Hebraic Beasts and Where to Find Them Part 4: Sea Creatures

(1) THE HISTORY OF JONAH
ON the fifth day Jonah fled before his God. Why did he flee? Because on the first occasion when (God) sent him to restore the border of Israel, his words were fulfilled, as it is said, "And he restored the border of Israel from the entering in of Hamath" (2 Kings 14:25). On the second occasion (God) sent him to Jerusalem to (prophesy that He would) destroy it. But the Holy One, blessed be He, did according to the abundance of His tender mercy and repented of the evil (decree), and He did not destroy it; thereupon they called him a lying prophet. On the third occasion (God) sent him against Nineveh to destroy it. Jonah argued with himself, saying, I know that the nations are nigh to repentance, now they will repent and the Holy One, blessed be He, will direct His anger against Israel. And is it not enough for me that Israel should call me a lying prophet; but shall also the nations of the world (do likewise)? Therefore, behold, I will escape from His presence to a place where His glory is not declared. (If) I ascend above the heavens, it is said, "Above the heavens is his glory" (Ps. 113:4). (If) above the earth, (it is said), "The whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa. 6:8); behold, I will escape to the sea, to a place || where His glory is not proclaimed. Jonah went down to Joppa, but he did not find there a ship in which he could embark, for the ship in which Jonah might have embarked was two days' journey away from Joppa, in order to test Jonah. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He sent against it a mighty tempest on the sea and brought it back to Joppa. Then Jonah saw and rejoiced in his heart, saying, Now I know that my ways will prosper before me.

(2) He said to the (sailors), We will embark with you. They replied to him, Behold, we are going to the islands of the sea, to Tarshish. He said to them, We will go with you. Now (this) is the custom on all ships that when a man disembarks therefrom he pays his fare; but Jonah, in the joy of his heart, paid his fare in advance, as it is said, "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord; and he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them" (Jonah 1:3).

(3) They had travelled one day's journey, and a mighty tempest on the sea arose against them on their right hand and on their left hand; but the movement of all the ships passing to and fro was peaceful in a quiet sea, but the ship into which Jonah had embarked was in great peril of shipwreck, as it is said, "But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like || to be broken" (Jonah 1:4).

(4) Rabbi Chanina said: (Men) of the seventy languages were there on the ship, and each one had his god in his hand, (each one) saying: And the God who shall reply and deliver us from this trouble, He shall be God. They arose and every one called upon the name of his god, but it availed nought. Now Jonah, because of the anguish of his soul, was slumbering and asleep. The captain of the ship came to him, saying, Behold, we are standing betwixt death and life, and thou art slumbering and sleeping; of what people art thou? He answered them, "I am an Hebrew" (Jonah 1:9). (The captain) said to him, Have we not heard that the God of the Hebrews is great? Arise, call upon thy God, perhaps He will work (salvation) for us according to all His miracles which He did for you at the Reed Sea. He answered them, It is on my account that this misfortune has befallen you; take me up and cast me into the sea and the sea will become calm unto you, as it is said, "And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you" (Jonah 1:12).

(5) Rabbi Simeon said: The men would not consent to throw Jonah into the sea; but they cast lots among themselves and the lot fell upon Jonah. What did they do? They took all their utensils which were in the ship, and cast them into the sea in order to lighten it for their (safety), but it availed nought. || They wanted to return to the dry land, but they were unable, as it is said, "Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not" (Jonah 1:13). What did they do? They took Jonah and they stood on the side of the ship, saying, God of the world ! O Lord ! Do not lay upon us innocent blood, for we do not know what sort of person is this man; and he says deliberately, On my account has this misfortune befallen you.

(6) They took him (and cast him into the sea) up to his knee-joints, and the sea-storm abated. They took him up again to themselves and the sea became agitated again against them. They cast him in (again) up to his neck, and the sea-storm abated. Once more they lifted him up in their midst and the sea was again agitated against them, until they cast him in entirely and forthwith the sea-storm abated, as it is said, "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging" (Jonah 1:15).

(7) "And the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah" (Jonah 1:17). Rabbi Ṭarphon said: That fish was specially appointed from the six days of Creation to swallow up Jonah, as it is said, "And the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah" (ibid.). He entered its mouth just as a man enters the great synagogue, and he stood (therein). The two eyes of the fish were like windows of glass giving light to Jonah.

(8) Rabbi Meir said: || One pearl was suspended inside the belly of the fish and it gave illumination to Jonah, like this sun which shines with its might at noon; and it showed to Jonah all that was in the sea and in the depths, as it is said, "Light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11).

(9) The fish said to Jonah, Dost thou not know that my day had arrived to be devoured in the midst of Leviathan's mouth? Jonah replied, Take me beside it, and I will deliver thee and myself from its mouth. It brought him next to the Leviathan. (Jonah) said to the Leviathan, On thy account have I descended to see thy abode in the sea, for, moreover, in the future will I descend and put a rope in thy tongue, and I will bring thee up and prepare thee for the great feast of the righteous. (Jonah) showed it the seal of our father Abraham (saying), Look at the Covenant (seal), and Leviathan saw it and fled before Jonah a distance of two days' journey. (Jonah) said to it (i.e. the fish), Behold, I have saved thee from the mouth of Leviathan, show me what is in the sea and in the depths. It showed him the great river of the waters of the Ocean, as it is said, "The deep was round about me" (Jonah 2:5), and it showed him the paths of the Reed Sea through which Israel passed, as it is said, "The reeds were wrapped about my head" (ibid.); and it showed him the place whence the waves of the sea and its billows flow, as it is said, "All || thy waves and thy billows passed over me" (Jonah 2:3); and it showed him the pillars of the earth in its foundations, as it is said, "The earth with her bars for the world were by me" (Jonah 2:6); and it showed him the lowest Sheol, as it is said, "Yet hast thou brought up my life from destruction, O Lord, my God" (ibid.); and it showed him Gehinnom, as it is said, "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice" (Jonah 2:2); and it showed him (what was) beneath the Temple of God, as it is said,"(I went down) to the bottom of the mountains" (Jonah 2:6). Hence we may learn that Jerusalem stands upon seven (hills), and he saw there the Eben Shethiyah (Foundation Stone) fixed in the depths. He saw there the sons of Korah standing and praying over it. They said to Jonah, Behold thou dost stand beneath the Temple of God, pray and thou wilt be answered. Forthwith Jonah said to the fish, Stand in the place where thou art standing, because I wish to pray. The fish stood (still), and Jonah began to pray before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he said: Sovereign of all the Universe ! Thou art called "the One who kills" and "the One who makes alive," behold, my soul has reached unto death, now restore me to life. He was not answered until this word came forth from his mouth, "What I have vowed I will perform" (Jonah 2:9), namely, I vowed to draw up Leviathan and to prepare it before Thee, I will perform (this) on the day of the Salvation of Israel, as it is said, "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving" (ibid.). Forthwith the Holy One, blessed be He, hinted (to the fish) and it vomited out Jonah || upon the dry land, as it is said, "And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land" (Jonah 2:10).

(10) The sailors saw all the signs, the miracles, and the great wonders which the Holy One, blessed be He, did unto Jonah, and they stood and they cast away every one his God, as it is said, "They that regard lying vanities forsake their own shame" (Jonah 2:8). They returned to Joppa and went up to Jerusalem and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins, as it is said, "And the men feared the Lord exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto the Lord" (Jonah 1:16). Did they offer sacrifice? But this (sacrifice) refers to the blood of the covenant of circumcision, which is like the blood of a sacrifice. And they made vows every one to bring his children and all belonging to him to the God of Jonah; and they made vows and performed them, and concerning them it says, "Upon the proselytes, the proselytes of righteousness."

But for all that the anger of the Lord did not turn, and his hand ‎was still outstretched over Egypt, and the Lord sent all the beasts of the field, and they came ‎and destroyed man and beast, and the trees, and all that was in Egypt. Then the Lord sent fiery ‎serpents, and scorpions, and mice, and rats, and weasels, and other vermin, that creepeth in ‎the dust, as also flies and fleas and all sorts of insects, and they came and tortured the ‎Egyptians, entering even their eyes and their ears. Then the hornets came over them also, and ‎they drove them to hide in their innermost chambers, and the Egyptians had to hide ‎themselves from the swarms of vermin and they locked the doors after them. But the Lord ‎commanded the Tulzoth, the great monster of the sea to come up and invade Egypt; and she ‎had very long arms, ten cubits in length according to the cubits of a man, and she went up and ‎unroofed their houses, and she put forth her arms into the houses and removed the bolts and ‎bars and opened the houses of the Egyptians, and the swarm of animals filled the houses of ‎the Egyptians, to torture them exceedingly.‎