12:38-40 Did Jonah die in the belly of the whale?

(cp also Lk 11:29-30) Jonah, being in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights and then being vomited up on the shore in the Old Testament, was a type of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in the New Testament. A type is someone or something that God has preordained in the Old Testament to represent someone or something in the New Testament.

Jesus said that what happened to Jonah in the belly of the whale was the sign of what was to happen to Him - He was going to die, be buried and spend three days and three nights in the grave and then be resurrected. Clearly this implies that Jonah died too before the whale vomited him up, which typified Christ’s resurrection. In order to be resurrected one must first die, and it is clear from scripture that Jonah did die before the whale vomited him up (cp Jon 1:17-2:10).

In Jon 2:1 Jonah prayed from the belly of the whale, whereas in Jon 2:2 he prayed from the belly of hell, meaning literally sheol – the unseen world, the place of departed souls. In Jon 2:1 Jonah prayed from the belly of the whale while he was still alive (cp Jon 2:1), and in V2 he prayed from hell where his soul and spirit went between the times he died and when he was vomited up (cp Jon 2:2-5).

This is proved by V6-7: Jonah’s statement (KJV), “The earth with her bars - (was is not in the original manuscript) – about me forever”, refers to Sheol where his soul was (cp Jon 2:6-7). Corruption, also in v 6, refers to the body - it means destruction. Jonah’s soul was saved from hell and his body from corruption in the grave through being resurrected the same as Jesus was (cp Psa 16:10; 49:15).

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