Jonah 1:17
New International Version
Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

New Living Translation
Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

English Standard Version
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Berean Standard Bible
Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

King James Bible
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

New King James Version
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

New American Standard Bible
And the LORD designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.

NASB 1995
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

NASB 1977
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Amplified Bible
Now the LORD had prepared (appointed, destined) a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Christian Standard Bible
The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now the LORD had appointed a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights.

American Standard Version
And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And LORD JEHOVAH prepared a great fish and it swallowed Yonan, and Yonan was in the intestines of the fish for three days and three nights

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

English Revised Version
And the LORD prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Good News Translation
At the LORD's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

International Standard Version
Now the LORD had prepared a large sea creature to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the sea creature for three days and three nights.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the LORD prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Literal Standard Version
And YHWH appoints a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.

Majority Standard Bible
Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

New American Bible
But the LORD sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

NET Bible
The LORD sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

New Revised Standard Version
But the LORD provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

New Heart English Bible
The LORD prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

World English Bible
Yahweh prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah appointeth a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jonah Cast Into the Sea and Swallowed
16Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him. 17Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Cross References
Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.

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


Treasury of Scripture

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

the Lord.

Jonah 4:6
And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

Genesis 1:21
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Psalm 104:25,26
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts…

in.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Luke 11:30
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

belly.

Jump to Previous
Appointed Appointeth Belly Bowels Fish Great Inside Jonah Mouth Nights Prepared Provided Ready Stomach Swallow Three
Jump to Next
Appointed Appointeth Belly Bowels Fish Great Inside Jonah Mouth Nights Prepared Provided Ready Stomach Swallow Three
Jonah 1
1. Jonah, sent to Nineveh, flees to Tarshish.
4. He is betrayed by a great storm;
11. thrown into the sea;
17. and swallowed by a fish.














(17) Now the Lord.--In the Hebrew, Jonah 2 commences with this verse.

Had prepared.--The pluperfect is misleading. Render appointed, and comp. Jonah 4:6-8, where the same word is used of the gourd, the worm, and the east wind. The Authorised version renders the word accurately in Job 7:3; Daniel 1:5-10. Previous special preparation is not implied, still less creation for the particular purpose. God employs existing agents to do His bidding.

A great fish.--The Hebrew dag is derived from the prolific character of fish, and a great fish might stand for any one of the sea monsters. The notion that it was a whale rests on the LXX. and Matthew 12:40. But ????? was a term for any large fish, such as dolphins, sharks, &c. (See Hom. Od. xii. 97.) And unless we have previously determined the question, whether the Book of Jonah is intended by the sacred writer to be a literal history, or an apologue founded on a history or a parable pure and simple, tota h?c de pisce Jon? disquisitio, as an old commentator observes, vana videtur atque inutilis. The explanations given by commentators divide themselves into those of a strictly praeternatural kind, as that a fish was created for the occasion; or into the natural or semi-natural, as that it was a ship, or an inn bearing the sign of the whale; or that it was a white shark. (For the last hypothesis see all that can be collected in Dr. Pusey's commentary on Jonah.) In early Christian paintings the monster appears as a huge dragon.

Three days and three nights.--See Matthew 12:40, New Testament Commentary. . . .

Verse 17. - § 4. Cast into the sea, Jonah is swallowed alive by a great fish, is whose belly he remains unharmed three days and three nights. Had prepared; Septuagint, προσέταξε, "appointed;" so in Jonah 4:6, 7, 8 (comp. Job 7:3; Daniel 1:10, 11). The fish was not created then and there, but God so ordered it that it should be at the place and should swallow Jonah. The prophet seems, from some expressions in his psalm (Jonah 2:5), to have sunk to the bottom of the sea before he was swallowed by the fish. A great fish; Septuagint, κῆτος (Matthew 12:40). There is nothing in the word to identify the intended animal, and to call it "a whale" is simply a mistranslation. The white shark of the Mediterranean (Carcharias, vulgaris), which sometimes measures twenty-five feet in length, has been known to swallow a man whole, and even a horse. This may have been the "great fish" in the text (see Dr. Pusey on Jonah, pp. 257, etc.). Was in the belly of the fish. God used the natural agency of the fish, but the preservation of Jonah's life in the animal's belly is plainly supernatural. It is, indeed, analogous to the life of the child in its mother's womb; but it has besides a miraculous element which is unique, unless it was an actual death and revivification, as in the case of Lazarus. Also God ordained this transaction as a type of the resurrection of Christ. Three days and three nights; i.e., according to Hebrew usage, parts of the days and nights; i.e. one whole day, and parts of the day before and after this. Jonah was released on the third day (comp. Matthew 12:40 with 1 Corinthians 15:4; and Esther 4:16 with Esther 5:1). The historical nature of this occurrence is substantiated by Christ's reference to it as a figure of his own burial and resurrection. The antitype confirms the truth of the type. It is not credible that Christ would use a mere legendary tale, with no historical basis, to confirm his most solemn statement concerning the momentous fact of his resurrection.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

had appointed
וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4487: To weigh out, to allot, constitute officially, to enumerate, enroll

a great
גָּד֔וֹל (gā·ḏō·wl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

fish
דָּ֣ג (dāḡ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1709: A fish

to swallow
לִבְלֹ֖עַ (liḇ·lō·a‘)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1104: To swallow down, swallow up, engulf

Jonah,
יוֹנָ֑ה (yō·w·nāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3124: Jonah -- an Israelite prophet

and Jonah
יוֹנָה֙ (yō·w·nāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3124: Jonah -- an Israelite prophet

spent
וַיְהִ֤י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

three
שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה (šə·lō·šāh)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

days
יָמִ֖ים (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

and three
וּשְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה (ū·šə·lō·šāh)
Conjunctive waw | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

nights
לֵילֽוֹת׃ (lê·lō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3915: A twist, night, adversity

in the stomach
בִּמְעֵ֣י (bim·‘ê)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 4578: The intestines, the abdomen, sympathy, a vest, the stomach, the uterus, the heart

of the fish.
הַדָּ֔ג (had·dāḡ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1709: A fish


Links
Jonah 1:17 NIV
Jonah 1:17 NLT
Jonah 1:17 ESV
Jonah 1:17 NASB
Jonah 1:17 KJV

Jonah 1:17 BibleApps.com
Jonah 1:17 Biblia Paralela
Jonah 1:17 Chinese Bible
Jonah 1:17 French Bible
Jonah 1:17 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Jonah 1:17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow (Jon. Jh)
Jonah 1:16
Top of Page
Top of Page