Jonah and the Big Fish, Part 2

By: Anthony Williams | March 22, 2026

In my previous article, Jonah and the Big Fish Part 1, I spoke about Jonah, the wayward prophet who initially tried to avoid God’s command to warn the people of Nineveh about the impending judgment they were about to receive for the wickedness of their culture. In that article, I discussed the identity of Jonah, who is also mentioned in 2 Kings, as well as the historical realities of Israel, Nineveh (an Assyrian city), and the archaeology that helps us connect what is written to what has been found in the dirt, including what was known for centuries as the grave of Jonah near the lost (but now found) city of Nineveh. I will hereafter do my best to add to the historical and Biblical evidence to show that Jonah and the inhabitants of Nineveh were real people in history, and what else the story tells us.

Prophecies of Nahum and the Fall of Nineveh

The story of Nineveh did not end with their repentance after Jonah’s successful preaching. The Book of Nahum—another short prophetic book in the Old Testament—records prophecies delivered roughly a century after Jonah, during the height of Assyria’s power. Nahum’s message announces God’s coming judgment on the same city that once humbled itself under Jonah’s warning, but returned to its wicked ways. He indicates that it will be flooded, burned by fire, and cease to be a city.

In about 745 B.C., a king named Tiglath-Pileser III restored Assyria to power with Nineveh being its capital city. By 722, Assyria had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and killed or exiled its inhabitants. (2 Kings 17) The next king, Sennacherib, invaded the southern kingdom of Judah in 701 B.C. (2 Kings 18–19). These conquests were recorded in the Bible and in Assyrian records. (1)

After returning to its wicked ways for a time, Nineveh eventually fell in 612 B.C. to a coalition of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians, fulfilling Nahum’s prophecy (Nahum 1–3). Archaeology confirms that the city was larger and more magnificent than in Jonah’s time, destroyed by fire, as Nahum describes (Nahum 3:13, 15), and breached by flooding, matching Nahum’s prediction that “the river gates are opened”. (Nahum 2:6) The city was so utterly destroyed that even its ruins were lost to history and not found until the 19th century.

Timing of the Book of Jonah

One criticism of any historical writing is that it was written too late to be the work of the subject or a timely witness. However, the Book of Jonah stands up to this criticism remarkably well. Many of the “higher critics” of the 19th century assumed that Jonah was likely written in the second or third century B.C., However, as authors such as Dr. Bill Cooper argue, we can have confidence that the book originates in the 8th century B.C., when the events transpired. (1)

One way that researchers studying the actual writing use to determine the dates of writing is by the use of specific wording and phrasing that were specific to a time and a place. In Jonah, it has been pointed out that of the 122 nouns, all but eleven are found in writing that is known to have originated prior to 700 B.C. Three of those eleven words are also found in ancient writings, and two are actually Assyrian words. The fact that Assyrian words are found in the writing would make sense if the writer was someone familiar with both Hebrew and Aramaic, which was the language of the Assyrians. It is also very similar to Hebrew, as it is a cognate language. This not only helps to explain how the words would end up in an ancient Hebrew writing, but also how a Jewish man would be able to speak with those from another country about pending judgment and be able to understand one another. (1)

Christ Forshadowed

If you are unfamiliar with the idea that Christ is foreshadowed in the Old Testament, it is a wonderfully affirming way to get a new perspective on the amazing collection of writings we call the Bible. The Book of Jonah is no exception. In fact, Jonah and his being swallowed by a fish is specifically cited by Jesus Himself as a sign of things to come with His death and resurrection:

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:39-41)

It would seem that Jesus was sure of Jonah’s life, his mission to preach, and his successful preaching to those who were his mortal enemies in Nineveh. Though a clear foreshadowing of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and preaching of salvation for repentance to those in rebellion, Jesus did a few things differently from Jonah. Jonah rebelled against God’s command to go to His enemies and warn them. Where Jonah tried to flee, Jesus obeyed. Where Jonah was thrown overboard into the sea because he was guilty of disobeying God, Jesus willingly went to the cross on our behalf to save sinners. Where Jonah seems disappointed that sinners like the Ninevites would receive clemency for their sins, Jesus asked that God forgive the very people who crucified Him because they “know not what they do”. (Luke 23:24)

As to the idea of a man being swallowed by a fish, I am sure there are lots of writings on that topic about how it may or may not be scientifically plausible. However, because God is the Creator of space, time, and matter, and not bound by our rules when it comes to the physical world, as well as the fact that Jesus Himself affirms the story, I am confident that we can trust it, whether it occurred naturally or supernaturally.

God’s Concern

One thing that gets missed in the story of Jonah is the fact that God defends His own right to love those in Nineveh. Jonah becomes angry when he learns that God will spare the judgment promised to Nineveh after they repented. God provides a plant to shade Jonah from the sun, but then allows the plant to wither and die. Jonah says that he does have the right to be angry about the plant, “enough to die.” (Jonah 4:9)

But God asks Jonah if he is right in being angry at the death of the plant, which Jonah had not created or cared for. God then asks, “...should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11)

This is a wonderful opportunity to hear God show that He loves even those in rebellion against Him. He cares for those people who have been so wicked, even to His chosen people. He even cares about the cows. And that is where Jonah’s written story ends.

It is also a great place to start. We who are fortunate enough to live on this side of Christ’s death and resurrection are able to connect the story of Jonah to the story of Jesus. We can connect the story of Jesus to the story of God in the Old Testament. We can see the history, archeology, and the stories come together to give us a picture of God’s judgment (of both the Ninevites and the Jews when they rebelled), as well as God’s concern for all of His creation. We can see the foreshadowing of Jesus, who would arrive eight centuries later to be “something greater than Jonah”.

Conclusion

The Book of Jonah is not important because of the fish. It is important because it gives its own veiled prophecy of the Savior of the world, who would arrive eight centuries later in Bethlehem. It also gives us a reminder of how we should be careful how we view others who are pitted against God. We should not forget that God “...is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) We must love our enemies as we see God loved the rebels of Nineveh and Jesus loved those who crucified Him. We should still warn them of judgment, but we leave the ultimate judgment to the Author of their lives.

For a short but sweeping summary of the amazing evidence for the history of Jonah and Nineveh, I encourage the reader to seek out the book, The Authenticity of the Book of Jonah, by author and historian Bill Cooper (2012).

About the Author

Tony Williams is a retired police officer from Southern Illinois and currently lives in Kentucky with his family. He has been studying apologetics in his spare time for two decades, since a crisis of faith led him to the discovery of vast and ever-increasing evidence for his faith. Tony received a bachelor's degree in University Studies from Southern Illinois University in 2019. His career in law enforcement has provided valuable insight into the concepts of truth, evidence, confession, testimony, cultural competency, morality, and most of all, the compelling need for Christ in the lives of the lost. Tony plans to pursue postgraduate studies in apologetics in the near future to sharpen his understanding of the various facets of Christian apologetics.