Was it a whale or a fish that swallowed Jonah?

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.