Original quote by Evangelist
While many many people, and some alleged scholars try to approach Jonah as if he were purely allegorical, there are several things to keep in mind.
One, he was a real person, so referred to by Jesus, and the son of a known prophet, named in several other places in the OT.That doesn't prove that he was real, any more than it proves that all the characters in the parables are real.
2Ki 14:25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which [was] of Gathhepher.
Hmmm. The scribes record that a King of Israel listened to an order, prophecy, or direction uttered by a non-existent person. Must have been a real nut-case, listening to those disembodied voices. Schizo, maybe?
Jon 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Mar 8:12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
Luk 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Your.....logic?, if that's what you want to call it, then leads to certain reasonable conclusions. No one mentioned in the OT or NT was a real person. Of course, if you want to consider Jonah as nothing more than poetic parable, then one can also assume (reasonably) that all of the poetic books were also parable...which basically eliminates David, Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and a score of others as being "real people".
It also flies in the face of scholarship to believe that the scribes who recorded the book of Kings were in the habit of making reference to people who did not exist, as children of other people who were also figments of the imagination. It also shows a serious lack of ability on your part to make serious inquiry as to the obvious facts presented that establish Jonah's "actuality".
Amittai, father of Jonah (a real father/person).
Lived in Gathhepher (a real place).
Was a prophet (a real occupation).
Fled to Tarshish (a real location).
Ended up in Ninevah (the real capital of Assyria).
Preached the word of God, resulting in repentance by many (recorded in extant Assyrian tablets).
Finally, it appears that you are also not only insulting, but questioning the veracity of Jesus Christ. Are you seriously suggesting that He would have made reference to someone, KNOWING that they were not real, and thus INTENTIONALLY misleading His hearers?
But that's ok, ebia....I understand. Someone has told you it's got to be a parable, and all made up, and that makes sense to you because the big fish part is really wacky, I mean such things NEVER happen, right? No fish could be that big, right? And if there were one, no one could live in their stomach for 3 days and nights, now could they? They would be turned into mush, right?
Try a little research. Find out how many recorded instances there are in history (and attested to) of people being swallowed by a "big fish", and were later recovered...and lived.
