SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:40
Porque como estuvo Jons en el vientre de la ballena tres días y tres noches, así estar el Hijo del hombre en el corazn de la tierra tres días y tres noches.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 12:40
Verse 40. Three days and three nights] Our Lord rose from the grave on the day but one after his crucifixion: so that, in the computation in this verse, the part of the day on which he was crucified, and the part of that on which he rose again, are severally estimated as an entire day; and this, no doubt, exactly corresponded to the time in which Jonah was in the belly of the fish. Our Lord says, As Jonah was, so shall the Son of man be, &c. Evening and morning, or night and day, is the Hebrew phrase for a natural day, which the Greeks termed nuxqhmeron, nuchthemeron. The very same quantity of time which is here termed three days and three nights, and which, in reality, was only one whole day, a part of two others, and two whole nights, is termed three days and three nights, in the book of Esther: Go; neither eat nor drink THREE DAYS, NIGHT or DAY, and so I will go in unto the king: Esth. iv. 16. Afterwards it follows, Esther v. 1. On the THIRD DAY, Esther stood in the inner court of the king's house. Many examples might be produced, from both the sacred and profane writers, in vindication of the propriety of the expression in the text. For farther satisfaction, the reader, if he please, may consult Whitby and Wakefield, and take the following from Lightfoot.
"I. The Jewish writers extend that memorable station of the unmoving sun, at Joshua's prayer, to six and thirty hours; for so Kimchi upon that place: 'According to more exact interpretation, the sun and moon stood still for six and thirty hours: for when the fight was on the eve of the Sabbath, Joshua feared lest the Israelites might break the Sabbath; therefore he spread abroad his hands, that the sun might stand still on the sixth day, according to the measure of the day of the Sabbath, and the moon according to the measure of the night of the Sabbath, and of the going out of the Sabbath, which amounts to six and thirty hours.' "II. If you number the hours that pass from our saviour's giving up the ghost upon the cross to his resurrection, you shall find almost the same number of hours; and yet that space is called by him three days and three nights, whereas two nights only came between, and one complete day.
Nevertheless, while he speaks these words, he is not without the consent both of the Jewish schools and their computation. Weigh well that which is disputed in the tract Scabbath, concerning the separation of a woman for three days; where many things are discussed by the Gemarists, concerning the computation of this space of three days. Among other things these words occur: R. Ismael saith, Sometimes it contains four hwnwa onoth, sometimes five, sometimes six. But how much is the space of an hnwa onah? R. Jochanan saith, Either a day or a night. And so also the Jerusalem Talmud: 'R. Akiba fixed a DAY for an onah, and a NIGHT for an onah.' But the tradition is, that R. Eliazar ben Azariah said, A day and a night make an onah: and a PART of an onah is as the WHOLE. And a little after, R.
Ismael computed a part of the onah for the whole." Thus, then, three days and three nights, according to this Jewish method of reckoning, included any part of the first day; the whole of the following night; the next day and its night; and any part of the succeeding or third day.
In the whale's belly] That a fish of the shark kind, and not a whale, is here meant, Bochart has abundantly proved, vol. iii. col. 742, &c., edit. Leyd. 1692. It is well known that the throat of a whale is capable of admitting little more than the arm of an ordinary man; but many of the shark species can swallow a man whole, and men have been found whole in the stomachs of several. Every natural history abounds with facts of this kind. Besides, the shark is a native of the Mediterranean Sea, in which Jonah was sailing when swallowed by what the Hebrew terms lwdg gd dag gadol, a great fish; but every body knows that whales are no produce of the Mediterranean Sea, thought some have been by accident found there, as in most other parts of the maritime world: but, let them be found where they may, there is none of them capable of swallowing a man. Instead of either whale or shark, some have translated lwdg gd dag gadol, Jonah i. 17, by a fishing cove, or something of this nature; but this is merely to get rid of the miracle: for, according to some, the whole of Divine revelation is a forgery-or it is a system of metaphor or allegory, that has no miraculous interferences in it. But, independently of all this, the criticism is contemptible. Others say, that the great fish means a vessel so called, into which Jonah went, and into the hold of which he was thrown, where he continued three days and three nights. In short, it must be any thing but a real miracle, the existence of which the wise men, so called, of the present day, cannot admit. Perhaps these very men are not aware that they have scarcely any belief even in the existence of God himself!
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly , etc.] Or in the belly of a great fish, as is said, (Jon 1:17) for that it was a whale, is not there said, nor is it certain it was; nor from the smallness of its swallow, is it thought probable it should; nor does the word here used, necessarily imply one, but some large fish; nor are there whales in the Phoenician Sea: it might be a kind of a sea dog, called Carcharias, and sometimes Lamia, or Lamina, from its vast swallow; in which whole men; even in coats of mail, have been found. However, be it what it will, Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of it; which agrees with the account in the above mentioned place, and is the sign Christ speaks of in the foregoing verse; and a very great sign and miracle it was, that being swallowed down by such a fish, he should remain in the belly of it three days and three nights, as one dead; for, without a miracle, he could not have lived an hour; and on the third day, as one raised from the dead, be cast out of it upon the dry land; which was a very eminent type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as appears by what follows. The Jews reckon up several wonders or miracles in this case of Jonahs; as that a fish was prepared to swallow him up, and he not drowned in the sea; and that this was prepared for him from the creation of the world; that he should be three days and three nights in the fishs belly, and be alive; and that he should retain his senses and his understanding, so as to be able to pray: they represent him also as if he was in the state of the dead f760 , and that the fish itself was dead, and was quickened again. According to Josephus, after he had been carried 250 miles in the Hellespont of the Euxine Sea, he was cast ashore f761 . So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth . That Christ means himself by the son of man, there is no reason to doubt; and his being laid in a tomb, dug out of a rock, is sufficient to answer this phrase, the heart of the earth, in distinction from the surface of it; but some difficulty arises about the time of his continuing there, and the prediction here made agreeable to the type: for it was on the sixth day of the week, we commonly call Friday, towards the close, on the day of the preparation for the sabbath, and when the sabbath drew on, that the body of Christ was laid in the sepulchre; where it lay all the next day, which was the sabbath of the Jews, and what we commonly call Saturday; and early on the first of the week, usually called Sunday, or the Lords day, he rose from the dead; so that he was but one whole day, and part of two, in the grave. To solve this difficulty, and set the matter in a clear light, let it be observed, that the three days and three nights, mean three natural days, consisting of day and night, or twenty four hours, and are what the Greeks call nucyhmera , night days; but the Jews have no other way of expressing them, but as here; and with them it is a well known rule, and used on all occasions, as in the computation of their feasts and times of mourning, in the observance of the passover, circumcision, and divers purifications, that wlwkk wyh txqm , a part of a day is as the whole f762 : and so, whatever was done before sun setting, or after, if but an hour, or ever so small a time, before or after it, it was reckoned as the whole preceding, or following day; and whether this was in the night part, or day part of the night day, or natural day, it mattered not, it was accounted as the whole night day: by this rule, the case here is easily adjusted; Christ was laid in the grave towards the close of the sixth day, a little before sun setting, and this being a part of the night day preceding, is reckoned as the whole; he continued there the whole night day following, being the seventh day; and rose again early on the first day, which being after sun setting, though it might be even before sun rising, yet being a part of the night day following, is to be esteemed as the whole; and thus the son of man was to be, and was three days and three nights in the grave; and which was very easy to be understood by the Jews; and it is a question whether Jonas was longer in the belly of the fish.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 38-45 - Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires an prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were grante to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham an Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called her the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, an then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for no repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon suc uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish churc and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclea spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is no there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the ma becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residenc of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost by faith in Christ.
Greek Textus Receptus
ωσπερ 5618 ADV γαρ 1063 CONJ ην 2258 5713 V-IXI-3S ιωνας 2495 N-NSM εν 1722 PREP τη 3588 T-DSF κοιλια 2836 N-DSF του 3588 T-GSN κητους 2785 N-GSN τρεις 5140 A-APF ημερας 2250 N-APF και 2532 CONJ τρεις 5140 A-APF νυκτας 3571 N-APF ουτως 3779 ADV εσται 2071 5704 V-FXI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM υιος 5207 N-NSM του 3588 T-GSM ανθρωπου 444 N-GSM εν 1722 PREP τη 3588 T-DSF καρδια 2588 N-DSF της 3588 T-GSF γης 1093 N-GSF τρεις 5140 A-APF ημερας 2250 N-APF και 2532 CONJ τρεις 5140 A-APF νυκτας 3571 N-APF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
40. The whale (tou khtouv). A general term for a sea-monster.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
12:40 {The whale} (tou ketous). Sea-monster, huge fish. In #Jon 2:1 the LXX has ktei megal"i. "Three days and three nights" may simply mean three days in popular speech. Jesus rose "on the third day" (#Mt 16:21), not "on the fourth day." It is just a fuller form for "after three days" (#Mr 8:31; 10:34).
