•    The Bible account of Jonah being swallowed by a whale is known to many people as a well loved children’s story. But was Jonah really swallowed by a whale?

    •    Use eSword to search for answers to this question, using any of the Bible versions available.
If you need help using eSword refer to the eSword website tutorials.

    •    Try searching first for the two words: ‘Jonah whale’.

    •    Now try searching for ‘Jonah fish’. Do the results tell you anything about the creature that swallowed him?

    •    To be sure that your investigations are truly complete, try searching for ‘whale’.

    •    If you are using the KJV Bible to search, you’ll find one instance in Matthew referring to Jonah. What does the Greek word translated ‘whale’ actually mean?

    •    If you are using any other Bible version you’ll not find any occurrences of ‘whale’ at all.

    •    What can you conclude from your study? Was it a whale, or not? Further research outside the Bible may reveal that whales are rarely, if ever, seen in the Mediterranean. Interesting!