthew's verse above and the crucifixion of Christ are basically the same! Jesus died and was buried right? He descended into hell, right? The "belly" of the earth? If Jonah was foretaste of Jesus and His death and resurrection, shouldn't Jonah have died and been resurrected as well? The Bible doesn't say so.

Both prayed. That's for sure. Jesus died and was resurrected. We don't know if Jonah died or not. Perhaps being swallowed by a fish and vomited onto the beach was only symbolic, but I don't know.

What do YOU think?