Editing Jonah (section)

===Translation===
[[File:Germany Worms Cathedral Jonah.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Jonah and the "great fish" on the south doorway of the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]-era [[Worms Cathedral|Dom St. Peter]], in [[Worms, Germany]]]]
Though art and culture often depicts Jonah's fish as a [[whale]], the Hebrew text, as throughout scripture,{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} refers to no marine species in particular, simply saying "great fish" or "big fish". While some biblical scholars suggest the size and habits of the [[great white shark]] correspond better to the representations of Jonah's experiences, normally an adult human is too large to be swallowed whole. The development of [[whaling]] from the 18th century onwards made it clear that most, if not all, species of whale are incapable of swallowing a human, leading to much controversy about the veracity of the biblical story of Jonah.<ref name="Kemp1979">{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Peter Kemp|title=The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VmnPwAACAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-586-08308-6|page=434|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217011744/https://books.google.com/books?id=8VmnPwAACAAJ|archive-date=17 February 2017}}</ref>

In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translations), the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] text reads ''dag gadol''<ref name="blb">{{cite web|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/jon/1/17/t_conc_890017|title=Yonah - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (LXX)|website=[[Blue Letter Bible]]|access-date=24 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911144915/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/jon/1/17/t_conc_890017|archive-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> (דג גדול) or, in the Hebrew [[Masoretic Text]], ''dāḡ gāḏōl'' (דָּ֣ג גָּד֔וֹל), which means "great fish".<ref name="blb" /><ref>{{cite book|url=http://biblehub.com/interlinear/jonah/1-17.htm|title=Interlinear Bible: Greek, Hebrew, Transliterated, English ...|publisher=Bible Hub|access-date=24 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911130706/http://biblehub.com/interlinear/jonah/1-17.htm|archive-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> The [[Septuagint]] translates this phrase into Greek as ''kētei megalōi'' (κήτει μεγάλῳ), meaning "huge fish".<ref name=Robertson1960>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VhaeqyhMjHgC |title=Word Pictures in the New Testament – Matthew |first=A. T. |last=Robertson |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library|date=1960|isbn=978-1-610-25188-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VhaeqyhMjHgC&dq=%22Jon+2:1%22%22kētei+megalōi%22%22huge+fish%22&pg=PT99 99] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206061553/https://books.google.com/books?id=VhaeqyhMjHgC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=6 December 2016}}</ref> In [[Greek mythology]], the same word meaning "fish" (''[[Cetus (mythology)|kêtos]]'') is used to describe the [[sea monster]] slain by the hero [[Perseus]] that nearly devoured the Princess [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]].{{sfn|Bremmer|2014|page=28}} [[Jerome]] later translated this phrase as ''piscis grandis'' in his Latin [[Vulgate]].<ref>{{Bibleref2|Jonah|2:1|VULGATE}}</ref> He translated ''koilia kétous'', however, as ''ventre ceti'' in [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 12:40:<ref>{{Bibleref2|Matthew|12:40|VULGATE}}</ref> this second case occurs only in this verse of the [[New Testament]].{{sfn|Ziolkowski|2007|page=81}}<ref name=Parris2015>{{cite book|last=Parris|first=David Paul|title=Reading the Bible with Giants. How 2000 Years of Biblical Interpretation Can Shed New Light on Old Texts|edition=2|page=40|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|location=Eugene, Oregon|year=2015|isbn=978-1-625-64728-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JN30BgAAQBAJ|quote=What is interesting...is the way that Jerome...translated the references to the big fish in Jonah and Matthew. [...] In translating Matt 12:40, however, he follows the Greek text and says that Jonah was in the ''ventre ceti''—the belly of the whale/sea monster"}}</ref>

At some point ''cetus'' became synonymous with "whale" (the study of whales is now called ''[[cetology]]''). In his 1534 translation, [[William Tyndale]] translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe" and the word ''kétos'' (Greek) or ''cetus'' (Latin) in Matthew 12:40<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|12:40|9}}</ref> as "whale". Tyndale's translation was later incorporated into the [[King James Version|Authorized Version]] of 1611. Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2 has been most often interpreted as a whale. In English some translations use the word "whale" for Matthew 12:40, while others use "sea creature" or "big fish".<ref name=Huber2013>{{cite book|last1=Huber|first1=Walt|last2=Huber|first2=Rose|title=How Did God Do It? A Symphony of Science and Scripture|page=216|publisher=Friesen Press|location=Victoria, British Columbia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khtQAwAAQBAJ|year=2013|isbn=978-1-460-21127-4|quote=The word ''whale'' is never used in the book of Jonah. The only biblical reference to "Jonah and the whale" appears in the New Testament in Matthew 12:40 (KJV & RSV). [...] ''Whale'' is not used in the other translations: TEV uses ''big fish''; NLT, ''great fish''; and TNIV, ''huge fish''"}}</ref>