Book of Jonah

== Jonah and the "big fish" ==
[[File:Pieter Lastman - Jonah and the Whale - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''Jonah and the Whale'' (1621) by [[Pieter Lastman]]]]

The Hebrew text of Jonah<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jonah|2:1|HE}}</ref> reads {{transliteration|he|dag gadol}} ({{lang-he|דג גדול}}, {{transliteration|he|dāḡ gāḏōl}}), literally meaning "great fish". The [[Septuagint]] translated this into Greek as {{transliteration|grc|kētos megas}} ({{lang|grc|κῆτος μέγας}}), "huge whale/sea monster"; and in Greek mythology the term was closely associated with sea monsters.<ref>See http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Ketea.html for more information regarding Greek mythology and the [[Ketos]]</ref> [[Saint Jerome]] later translated the Greek phrase as {{lang|la|piscis grandis}} in his [[Latin Vulgate]], and as {{lang|la|cētus}} in Matthew.<ref name="auto">{{bibleref|Matthew|12:40|9}}</ref> At some point, {{lang|la|cētus}} became synonymous with whale (cf. [[cetyl alcohol]], which is alcohol derived from whales). In his 1534 translation, [[William Tyndale]] translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe", and he translated the word {{transliteration|grc|kētos}} (Greek) or {{lang|la|cētus}} (Latin) in Matthew as "whale".<ref name="auto"/> Tyndale's translation was later followed by the translators of the [[King James Version]] of 1611 and has enjoyed general acceptance in English translations.

In the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 17, the Hebrew bible refers to the fish as {{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}, "great fish", in the masculine. However, in chapter 2 verse 1, the word which refers to fish is written as {{transliteration|he|dagah}}, meaning female fish. The verses therefore read: "And the lord provided a great fish ({{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}, {{lang|he|דָּג גּדוֹל}}, masculine) for Jonah, and it swallowed him, and Jonah sat in the belly of the fish (still male) for three days and nights; then, from the belly of the ({{transliteration|he|dagah}}, {{lang|he|דָּגָה}}, female) fish, Jonah began to pray."

The peculiarity of this change of gender led later rabbis to conclude that Jonah was comfortable enough in the roomy male fish to not pray, and because of this God transferred him to a smaller, female fish, in which Jonah was uncomfortable, to which he prayed.{{sfn|Bruckner|2004|p=78}}
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