Or is that a metaphor for being swallowed up in something larger than yourself, meaning, the Kingdom of God?
2007-11-28 12:47:40 · 15 answers · asked by Digital Age 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
its metaphorical.
2007-11-28 12:55:11 · answer #1 · answered by god_of_the_accursed 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He was actually swallowed up by a great fish instead of a whale and you can get the metaphor that you are sometimes demanded to do something that is greater than yourself.
2007-11-28 12:53:53 · answer #2 · answered by c_steve_hawn 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's this saying that goes, "All stories are true and some of them even happened" (referring to the Bible)
So no, I think it's metaphorical, but the Bible was written to be interpreted as people want it to be--that's why there's some very literal believers and some people who think that most of the bible is filled with exaggerations and interpretations. Another thing to remember: these stories were passed down orally for years before they were formally recorded, so the stories are probably stretched sometimes (imagine the game "telephone").
2007-11-28 13:08:25 · answer #3 · answered by Jenn L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't. God created a "great fish" (nothing about a whale) that swallowed him and then spit him back out on the shore of Nineveh to do the job he was meant to do before he fled.
No metaphor ... actually happened.
2007-11-28 12:55:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think the metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven is a real stretch in the context of the story.
It's interesting that this event is not recorded or eluded to in any of the findings from Ninevah.
2007-11-28 12:52:31 · answer #5 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Considering whales have throats the size of an orange it's highly unlikely. Not only that. A human could not possible live in the belly of "anything".
2007-11-28 12:51:17 · answer #6 · answered by punch 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
different than the super fish area this is not annoying to have faith any of the remainder of the tale. there is not any reason to have faith that abruptly the tale switches to allegory good interior the midst of it. so which you examine it as that's written. shop in mind that what somebody believes does no longer make the tale actual or fake. i'm going to persist with believing it because it became into written. It has prophetic relevance to the Messiah and that's the rationalization God moved supernaturally in this tale. It factors to Jesus Christ.
2016-11-12 23:50:17 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, but the wording is "great fish" Jonah 1:17
2007-11-28 13:20:50 · answer #8 · answered by Not perfect, just forgiven 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe he was swallowed by a huge fish.
2007-11-28 12:53:22 · answer #9 · answered by No Shortage 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think it was a literal event, although there is debate whether it was a whale or some type of large fish/shark.
2007-11-28 12:51:13 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan H 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It does not say whale it says a great fish
2007-11-28 12:51:11 · answer #11 · answered by Jennie 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋