REGARDING ACCOUNTS OF MEN BEING SWALLOWED BY A SPERM WHALES AND SURVIVING
I will discuss the specific historical information that I believe makes the Jonah account credible in depth later. For now, I will discuss the accounts of men surviving inside a whale that occur outside of a Biblical context briefly.
1. Marshall Jenkins in 1771:
A website says the following:
Another individual, Marshall Jenkins, was swallowed by a Sperm Whale in the South Seas. The Boston Post Boy, October 14, 1771, reported that an Edgartown (U.S.A.) whaling vessel struck a whale, and that after the whale had bitten one of the boats in two, it took Jenkins in its mouth and went under the water with him. After returning to the surface, the whale vomited him on to the wreckage of the broken boat, "much bruised but not seriously injured...."
[my commentary: The Marshall Jenkins account occurred over 200 years ago. I do not see any witnesses cited. I do not see a lot of details given. I think further investigation is warranted if this account is going to be offered as good evidence but it is somewhat plausible given that Marshall Jenkins was not cited as being in the whale for an extended period (I am getting conflicting information regarding the possibilty of a man being in a whale for an extended time without the benefit of supernatural intervention].
The Marshall Jenkins information was taken from the following website http://www.grmi.org/renewal/Richard_Riss/e...ces/8jonah.html and the website gives the following footnote: Ambrose John Wilson, "The Sign of the Prophet Jonah and Its Modern Confirmations," The Princeton Theological Review 25 (1927): 636-37.
2) Another account of a man being swallowed by a whale and survivng
Australasian Post, December 3, 1988:
Modern Jonah?
The biblica1 story of Jonah and the whale was repeated in Australian waters in 1820 when a crewman from the American whaler Essex was lost overboard from a harpoon boat.
Two hours later, as the whale was being stripped of its blubber, the crew noticed movement and slit open the mammals stomach.
The man said he remembered passing down a narrow passage and then he fainted inside a "large, noisome space."
[my commentary: So far I found no internet sites confirmed the Essex account cited by the author at the Investigator Magazine site says he/she read in the Australasian Post, December 3, 1988. Several internet sites, including the BBC, cited the Essex being attacked by a sperm whale but gave no reference to a man being swallowed by a whale and being recovered 48 hours later. I see no witnesses cited and a lack of details. I do not believe this can be offered as good evidence].
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
3) James Bartley - The James Bartley account of a man being swallowed by a sperm whale and living in all likelihood is a hoax.
See the following websites:
www.bbc.co.uk/education/beyond/factsheets/makhist_prog6d.shtml
www.ship-of-fools.com/Myths/04Myth.html
www.straightdope.com/columns/010914.html
It is obviously unfortunate that people play are deceptive and do hoaxes. It is a fact of life in many fields, however, that hoaxes occur. This does not mean, however, and this is important, that we should throw out all knowledge in a particular area of study because of hoaxes. To do so, we would throw out the whole field of archaeology for example. In short, we have to be judicious. I do think however that currently there is no real solid evidence for the men in whale accounts that are outside the Bible. Perhaps, further investigation will turn up more details and/or witnesses. I am going to do some more research but not extensive research into this matter.
4. I am getting conflicting science opinions on whether or not a man could survive in a sperm whale in terms of oxygen availibility and the acidity of the digestive system. I will adress these issues later.
I do not believe, however and this is an important point that this would pose a problem for Jonah because the Book of Jonah has supernatural intervention in many cases in regards to the Jonah/fish account and in regards to the rest of the accounts in the Bookof Jonah. [see my previous commentary]
EVIDENCE FOR THE GREAT WHITE SHARK BEING THE SEA CREATURE THAT SWALLOWED JONAH
A website article declares the following:
"Another creature large enough to swallow a man is the voracious [Great] White Shark....which grows to ten metres. This shark often swallows its meal without chewing and it occurs in the Mediterranean Seawhere Jonah allegedly was swallowed. The Sperm Whale occurs there too and anciently there was a Phoenician whaling industry based at the port of Joppa where Jonah embarked on the ship.
Nineteenth century scholar E B Pusey (1886) cited examples of people found, dead in the stomachs of White Sharks. In one instance a stomach contained a reindeer without horns. In another was a horse.
In 1939 a White Shark was caught which contained two smaller sharks - two metres long each - in its stomach. (Whitley 1940; Backus & Lineaweaver 1970)"
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
Another website says that according to the science writer Parham that following is true:
"Parham added that "in the cold water, with the metabolism of a shark, a
man's body could last three days without deterioration..."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
Lastly, another website declares the folllowing:
"From: E B Pusey (1886) The Minor Prophets
A natural historian of repute relates, "In 1758 in stormy weather a sailor fell overboard from a frigate in the Mediterranean. A shark was close by, which, as he was swimming and crying for help took him in his wide throat, so that he forthwith disappeared. Other sailors had leapt into the sloop, to help their comrade, while yet swimming; the captain had a gun which stood on the deck discharged at the fish, which struck it so, that it cast out the sailor which it had in its throat, who was taken up, alive and little injured, by the sloop which had now come up. The fish was harpooned, taken up on the frigate, and dried. The captain made a present of the fish to the sailor who, by Gods Providence, had been so wonderfully preserved. The sailor went round Europe exhibiting it. He came to Franconia, and it was publicly exhibited here in Erlangen, as also at Nurnberg and other places. The dried fish was delineated. It was 20 feet long and, with expanded fins, nine feet wide and weighed 3924 pounds. From all this, it is probable that this was the fish of Jonah." "
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
A tiger shark was found near India with a man's skeleton and clothes in it:
Here is the website:
http://www.probe.org/docs/jonah.html
Also, consider this information taken from a website:
"Robinson told of seeing a photograph "of a great white shark opening its
mouth, and it had within its gullet a whole blue shark. You could see the
head of a six-foot blue shark, so it could easily swallow a man."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
I do not see how a person could maintain that God chose the great white shark to swallow Jonah and not recognize the fact that it would require God to provide oxygen to Jonah or to resurrect Jonah after he died.
Some people suspect the Rhinodon shark could be a suspect as far as a fish that swallowed Jonah but the websites that had the most knowledgable people did not cite this shark and it may not inhabit the Mediterranean Sea. Plus the Bible says it was a "great fish" and the great white shark seems to fit this "great" criteria better.
OTHER SUSPECTS FOR FISH THAT SWALLOW JONAH
Many animals including sea creatures have gone extinct and may have been able to swallow Jonah.
Here is an excellent site that discusses this possibilty:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/jonah.html
Also consider this information from a website:
"The KJV Bible Commentary states:
The Smithsonian Institution has on record an incident in which one fish swallowed another fish that weighed fifteen hundred pounds. The precise identity of the fish is not important. Apparently, God has a number of fish in His repertoire capable of the feat. The important fact is that God is in control of His creature, and His creature unwittingly obeys and serves His purposes."
http://www.calvarychapel.com/hope/library/...32-JON-001.html
WHY BALEEN WHALES ARE A POOR SUSPECT
Whales are divided into two main groupsbaleen whale and toothed whales. Baleen whales have numerous horny plates suspended from the upper jaw which are used for straining out tiny sea creatures. The biggest baleen whale is the Blue Whale which weighs as much as 25 elephants. Blue Whales, however, have a small gullet and rarely swallow anything larger than a penguin.
WHY GROUPER FISH ARE A POOR SUSPECT
A website declares the following in regards to the grouper fish:
"Sure, giant groupers have sucked down divers' legs, but there is no evidence
they've ever ingested a whole person."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
AN INTERESTING NOTE IN REGARDS TO SCIENCE AND THE BOOK OF JONAH
A website declares the following:
"MOUNTAINS
An interesting sidepoint is that Jonah says:
"Weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains." (2:5)
Geologist Harold L. Levin wrote:
"Eighteenth-century scientists had little knowledge of the topography of the ocean floors. They lived at a time when depth measurements were made by letting down a lead weight on the end of a rope. Not only was this method time consuming, but in the open ocean it was virtually impossible to prevent error from lateral drifting of the weight, or the ship, or both. As a result of these problems, only a limited number of soundings were made except in bays and offshore areas where such information was vital for safe navigation. Oceanographers interpreted the few measurements available as indicating that the ocean floors were monotonous flat plains. With the advent of continuous topographic profiles from echo-sounding devices, it was shown that the ocean floors are as irregular as the surface of the continents. Beneath the waves lay canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, and mountain systems more magnificent than the Rockies." (Levin 1981 p. 320
I dont imagine that Jonah saw the "roots of the mountains" in the Mediterranean Sea by peeking out of the mouth of the fish. Perhaps he guessed; perhaps he was "inspired". At any rate he got it right. "
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
I will discuss the specific historical information that I believe makes the Jonah account credible in depth later. For now, I will discuss the accounts of men surviving inside a whale that occur outside of a Biblical context briefly.
1. Marshall Jenkins in 1771:
A website says the following:
Another individual, Marshall Jenkins, was swallowed by a Sperm Whale in the South Seas. The Boston Post Boy, October 14, 1771, reported that an Edgartown (U.S.A.) whaling vessel struck a whale, and that after the whale had bitten one of the boats in two, it took Jenkins in its mouth and went under the water with him. After returning to the surface, the whale vomited him on to the wreckage of the broken boat, "much bruised but not seriously injured...."
[my commentary: The Marshall Jenkins account occurred over 200 years ago. I do not see any witnesses cited. I do not see a lot of details given. I think further investigation is warranted if this account is going to be offered as good evidence but it is somewhat plausible given that Marshall Jenkins was not cited as being in the whale for an extended period (I am getting conflicting information regarding the possibilty of a man being in a whale for an extended time without the benefit of supernatural intervention].
The Marshall Jenkins information was taken from the following website http://www.grmi.org/renewal/Richard_Riss/e...ces/8jonah.html and the website gives the following footnote: Ambrose John Wilson, "The Sign of the Prophet Jonah and Its Modern Confirmations," The Princeton Theological Review 25 (1927): 636-37.
2) Another account of a man being swallowed by a whale and survivng
Australasian Post, December 3, 1988:
Modern Jonah?
The biblica1 story of Jonah and the whale was repeated in Australian waters in 1820 when a crewman from the American whaler Essex was lost overboard from a harpoon boat.
Two hours later, as the whale was being stripped of its blubber, the crew noticed movement and slit open the mammals stomach.
The man said he remembered passing down a narrow passage and then he fainted inside a "large, noisome space."
[my commentary: So far I found no internet sites confirmed the Essex account cited by the author at the Investigator Magazine site says he/she read in the Australasian Post, December 3, 1988. Several internet sites, including the BBC, cited the Essex being attacked by a sperm whale but gave no reference to a man being swallowed by a whale and being recovered 48 hours later. I see no witnesses cited and a lack of details. I do not believe this can be offered as good evidence].
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
3) James Bartley - The James Bartley account of a man being swallowed by a sperm whale and living in all likelihood is a hoax.
See the following websites:
www.bbc.co.uk/education/beyond/factsheets/makhist_prog6d.shtml
www.ship-of-fools.com/Myths/04Myth.html
www.straightdope.com/columns/010914.html
It is obviously unfortunate that people play are deceptive and do hoaxes. It is a fact of life in many fields, however, that hoaxes occur. This does not mean, however, and this is important, that we should throw out all knowledge in a particular area of study because of hoaxes. To do so, we would throw out the whole field of archaeology for example. In short, we have to be judicious. I do think however that currently there is no real solid evidence for the men in whale accounts that are outside the Bible. Perhaps, further investigation will turn up more details and/or witnesses. I am going to do some more research but not extensive research into this matter.
4. I am getting conflicting science opinions on whether or not a man could survive in a sperm whale in terms of oxygen availibility and the acidity of the digestive system. I will adress these issues later.
I do not believe, however and this is an important point that this would pose a problem for Jonah because the Book of Jonah has supernatural intervention in many cases in regards to the Jonah/fish account and in regards to the rest of the accounts in the Bookof Jonah. [see my previous commentary]
EVIDENCE FOR THE GREAT WHITE SHARK BEING THE SEA CREATURE THAT SWALLOWED JONAH
A website article declares the following:
"Another creature large enough to swallow a man is the voracious [Great] White Shark....which grows to ten metres. This shark often swallows its meal without chewing and it occurs in the Mediterranean Seawhere Jonah allegedly was swallowed. The Sperm Whale occurs there too and anciently there was a Phoenician whaling industry based at the port of Joppa where Jonah embarked on the ship.
Nineteenth century scholar E B Pusey (1886) cited examples of people found, dead in the stomachs of White Sharks. In one instance a stomach contained a reindeer without horns. In another was a horse.
In 1939 a White Shark was caught which contained two smaller sharks - two metres long each - in its stomach. (Whitley 1940; Backus & Lineaweaver 1970)"
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
Another website says that according to the science writer Parham that following is true:
"Parham added that "in the cold water, with the metabolism of a shark, a
man's body could last three days without deterioration..."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
Lastly, another website declares the folllowing:
"From: E B Pusey (1886) The Minor Prophets
A natural historian of repute relates, "In 1758 in stormy weather a sailor fell overboard from a frigate in the Mediterranean. A shark was close by, which, as he was swimming and crying for help took him in his wide throat, so that he forthwith disappeared. Other sailors had leapt into the sloop, to help their comrade, while yet swimming; the captain had a gun which stood on the deck discharged at the fish, which struck it so, that it cast out the sailor which it had in its throat, who was taken up, alive and little injured, by the sloop which had now come up. The fish was harpooned, taken up on the frigate, and dried. The captain made a present of the fish to the sailor who, by Gods Providence, had been so wonderfully preserved. The sailor went round Europe exhibiting it. He came to Franconia, and it was publicly exhibited here in Erlangen, as also at Nurnberg and other places. The dried fish was delineated. It was 20 feet long and, with expanded fins, nine feet wide and weighed 3924 pounds. From all this, it is probable that this was the fish of Jonah." "
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
A tiger shark was found near India with a man's skeleton and clothes in it:
Here is the website:
http://www.probe.org/docs/jonah.html
Also, consider this information taken from a website:
"Robinson told of seeing a photograph "of a great white shark opening its
mouth, and it had within its gullet a whole blue shark. You could see the
head of a six-foot blue shark, so it could easily swallow a man."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
I do not see how a person could maintain that God chose the great white shark to swallow Jonah and not recognize the fact that it would require God to provide oxygen to Jonah or to resurrect Jonah after he died.
Some people suspect the Rhinodon shark could be a suspect as far as a fish that swallowed Jonah but the websites that had the most knowledgable people did not cite this shark and it may not inhabit the Mediterranean Sea. Plus the Bible says it was a "great fish" and the great white shark seems to fit this "great" criteria better.
OTHER SUSPECTS FOR FISH THAT SWALLOW JONAH
Many animals including sea creatures have gone extinct and may have been able to swallow Jonah.
Here is an excellent site that discusses this possibilty:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/jonah.html
Also consider this information from a website:
"The KJV Bible Commentary states:
The Smithsonian Institution has on record an incident in which one fish swallowed another fish that weighed fifteen hundred pounds. The precise identity of the fish is not important. Apparently, God has a number of fish in His repertoire capable of the feat. The important fact is that God is in control of His creature, and His creature unwittingly obeys and serves His purposes."
http://www.calvarychapel.com/hope/library/...32-JON-001.html
WHY BALEEN WHALES ARE A POOR SUSPECT
Whales are divided into two main groupsbaleen whale and toothed whales. Baleen whales have numerous horny plates suspended from the upper jaw which are used for straining out tiny sea creatures. The biggest baleen whale is the Blue Whale which weighs as much as 25 elephants. Blue Whales, however, have a small gullet and rarely swallow anything larger than a penguin.
WHY GROUPER FISH ARE A POOR SUSPECT
A website declares the following in regards to the grouper fish:
"Sure, giant groupers have sucked down divers' legs, but there is no evidence
they've ever ingested a whole person."
taken from: http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/usa/calif...13-02jonah.html
AN INTERESTING NOTE IN REGARDS TO SCIENCE AND THE BOOK OF JONAH
A website declares the following:
"MOUNTAINS
An interesting sidepoint is that Jonah says:
"Weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains." (2:5)
Geologist Harold L. Levin wrote:
"Eighteenth-century scientists had little knowledge of the topography of the ocean floors. They lived at a time when depth measurements were made by letting down a lead weight on the end of a rope. Not only was this method time consuming, but in the open ocean it was virtually impossible to prevent error from lateral drifting of the weight, or the ship, or both. As a result of these problems, only a limited number of soundings were made except in bays and offshore areas where such information was vital for safe navigation. Oceanographers interpreted the few measurements available as indicating that the ocean floors were monotonous flat plains. With the advent of continuous topographic profiles from echo-sounding devices, it was shown that the ocean floors are as irregular as the surface of the continents. Beneath the waves lay canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, and mountain systems more magnificent than the Rockies." (Levin 1981 p. 320
I dont imagine that Jonah saw the "roots of the mountains" in the Mediterranean Sea by peeking out of the mouth of the fish. Perhaps he guessed; perhaps he was "inspired". At any rate he got it right. "
taken from: http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/BJonahDebate.htm
