Messianic · Three Days Sign

Jonah 1:17

Jonah · ~760 BC · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 76%
“Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
King James Version

Jonah's three days in the fish, cited by Jesus as the sign of the Son of Man's three days in the earth.

Fulfillment References

Matthew 12:40 Luke 11:29-30

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

JewishThe story of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur — the day of repentance — because Nineveh's repentance is central. The fish episode is typological in Jewish interpretation.
CatholicJesus identifies this as the 'sign of Jonah' — the Son of Man's death and resurrection. Patristic consensus from Origen onward.
ProtestantThe primary type of the resurrection — three days in the 'heart of the earth' (Matt 12:40). The most important typological sign Jesus gave.
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