Timeline · Jonah 1:17
The Sign of Jonah
Asked for a sign, Jesus gave only one: the sign of the prophet Jonah. Here is every place the scriptures take it up, from the fish to the empty tomb.
8 references · in the order they were spoken
Jonah
- c. 780 BCJonah, fleeing NinevehJonah 1:17 (CCE 1:5) ↗
“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
- c. 780 BCAfter Jonah’s prayer from the fishJonah 2:10 (CCE 1:5) ↗
“And the Lord spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”
The sign he gives
- c. AD 30Jesus, to scribes and Pharisees who ask for a signMatthew 12:39–40 (CCE 6:15) ↗
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
In the harmony: Blasphemy of the Scribes; Jesus’ True Family → - c. AD 30Jesus, to the Pharisees and SadduceesMatthew 16:4 (CCE 8:15) ↗
“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
In the harmony: Healing the Deaf & Blind; the Leaven of the Pharisees → - c. AD 30Jesus, to the PhariseesJSTMark 8:12 (CCE 4:17) ↗
“there shall be no sign given unto this generation save the sign of the prophet Jonah; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so likewise shall the Son of Man be buried in the bowels of the earth.”
In the harmony: Healing the Deaf & Blind; the Leaven of the Pharisees → - c. AD 30Jesus, to the gathering crowdLuke 11:29–30 (CCE 8:14) ↗
“They seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given them but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation.”
In the harmony: Warnings, Woes & Fear Not →
The three days
- c. AD 30The chief priests and Pharisees, to PilateMatthew 27:63–64 (CCE 12:33) ↗
“Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day”
In the harmony: The Burial → - c. AD 30The angel, at the tombMatthew 28:6 (CCE 13:1) ↗
“He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
In the harmony: The Empty Tomb →
Quoted from the Covenant Christian Edition on scriptures.info; numbering is traditional first, with the CCE reference in parentheses. See also the other timelines.