Does Jonah Die?
Each week, I’m filming a brief video overview of the Jonah chapter we are studying that week. Here is the video overview of chapter 2. (Today’s reading and commentary is below the video.)
Jonah 2:2-3
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your breakers and your waves
passed over me.
Does Jonah die?
I had never really considered the question before, but a close reading of chapter 2 shows why it’s a relevant question.
The reason is the word “Sheol”. Sheol is the Old Testament word for the underworld, or the place of the dead.
See v. 2:
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
Does Jonah literally die? It’s not clear. He could be speaking figuratively in his prayer in chapter 2—maybe he is just at death’s door as he sinks below the water. On the other hand, maybe he actually dies. Either way, the point is essentially the same: the Lord rescues Jonah and brings him up from the deep, giving him another chance.
But, the possibility of Jonah’s death makes the words of Jesus much more meaningful when he uses Jonah as a way of talking about himself.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 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. 40 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. 41 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. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:38-42)
What’s remarkable about the whole incident is that Jonah doesn’t deserve to be saved, and yet the Lord saves him anyway.
There is a lesson there.
