JONAH AND THE SEA MONSTER

by Daryl R. Koats

        Perhaps no other "mistranslated word" in the AV has 
been attacked and condemned as the word "WHALE" in Matthew 
12:40.  Liberals, Evangelicals, and Fundamentalists join 
together denouncing the word.  "The Greek word `KETOS' means 
sea monster," says the Fundamentalist LIBERTY COMMENTARY in 
the New Testament, edited by Jerry Falwell and company.  "The 
word is mistranslated.  It does not mean `WHALE' but sea 
monster," says a footnote in the Evangelical NEW SCOFIELD 
REFERENCE BIBLE.  And the "WHALE of our version is only an 
effort at translation," said the LIBERAL COMMENTARY.  Here we 
see the collusion between born again, soul-winning, Pre-
millennial Fundamentalists, and orthodox, apostate 
Fundamentalists, and unsaved apostates.  This is the REAL 
"ecumenical" movement in America.  The is the one place where 
all PRE-MILLENNIAL FUNDAMENTALISTS agree with UNSAVED 
LIBERALS.

        For the Fundamentalist and Evangelical, supposedly, 
the word must be a mistranslation because Jonah 1:17 said 
that Jonah was swallowed by a GREAT FISH.  And every 
educated, scientific person knows that a WHALE isn't a FISH.  
That is the reason why the NEW RSV and the NEW KJV and NIV 
and the NEW ASV changed whale's belly to "belly of the great 
fish."  But by rendering "KETOS" as they do, these versions 
are blatantly inconsistent.  After criticizing the AV because 
the word "does not mean whale but SEA MONSTER," they, 
nevertheless, render the word as "great FISH" and NOT as "sea 
monster."  Par for the course!

        As any scientist can confirm, the Greek word "ketos" 
means whale, which ironically is how the liberal RSV 
translated it.  Well, well, well!  The unsaved Communists 
that put out the REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the National 
Council of Churches, at this point, turn out to be better 
Bible believers than the Board of editors of the NEW SCOFIELD 
REFERENCE BIBLE and the Fundamentalists who sat on the board 
of the NEW KING JAMES VERSION!

        It's a strange world, isn't it?  The scientific study 
of whales, of course, is "Cetology," a word derived from 
"ketos" and "logos."  The constellation of the whale is named 
"CETUS"  (after "KETOS").  The hoopla over ketos-whale-sea 
monster, then, is obviously another instance of an attack 
based on falsified information.  Modern man classifies 
animals according to PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, and even then 
he cannot accurately classify an animal such as a PLATYPUS.  
Could God, if He wanted to, classify animals according to 
HABITAT and DESIGN, and not physical features?  Certainly the 
scriptures suggest such a thing.  Refer to Genesis 1:20-22, 
Psalm 8:8, 1 Corinthians 15:39, Leviticus 11, and Isaiah 
55:8.  Something else to consider is the possibility the 
expression "great fish" in Jonah 1:17 might not be a 
DESCRIPTION but a NAME.  As any biologist or zoologist will 
concede, NAMES mean nothing in terms of CLASSIFICATION.  For 
example, the great fresh water sheath fish (SILURUS GLANIS) 
used to be named a "river whale" (or the whale of the river), 
even though it was NOT A WHALE!  The large vasting shark 
RHINODON TYPICUS is called the WHALE SHARK EVEN THOUGH IT IS 
NOT A WHALE.  The rule of thumb remains the same.  When in 
doubt, throw the scholars out; the AV alone will stand.