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as = just as. The Lord was dead, therefore Jonah must have been. Nothing is said about his being "preserved alive". That "sign" would have had no relation to what is here signified. See notes on Jonah.
three nights. Apart from these words, "three days" might mean any portion of a day. But "three nights" forbids this interpretation. See App-144and App-156. Quoted from Jon_1:17.
the whale's. Greek. ketos. Occ only here. There is nothing about "a whale" either in the Hebrew of Jonah (Mat_1:17) or in the Greek here. The "great fish" was specially "prepared" by its Creator. See Jon_1:17.
the heart of the earth = in the earth: i.e. the sepulchre, or tomb, Mat_27:60. Mar_15:46. Luk_23:53. Joh_19:40. Act_13:29. It is the Figure of speech Pleonasm (a Hebraism), App-6, = the midst, or "in". See Exo_15:8. Psa_46:2. 2Sa_18:14. Deu_4:11. In any case it is not "the centre", any more than the heart is in the centre of the body, instead of near the top. We are to conclude that the Lord establishes "the literal validity of the history of Jonah", inasmuch as He spoke "not His own words but only words of the Father" (see Joh_7:16; Joh_8:28, Joh_8:46, Joh_8:47; Joh_12:49; Joh_14:10, Joh_14:24; Joh_17:8); so that the assertions of modern critics are perilously near blasphemy against God Himself
earth. Greek. ge. App-129.