An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it,

but the sign of the prophet Jonas, for Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,

so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew chapter 12 verses 39 through 40.

Hey listeners, this is Nick from Book of Mormon Central, and today's podcast addresses

the question, what is the sign of Jonah?

During his ministry, Jesus was once approached by some of the leading scribes and Pharisees,

who would state, Master, we would see a sign from

thee. Upon their request for a sign, Jesus referred explicitly to the prophet Jonah. An evil

and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but

the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's

belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. This sign of

Jonah has obvious connections to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However,

these symbols may be strengthened by an early understanding of the book of Jonah

that saw symbolism in the reference to the great fish that swallowed the runaway prophet.

In many ancient Near Eastern worldviews, a sea serpent or Leviathan represented death and hell.

We may understand that Jonah, by being swallowed by a great fish, died and was then brought back to life.

Seen in this way, David R. Scott explained,

The great fish may be a metaphor for the Leviathan, the mouth of hell, the great deep, shale, and death.

By this reasoning, the Lord pulled Jonah back from the watery grave, revived him, and gave him a second chance to obey.

The symbolic interpretation of the fish as the monster of death and hell likewise appears in the medieval Zohar, a Jewish mystical work.

The fish that swallowed him is, in fact, the grave, and so Jonah was in the belly of the fish,

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