Editing Jonah (section)

===Scientific speculation===
[[File:Whale shark Georgia aquarium.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Photograph of a [[whale shark]], the largest known species of fish<ref name=Wood1976>{{cite book|first=Gerald L.|last=Wood|title=The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=AWhFAQAAIAAJ}}|year=1976|publisher=Guinness Superlatives|isbn=978-0-900424-60-1}}</ref>]]
[[File:0b4a8510 by vitaly sokol-dbw14sol.jpg|thumb|Photograph of a [[sperm whale]], the largest toothed predator and one of the largest extant species of whales]]
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalists]], interpreting the Jonah story as a historical account, became obsessed with trying to identify the exact species of the fish that swallowed Jonah.{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=42–45}} In the mid-nineteenth century, [[Edward Bouverie Pusey]], professor of Hebrew at [[Oxford University]], claimed that the Book of Jonah must have been authored by Jonah himself{{sfn|Green|2011|page=48}} and argued that the fish story must be historically true, or else it would not have been included in the Bible.{{sfn|Green|2011|page=48}} Pusey attempted to scientifically catalogue the fish,{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|pages=47–48}} hoping to "shame those who speak of the miracle of Jonah's preservation in the fish as a thing less credible than any of God's other miraculous doings".{{sfn|Sherwood|2000|page=48}}

The debate over the fish in the Book of Jonah played a major role during [[Clarence Darrow]]'s [[Scopes trial#Examination of Bryan|cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial]] in 1925.<ref name=Smolla1997>{{cite news|last=Smolla|first=Rodney A.|title=Monkey Business|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 October 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/971005.05smollat.html|access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref><ref name=Lidz2016>{{cite magazine|last=Lidz|first=Franz|title=How Much Has the Town Where the Scopes Trial Took Place Evolved Since the 1920s?|magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|location=Washington, D.C.|date=April 2016|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dayton-tennessee-evolved-scopes-trial-180958497/}}</ref>{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=19}} Darrow asked Bryan "When you read that ... the whale swallowed Jonah ... how do you literally interpret that?"<ref name=Smolla1997/> Bryan replied that he believed in "a God who can make a whale and can make a man and make both of them do what He pleases."<ref name=Smolla1997/>{{sfn|Gaines|2003|page=19}} Bryan ultimately admitted that it was necessary to interpret the Bible,<ref name=Smolla1997/> and is generally regarded as having come off looking like a "buffoon".<ref name=Lidz2016/>

The largest of all whales – [[blue whale]]s – are [[baleen whale]]s which eat [[plankton]]; and "it is commonly said that this species would be choked if it attempted to swallow a [[herring]]."<ref>
Lydekker's New Natural History, Vol, III, p. 6.</ref> The largest of all fishes – the [[whale shark]] — has a large mouth, but its throat is only four inches wide, with a sharp elbow or bend behind the opening, such that not even a human arm would be able to pass through it. Therefore, Jonah could not have been swallowed by a whale shark.<ref name=Gudger1940>{{cite journal|last=Gudger|first=Eugene Willis|title=Twenty-five Years' Quest of the Whale Shark|journal=The Scientific Monthly|volume=50|issue=3|pages=225–233|year=1940|jstor=16929|bibcode=1940SciMo..50..225G }}</ref>

[[Sperm whales]], however, appear to be a different matter: They regularly eat [[giant squid]], so presumably one could swallow a human.<ref name=":0"/> Similar to a cow, sperm whales have four-chambered stomachs.<ref name=":0"/> The first chamber has no gastric juices but has muscular walls to crush its food.<ref>{{cite web |last=Reidenberg |first=Joy|date=19 November 2014|title=What would happen if you were swallowed by a whale?|website=[[The Naked Scientists]]|url=https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-features/what-would-happen-if-you-were-swallowed-whale|access-date=May 7, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith |first1=Chris |last2=Scales |first2=Helen|date=27 June 2010|title=Could a human survive swallowing by a whale? |website=[[The Naked Scientists]] |url=https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/could-human-survive-swallowing-whale|access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> On the other hand, it is not possible to breathe inside the sperm whale's stomach because there is no air (but probably methane instead).<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|last=Eveleth |first=Rose |author-link=Rose Eveleth |date=25 February 2013|title=Could a whale accidentally swallow you? It is possible|magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-a-whale-accidentally-swallow-you-it-is-possible-26353362/|access-date=21 March 2020}}</ref> A 2023 novel by [[Daniel Kraus (author)|Daniel Kraus]] explores the idea of a man surviving being swallowed by a sperm whale, but with an oxygen tank.<ref>''Whalefall'' by Daniel Kraus.[https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Whalefall/Daniel-Kraus/9781665918183] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920090212/https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Whalefall/Daniel-Kraus/9781665918183 |date=20 September 2023 }} See {{cite journal |last1=Neil McRobert |date=23 August 2023 |title=Whalefall review: Stunning novel about being swallowed by a whale |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2388496-whalefall-review-stunning-novel-about-being-swallowed-by-a-whale/# |journal=New Scientist }}</ref>