The whale tribe are included under the general Hebrew name Tannin ( Genesis 1:21; Lamentations 4:3 ). "Even the sea-monsters [tanninim] draw out the breast." The whale brings forth its young alive, and suckles them.
It is to be noticed of the story of Jonah's being "three days and three nights in the whale's belly," as recorded in Matthew 12:40 , that here the Gr. ketos means properly any kind of sea-monster of the shark or the whale tribe, and that in the book of (Jonah 1:17 ) it is only said that "a great fish" was prepared to swallow Jonah. This fish may have been, therefore, some great shark. The white shark is known to frequent the Mediterranean Sea, and is sometimes found 30 feet in length.
Easton's Bible Dictionary was written by Matthew George Easton, who lived from 1823-1894. This Scottish Presbyterian's other significant literary achievements were his English translations of two of Franz Delitzsch's commentaries. The nearly 4,000 entries cover material from Aaron to Zuzims!Wikipedia
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