Active Theology

Many people associate the story of Jonah with a giant fish. If you look at most children’s Bibles, the fish fiasco seems to be the main point of the story. This is what Tim Mackie calls “The Veggie Tales Factor”.

While I’d love to dive into Jonah’s flight from God, his pseudo-heartfelt prayer in the belly, or his anger at God’s divine mercy, I want to look at one surprising word in the story.

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“And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17, ESV)

I’ve been sitting with the story of Jonah for over two months now, as well as working my way through the Bible Project’s Class on Jonah. A few times in the class, Tim Mackie has suggested spending an afternoon with a cup of tea and a concordance. So I took him up on the idea, but substituted the tea for coffee. For some reason, I got curious about one word. So I started tracing every use of the word swallow in Scripture.

Exploring the original Hebrew or Greek can uncover deeper nuances that enhance our understanding of the biblical text beyond what’s conveyed in English.

At first glance, this might not seem like one of those deeper words. But there’s more going on beneath the surface.

Definition and Imagery

Swallow, or Hebrew bala, means “to swallow, engulf, or consume”. Pretty simple. 

The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery furthers the biblical usage of this word by saying, “In the natural world, victor and victim are defined by one simple act: the victor eats, the victim is eaten. The Scriptures employ this powerful language to show the utter domination of one party by another.”

Examples in Scripture

The other usages of swallow in the Old Testament follow suit. 

When Moses sings on the other side of the Red Sea in Exodus 15, he recounts the events of passing through and how the waters engulfed Pharaoh’s army as God stretched out His hand and “the earth swallowed them.” (Ex. 15:12b)

In the case of Exodus 15, the word swallow seems to have a negative connotation in Scripture, and rightly so. Oftentimes, it is associated with Sheol, the realm of the dead. The Earth is often depicted as swallowing up people to indicate that their life has ended.

 “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.” (Numbers 16:32)

Other uses of swallow are often paired with acts of disobedience and rebellion. For instance, negative uses of the word depict Israel’s experience of exile in a foreign land.

“Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.” (Hosea 8:8) 

Again in Psalm 124…

“if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
   when their anger was kindled against us” (Psalm 124:2-3)

But there is also good news tied to this swallowing theme in Scripture. 

In Exodus 7, when Moses and Aaron cast their staff before Pharaoh, the Egyptians respond with the same miraculous act (this strange interaction deserves an entirely different blog post of its own). With the two snake-staffs on the ground, “Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Ex. 7:12)

The Egyptian staff was gone. Moses and Aaron’s staff was the victor.

All of this may seem fairly straightforward and demonstrates the decisiveness of the word. It demonstrates an act of completion. 

This only adds to the story of Jonah. For Jonah to be swallowed up and headed toward Sheol means that he was facing death. But God provided a severe amount of mercy and allowed him a second chance.

Victory Over Death

When writing about the resurrection, Paul says,

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 14:54-55)

Death is the victim. Death is swallowed up. Death is gone.

What is left in its place? Life.

It’s complete. It’s done.  

On the cross, Jesus ended death. Sin has been dealt with. The cross, an instrument of death, gets flipped into a vehicle of life. 

There’s no contest or competition. Yes, we still feel the effects of sin and evil in this life. But the end of the story has been written, and it is good news – life stands victorious over death. 

Death is the victim, life is the victor. 

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1. “Swallow.” Essay. In Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 831–832. Lisle, Illinois: IVP Academic, 1998. 

Craig is a worship pastor at Wallula Christian Church and the creator of Active Theology. He loves coffee dates with his wife, reading, and riding his bike. A few of his favorite things are third wave coffee, vanilla ice cream, and plain t-shirts.