So I hear people talk occasionally
about whether the creature that swallowed Jonah whole was a whale or
a fish. People will argue over specifics, saying that in Matthew12:40 it says “whale” in some translations while in Jonah it says “great fish.”
Some say that a man would not fit down a whale's/fish's throat while
others argue that the creature's stomach acids would have started
digesting him. Well, I'm gonna take the simplest look at this
possible.
First, let's address the wording.
Forget, for a second, the fact that the writers of the Old Testament
(or New Testament for that matter) were not marine biologists and
there was no way for them to know the difference between a giant fish
and a whale...the Hebrew word used in the book of Jonah was “dahg”
meaning “fish” and the Greek word used in Matthew was “ketos”
meaning “large sea creature.” The word “whale” is only ever
thrown out as one of the possible meanings of the word “ketos.”
But wait, a whale is not a fish, it's a mammal! That second we
forgot about the lack of science is over and “Hebrew linguistic
experts note no such distinction in the terms used in the Old
Testament. The ordinary term for “fish” (dahg) would not
necessarily exclude the whale in its application” because
back then they would have no way of knowing the taxonomic distinction
between a whale and a fish (Dave Miller).
On to the physical discrepancies! Of
course whales can get huge, but what about fish? When we think of
fish, we think of something we catch in a lake or pond, or the little
things swimming around the aquarium at the dentist office, but some
fish can get huge. Catfish and Carp grow to their surroundings,
meaning the more space they have, the bigger they get. Also, catfish
can live in fresh or salt water and the largest largest ever
recorded, caught in Thailand, weighed 646 pounds (National GeographicNews). Oh yeah, sharks are fish too, and thanks to the movie Jaws,
and possibly a few museums here and there, we know sharks can
definitely swallow a man whole.
Well, stomach acids would surely kill
the man after three days. Here we have to go back to the book of
Jonah and look at the wording in verse 17. Here it says “the Lord
appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” The original word
used “manhah” could mean appointed, prepared, constituted, or
made-ready. A conclusion could be reached that Yahweh supernaturally
manipulated this animal so it would keep Jonah alive in the
tumultuous sea. There have also been stories of men in more recent
years that were swallowed by whales and lived to tell about it. Dr.
Harry Rimmer recounts a story of a young sailor he met that fell
overboard and was swallowed by a gigantic whale shark. After the
fleet hunted it down for 48 hours and killed it, they dragged it to
shore to properly bury their comrade. When they sliced it open, he
man was found unconscious but alive. He was rushed to hospital, where
he was found to be suffering from shock alone, and was later
discharged” and even later advertised in a museum as “The Jonah
of the Twentieth Century” (Harry Rimmer, The Harmony of Science and
Scripture).
Looking at these facts, one could see
how this scenario could have likely happened. Whether or not it was
a fish, or a whale, or some other giant sea creature is not what is
important in the story any way. In all likelihood, Jonah would have
died at sea if he hadn't been swallowed, so even when he felt at his
lowest he was being showed mercy by God.
For this allusion project I am going to take a step away from my passion for metal music and into another one of my favorite forms of media...science-fiction! The nerd in me could not hold this one in any longer. The most beautifully written science-fiction television series EVER, and possibly one of the greatest shows of all time (behind the X-Files) is Battlestar Galactica. The series aired from 2004-2009 and was a remake of a 1970's series. The background of the story is this: Humans made cylons (artificially intelligent robots), after a while those robots rebelled, there was a war that ended in an armistice, then in the first episode the cylons return and nearly wipe out the entire human race with the help of humanoid second generation models. The remaining humans eventually come together in a fleet of space ships and flee together, all the while being chased across the universe by the cylons. Watch a couple of the show intros to get a general idea of the beginning story line.
The series is just riddled with allusions, from Greek/Roman mythology, Buddhism and Hinduism, Judaism, and several specific sects of Christianity including Catholicism, Gnosticism, some mysticism, and even Mormonism. There are so many Biblical allusions that I will not be able to fit them all into this project, but I will hit the most important ones.
The first and most prevalent one is that humanity, as it exists in this story, consists of twelve tribes living on twelve different planets with one central government. The obvious reference here is to the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve tribes of Israel leave Egypt in attempt to regain land that was promised to them by Yahweh. The humans in BSG refer to their ancient scrolls to try and guide them to Kobol, the place the twelve tribes lived with the gods. Also of note here is that the human beings in this series are polytheistic, which is one of the reasons the cylons, who have become monotheistic, justify their destruction...much like the Israelites justification for the genocide of other nations in the Old Testament.
The second allusion is to Moses. Laura Roslin, who was originally the Secretary of Education, ends up becoming president of the colonies after finding out she was the highest ranking government official to survive the attacks. Roslin consults the scriptures and becomes a primarily faith based leader when she learns she is dying of breast cancer. Their scriptures tell of a leader who will lead them to Earth (a mythical promised land) but will not live to see it. Much like the story of Moses, who was charged by God to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land, but would not be allowed to enter himself.
Throughout the entire series a character named Dr. Gaius Baltar is "haunted" by his connection to the cylon model number six (appearing in the red dress as the Jesus figure in the parody of "The Last Supper"). She appears to Baltar, but no one else. Six influences his decision making and bends his will to serve her purpose. At several points this drives the doctor to question why he sees her. At first she tells him that she implanted a chip in his brain during their relationship on Caprica (he had no idea she was a cylon, nor did humans know human-looking cylons existed). Another time he convinces himself that he is a cylon, and at other times he starts to believe in the possibility of a one, true god that is communicating to him through her. This is a solid allusion to the idea of the Holy Spirit in the canonical gospels of the New Testament. In John 14:17, Jesus talks of coming back as a spirit "whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."
The last allusions I would like to address are the use of Biblical names in the series. Here are the character names that have Biblical connotation:
-Colonel Saul Tigh: originally persecuted the cylons bitterly much like Saul of Tarsus. In various chapters of Acts in the New Testament, Saul persecuted Christians until Jesus appeared to him, which temporarily blinded him. Colonel Tigh, in the series, had an eye gouged out by a cylon during his incarceration and interrogation on New Caprica (you'd just have to watch the show to get it). His mood changed after he found out that he himself was a cylon, again paralleling the story of Saul, who converted to Christianity and changed his name to Paul.
-Dr. Gaius Baltar: a narcissistic genius in BSG who shares his name with one (or several depending on how you look at it) of Paul's conversions and/or traveling companions in the New Testament. One is said to be from Derbe, the other from Corinth, and there could still possibly be others. All of these have one thing in common and that is they were believers who had contact with Paul. The character in Battlestar Galactica is hardly a representation of this as he is seen as a selfish coward throughout most of the series. Interestingly enough, there was also a Gaius Julius Caesar, and in the series Gaius's father's name is Julius.
-"Apollo" callsign for Lee Adama: son of the commanding Admiral of the fleet and eventually Commander of the Air Group for Battlestar Galactica. Although the name Apollo brings to mind Greco-Roman Neopaganism, there is a Jewish man named Apollo in Acts 18:24-28. This man spoke boldly about God without complete knowledge before Aquila and Priscilla teach him. It may be evident that this character more closely resembles the pagan deity in concept, but "Apollo" does end up falling in love with, and subsequently learning from two women throughout the series. Of special note is his last name Adama, which I will address next.
-William Adama: commanding officer of the Battlestar Galactica and veteran of the cylon wars. This one is easy...this name is taken from Adam, who was the first man created in the Bible. Admiral Adama is the first character the audience is fully introduced to. He is the father of the CAG Lee Adama and is seen as a father figure for his crew and eventually the entire fleet of the surviving human race. In these ways he is very similar to the Adam in Genesis.
All of these, and the various other allusions, give this series a sense of mysticism. "Science fiction is often notorious for focusing on hard, technical
environments and characters while leaving little room for
interpretations of religious ideologies or any sort of examinations of
faith," but this particular show is a brilliant exception (Adaptation). It allows for a broader scope of interpretation of the series. Is it allegorical? Most likely not. In the end, the thing I love most about it is every character on both sides of the battle has to reevaluate his or her belief system. Humans and cylons both, all find out that everything they had ever known to be true was false and they have to find a way to deal with that and work together before they destroy each other completely. I STRONGLY recommend that you watch this television series!
