Editing Book of Jonah (section)

== 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}} ({{langx|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">{{bibleverse|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."<ref name=":0" />