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On the History of Jonah

Methodius of Olympus

Section 1

About this work

Author: Methodius of Olympus

I. The history of Jonah contains a great mystery. For

Section 2 ›

it

seems

that

the

whale

signifies

Time

,

which

never

stands

still

,

but

is

always

going

on

,

and

consumes

the

things

which

are

made

by

long

and

shorter

intervals

.

But

Jonah

,

who

fled

from

the

presence

of

God

,

is

himself

the

first

man

who

,

having

transgressed

the

law

,

fled

from

being

seen

naked

of

immortality

,

having

lost

through

sin

his

confidence

in

the

Deity

.

And

the

ship

in

which

he

embarked

,

and

which

was

tempest

-

tossed

,

is

this

brief

and

hard

life

in

the

present

time

;

just

as

though

we

had

turned

and

removed

from

that

blessed

and

secure

life

,

to

that

which

was

most

tempestuous

and

unstable

,

as

from

solid

land

to

a

ship

.

For

what

a

ship

is

to

the

land

,

that

our

present

life

is

to

that

which

is

immortal

.

And

the

storm

and

the

tempests

which

beat

against

us

are

the

temptations

of

this

life

,

which

in

the

world

,

as

in

a

tempestuous

sea

,

do

not

permit

us

to

have

a

fair

voyage

free

from

pain

,

in

a

calm

sea

,

and

one

which

is

free

from

evils

.

And

the

casting

of

Jonah

from

the

ship

into

the

sea

,

signifies

the

fall

of

the

first

man

from

life

to

death

,

who

received

that

sentence

because

,

through

having

sinned

,

he

fell

from

righteousness

:

“

Dust

thou

art

,

and

unto

dust

shalt

thou

return

.

”

And

his

being

swallowed

by

the

whale

signifies

our

inevitable

removal

by

time

.

For

the

belly

in

which

Jonah

,

when

he

was

swallowed

,

was

concealed

,

is

the

all

-

receiving

earth

,

which

receives

all

things

which

are

consumed

by

time

.

Notes

2
[Matt. xii. 40. This history comes to us virtually from the Son of God, who confirms the testimony of His prophet. See the very curious remarks of Edward King in his Morsels of Criticism, vol. i. p. 601, ed. 1788.]
3
Gen. iii. 19.