In the interviews after the humpback whale spat him back out, Simancas does not seem like a petulant Jonah; he’s even generous toward the whale’s intentions in scooping him out of the water.

And while any whale swallowing highlights our helplessness in the face of the power of nature and God, perhaps the real takeaway comes from the difference between Jonah and Simancas’ reactions.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’ (Matthew 12:39-40; cf. Luke 11:29-32) ...

You might recall, Jonah and the Whale is a biblical tale of a prophet, Jonah, who disobeys God's command to preach in Nineveh, attempts to escape, but is swallowed by a giant fish.

The novel is divided into two sections, “Truth” and “Mercy,” the tension between which the Book of Jonah sits. The ancient prophet, after all, is given a commandment by God to warn ...

Oh, No, Jonah! Tilda Balsley, illus. by Jago. Kar-Ben, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7613-5140-5 ...

We called out recently for more memories of Jonah and got a lively response on the T&A’s We Grew Up in Bradford Facebook page: Gilly Mags recalls: “I remember seeing it as a child in the 1950s.