He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah , one of the minor prophets , which details his reluctance in delivering the judgment of God to the city of Nineveh near present-day Mosul in the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
In Judaism , the story of Jonah represents the teaching of repentance in Judaism , the ability to repent to God for forgiveness. In the New Testament of Christianity , Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah" and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah" when referring to his resurrection. Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as a type of Jesus. Many modern Bible scholars suggest the Book of Jonah is fictional, [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] and at least partially satirical.
Although the creature that swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase "large fish". In the 17th century and early 18th century, the species of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation by naturalists , who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Some modern scholars of folklore , on the other hand, note similarities between Jonah and other legendary religious figures, like the Indian yogi Matsyendranatha "Lord of the Fishes", the Sumerian king Gilgamesh , and the Greek hero Jason.
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," [ 10 ] but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe.
He sets sail for Tarshish. After being cast from the ship, Jonah is swallowed by a large fish, within the belly of which he remains for three days and three nights.
