Misplaced Pages

#30969

110-728: The Biblical prophet Jonah was said to have landed on its shores when he was spat out of the giant fish described in the Hebrew Bible , and a temple was built which stands until today. Many invaders passed through Porphyreon such as Tohomtmos the Egyptian who landed his soldiers on its natural seaport in order to fight the North. Alexander the Great relaxed on its shore preparing for the attack on Tyre. St Peter and St Paul also walked through Jieh several times. In modern times Jieh took some of

220-426: A type for Jesus Christ. Jonah being in swallowed by the giant fish was regarded as a foreshadowing of Jesus's crucifixion and Jonah emerging from the fish after three days was seen as a parallel for Jesus emerging from the tomb after three days. Saint Jerome equates Jonah with Jesus's more nationalistic side, and justifies Jonah's actions by arguing that "Jonah acts thus as a patriot, not so much that he hates

330-591: A "king". According to scholars, no human could realistically survive for three days inside a fish, and the description of the livestock in Nineveh fasting alongside their owners is "silly". Some of these points are countered in the aforementioned lecture of Donald Wiseman. The motif of a protagonist being swallowed by a giant fish or whale became a stock trope of later satirical writings. Similar incidents are recounted in Lucian of Samosata 's A True Story , which

440-906: A barrage of rockets into northern Israel and hence the airstrike. On 23 July 1999 the Lebanese headquarters of the Cellis telephone company in Jeih was destroyed by an Israeli airstike. The strike was part of two extensive air raids on 24/25 July which left Beirut without electricity, five bridges on the Beirut to Sidon road destroyed, as well as a radio station in Baalbek demolished. Eight Lebanese were killed and an estimated $ 52 million damage caused. Two Israeli were killed by Hizbullah rockets in Kiryat Shimona . Foreign investment, however, helped revive

550-678: A blockade of the port, which resulted in artillery exchanges between his forces and a combination of PSP, Lebanese Resistance Regiments , and the Syrian Army in Beirut and the Chouf . At least 90 people were killed and several hundred wounded. Jieh is being rebuilt, albeit at a slower pace than the nearby capital city of Beirut. The town houses some of Lebanon's finest archaeological ruins, some of them buried under modern buildings, others waiting to be dug up by excavators, and others having already been removed and placed in museums. Mosaics depicting

660-438: A candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark,

770-624: A compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as the Jacobites . To win back the Monophysites, Monoenergism was first advocated by Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople . Pope Honorius I (625–638) of Rome naively called for an end to dispute and interpreted Sergius' view as true since Christ exhibited only one will insofar as His sinless human will never disagreed with His divine will. Instead,

880-463: A hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" The Book of Jonah (Yonah יונה) is one of the twelve minor prophets included in the Hebrew Bible. According to one tradition, Jonah was the boy brought back to life by Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings. Another tradition holds that he was

990-520: A landfill in Jiyyeh. This has met some hard opposition by some government ministers and angry locals who don't want their town being turned into a garbage dump, and so at the moment the solution to the problem is not quite clear. The power station oil spill from a July 14-15th 2006 Israeli airstrike released over 16,000 tonnes of crude oil into the Mediterranean sea and threatened marine life along

1100-654: A popular pilgrimage site and a symbol of unity to Jews, Christians, and Muslims across the Middle East. On July 24, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) destroyed the mosque containing the tomb as part of a campaign to destroy religious sanctuaries it deemed to be idolatrous . After Mosul was taken back from ISIL in January 2017, an ancient Assyrian palace built by Esarhaddon dating to around

1210-571: A prominent idea in Jewish thought. This concept is developed in the Book of Jonah: Jonah, the son of truth (the name of his father "Amitai" in Hebrew means truth ), refuses to ask the people of Nineveh to repent. He seeks the truth only, and not forgiveness. When forced to go, his call is heard loud and clear, and the people of Nineveh repent ecstatically, "fasting, including the sheep," and the Jewish text

SECTION 10

#1732791051031

1320-457: A sharp elbow or bend behind the opening, such that not even a human arm would be able to pass through it. Therefore, Jonah could not have been swallowed by a whale shark. Sperm whales , however, appear to be a different matter: They regularly eat giant squid , so presumably one could swallow a human. Similar to a cow, sperm whales have four-chambered stomachs. The first chamber has no gastric juices but has muscular walls to crush its food. On

1430-499: A whale. In English some translations use the word "whale" for Matthew 12:40, while others use "sea creature" or "big fish". In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, naturalists , interpreting the Jonah story as a historical account, became obsessed with trying to identify the exact species of the fish that swallowed Jonah. In the mid-nineteenth century, Edward Bouverie Pusey , professor of Hebrew at Oxford University , claimed that

1540-409: A while. The Quran never mentions Jonah's father, but Muslim tradition teaches that Jonah was from the tribe of Benjamin and that his father was Amittai . Jonah is also mentioned in a few incidents during the lifetime of Muhammad . Quraysh sent their servant, Addas , to serve him grapes for sustenance. Muhammad asked Addas where he was from and the servant replied Nineveh. "The town of Jonah

1650-517: A wine production installation were discovered to the north of the residential quarter. The economy of the settlement could have been based on trade in locally-produced goods, such as olive oil, wine, pottery vessels. Fishing was also practiced, as attested by the equipment discovered on the site: fishing hooks and net sinkers. Jieh is home to many religious groups, mostly Maronite Christians and Shia Muslims with some Melkites , Druze and Sunni Muslims . The Shiite Muslims of this area mainly occupy

1760-402: A wooden spoon, which turned out to be a cornucopia . Nineveh 's current location is marked by excavations of five gates, parts of walls on four sides, and two large mounds: the hill of Kuyunjik and hill of Nabi Yunus. A mosque atop Nabi Yunus was dedicated to the prophet Jonah and contained a shrine, which was revered by both Muslims and Christians as the site of Jonah's tomb. The tomb was

1870-725: Is a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible hailing from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE . He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah , one of the minor prophets , which details his reluctance in delivering the judgment of God to the city of Nineveh (near present-day Mosul ) in the Neo-Assyrian Empire . After he is swallowed by a large sea creature ( Hebrew : דג גדול , romanized :  dāḡ gāḏol , lit.   'large fish') and then released, he returns to

1980-472: Is asked for a sign by some of the scribes and the Pharisees . Jesus says that the sign will be the sign of Jonah : Jonah's restoration after three days and three night inside the great fish prefigures his own resurrection . He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in

2090-450: Is called Dhul-Nūn (Arabic: ذُو ٱلنُّوْن ; meaning "The One of the Fish"). In 4:163 and 6:86, he is referred to as "an apostle of Allah". Surah 37:139–148 retells the full story of Jonah: And verily, Jonah was among the messengers. [Mention] when he ran away to the laden ship. Then (to save it from sinking) he drew straws (with other passengers). He lost and was thrown overboard. Then

2200-459: Is critical of this. The Book of Jonah also highlights the sometimes unstable relationship between two religious needs: comfort and truth. Twelfth-century Jewish rabbi and explorer Petachiah of Regensburg visited Jonah's tomb during his visit to the Holy Land, and wrote: "There is a beautiful palace built over it. Near it is a pleasure garden wherein all kinds of fruit are found. The keeper of

2310-531: Is no distinct pattern that shows that one community carries significantly more Phoenician than another." The Maronite population in Lebanon has a rich history. Its foundation can be traced back to early followers of Maron , who migrated from the region of Antioch to Mount Lebanon. Historically, Lebanese Maronites resided in remote mountain villages and were led by influential noble families. The followers of Jesus Christ first became known as "Christians" in

SECTION 20

#1732791051031

2420-480: Is regarded as a prophet and the narrative of Jonah appears in a surah of the Quran named after him, Yūnus . Many modern Bible scholars suggest the Book of Jonah is fictional, and at least partially satirical. The character of Jonah son of Amittai may have been based on the historical prophet of the same name who prophesied during the reign of King Amaziah of Judah , as mentioned in 2 Kings . Although

2530-505: Is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked" (Luke 11:27 - King James Version): And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, "This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of

2640-934: The Hebrew text reads dag gadol (דג גדול) or, in the Hebrew Masoretic Text , dāḡ gāḏōl (דָּ֣ג גָּד֔וֹל), which means "great fish". The Septuagint translates this phrase into Greek as kētei megalōi (κήτει μεγάλῳ), meaning "huge fish". In Greek mythology , the same word meaning "fish" ( kêtos ) is used to describe the sea monster slain by the hero Perseus that nearly devoured the Princess Andromeda . Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis grandis in his Latin Vulgate . He translated koilia kétous , however, as ventre ceti in Matthew 12:40: this second case occurs only in this verse of

2750-631: The Maronite Church in Lebanon , the largest Christian denomination in the country. The Lebanese Maronite population is concentrated mainly in Mount Lebanon and East Beirut . They are believed to constitute about 30% of the total population of Lebanon. The Maronites and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century through the ruling and social system known as

2860-645: The New Testament . At some point cetus became synonymous with "whale" (the study of whales is now called cetology ). In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as "greate fyshe" and the word kétos (Greek) or cetus (Latin) in Matthew 12:40 as "whale". Tyndale's translation was later incorporated into the Authorized Version of 1611. Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2 has been most often interpreted as

2970-678: The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw headed by Prof. Tomasz Waliszewski. The Polish-Lebanese Archaeological Mission from the PCMA UW conducts its research in cooperation with the DGA and the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art of the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw . In 2004, salvage excavations were conducted due to the construction of a hotel in

3080-616: The " Maronite–Druze dualism ". The 1860 Druze–Maronite conflict led to the establishment of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , an autonomous entity within the Ottoman Empire dominated by Maronites and protected by European powers. In the aftermath of the First World War , the Maronites successfully campaigned for Greater Lebanon carved out from Mount Lebanon and neighboring areas. Under the French Mandate , and until

3190-481: The Book of Jonah as an intentional work of parody or satire . If this is the case, then it was probably admitted into the canon of the Hebrew Bible by sages who misunderstood its satirical nature and mistakenly interpreted it as a serious prophetic work. Jonah himself may have been a historical prophet; he is briefly mentioned in the Second Book of Kings : He restored the border of Israel from

3300-451: The Book of Jonah must have been authored by Jonah himself and argued that the fish story must be historically true, or else it would not have been included in the Bible. Pusey attempted to scientifically catalogue the fish, hoping to "shame those who speak of the miracle of Jonah's preservation in the fish as a thing less credible than any of God's other miraculous doings". The debate over

3410-546: The Book of Jonah was anything other than a literal, historical account. Jonah ( Arabic : يُونُس , romanized :  Yūnus ) is the title of the tenth chapter of the Quran . Yūnus is traditionally viewed as highly important in Islam as a prophet who was faithful to God and delivered His messages. Jonah is the only one of Judaism 's Twelve Minor Prophets to be named in the Quran. In Quran 21:87 and 68:48 , Jonah

Jieh - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-441: The Book of Jonah was not written by Jonah, Calvin declared that the Book of Jonah was Jonah's personal confession of guilt. Calvin sees Jonah's time inside the fish's belly as equivalent to the fires of Hell , intended to correct Jonah and set him on the path of righteousness. Also, unlike Luther, Calvin finds fault with all the characters in the story, describing the sailors on the boat as "hard and iron-hearted, like Cyclops' ",

3630-400: The Book of Jonah, stating that the "experiences of all the prophets except Moses were visions, not actualities." The later scholar Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1509), however, argued that Jonah could have easily survived in the belly of the fish for three days, because "after all, fetuses live nine months without access to fresh air." Teshuva – the ability to repent and be forgiven by God – is

3740-457: The Christian population of the town was forced out. This time the structure sustained heavy damages and for the next six years became a living quarter for Palestinian refugees. Renovations started in 1991 after generous contributions from charitable organizations, local politicians and residents. As soon as the work was completed, 600 students enrolled of whom only 18 were Christians. Today both

3850-783: The Church is that it had never accepted either the Monophysitic views held by their Syriac neighbours, which were condemned in the Council of Chalcedon , or the failed compromise doctrine of Monothelitism (the latter claim being found in contemporary sources). The Maronite Patriarch is traditionally seated in Bkerke , north of Beirut. Lebanese Maronite Christians are concentrated in the north Beirut, northern part of Mount Lebanon Governorate , southern part of North Governorate , parts of Beqaa Governorate and South Governorate . Note that

3960-672: The Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early Eighteenth Century, through a governing and social system known as the " Maronite-Druze dualism " in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate . The Maronites belong to the Maronite Syriac Church of Antioch in Hatay Province , Turkey) is an Eastern Catholic Syriac Church that had affirmed its communion with Rome since 1180, although the official view of

4070-762: The Indian yogi Matsyendranatha "Lord of the Fishes", the Sumerian king Gilgamesh , and the Greek hero Jason . Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa (sometimes transliterated as Joppa or Joppe ). He sets sail for Tarshish . A huge storm arises and

4180-617: The Jieh plant is on its way to full service again. The July 2006 war between the Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces resulted in the fuel stores at the power plant being bombed, leading to a catastrophic environmental disaster with crude oil spilling into the sea. On Friday July 14 at around 3am, the Jieh power plant was struck by missiles from navy destroyers off the Lebanese coast aimed at one of its six fuel tanks. It

4290-480: The Maronites to elect their first Patriarch, John Maroun , that year. This, however, was seen as a usurpation by the then undivided Orthodox Catholic church. Thus, at a time when Islam was rising on the borders of the Byzantine Empire and a united front was necessary to keep out Islamic infiltration, the Maronites were focused on a struggle to retain their independence against imperial power. This situation

4400-472: The Maronites without a leader, a situation which continued because of the final and most devastating Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 . In the aftermath of the war, the Emperor Heraclius propagated a new Christological doctrine in an attempt to unify the various Christian churches of the east, who were divided over accepting the Council of Chalcedon . This doctrine, monothelitism , was meant as

4510-454: The Ninevites, as that he does not want to destroy his own people." Other Christian interpreters, including Saint Augustine and Martin Luther , have taken a directly opposite approach, regarding Jonah as the epitome of envy and jealousness, which they regarded as inherent characteristics of the Jewish people. Luther likewise concludes that the kikayon (plant) represents Judaism, and that

Jieh - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-565: The Patriarch of Constantinople's doctrine and subsequent Monothelitism caused greater controversy and was declared a heresy at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680-681. Contemporary Greek, Latin and Arab sources indicate that the Maronites accepted monothelitism, rejected the sixth council, and continued to maintain a belief in the largely discredited monothelite doctrine for centuries, only moving away from monothelitism in

4730-545: The Roman and Byzantine periods were excavated in the residential quarter. Test pits dug in some of the houses revealed ancient layers, as well as earlier ones – from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Three main phases of the functioning of the domestic architecture were distinguished: The analysis of finds, mainly coins and ceramics, suggests that the settlement was abandoned in the 7th century. A pottery production center and remains of

4840-578: The Switzerland headquarters. This meant that only minor repairs could be done, and so the generators could not run at full capacity. In 1982, the Lebanese Pound fell by a factor of 600 and so Electricite du Liban, Lebanon's government owned power company, could not afford to buy spare parts from overseas for its power stations. Hundreds of communities and ghettos across the country also refused (and still refuse) to pay electricity bills that funded

4950-736: The ancient Greek city of Antioch (Acts 11:26), and the city became a center for Christianity – especially after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. According to Catholic tradition, the first Bishop was Saint Peter before his travels to Rome. The third Bishop was the Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch . Antioch became one of the five original Patriarchates (the Pentarchy ) after Constantine recognized Christianity. The Maronite Christianity derived its name and religious identity from Saint Maron whose followers migrated to

5060-501: The area of Mount Lebanon (present day Republic of Lebanon ) from their previous location of residence around the area of Antioch (an ancient Greek city within present day Hatay Province , Turkey), establishing the nucleus of the Maronite Church . More specifically, Maron, a fourth-century monk and the contemporary and friend of St. John Chrysostom , left Antioch for the Orontes River to lead an ascetic life, following

5170-435: The area of the necropolis. The team documented graves from the Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as large numbers of Hellenistic and Roman pottery vessels, both imported and locally produced. In the following years, work focused on the basilica and the residential quarter. Test pits in the basilica confirmed its use in the 5th century, although it could have been built earlier, i.e., in the 4th century. About 100 rooms dated to

5280-416: The belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here." In Luke, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah in an eschatological prophecy, after a woman in the crowd suddenly exclaims, "Blessed

5390-558: The book are characterized by their militancy, but his name ironically means "dove", a bird which the ancient Israelites associated with peace. Jonah's rejection of God's commands is a parody of the obedience of the prophets described in other Old Testament writings. The king of Nineveh's instant repentance parodies the rulers throughout the other writings of the Old Testament who disregard prophetic warnings, such as Ahab and Zedekiah . The readiness to worship God displayed by

5500-426: The city, crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown." After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast. The king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer and repentance. God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time. The entire city is humbled and broken, with

5610-478: The coast of Lebanon, mainly from Jieh stretching as far north as Syria and Turkey. See Oil pollution from ships in Zouk Mikael . Jieh is divided locally into sub districts namely: Taht el Chir , Beit Madi, Beit Chahine, Haret el Kaneese, Qassouba, Nabi Younes, El Sahl & Maqsabe. Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( Hebrew : יוֹנָה Yōnā , lit.   ' dove ' )

SECTION 50

#1732791051031

5720-450: The collection of Imam Bukhari , says that Muhammad said "One should not say that I am better than Jonah". Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, an older contemporary of Muhammad, taught that, had Jonah not prayed to Allah, he would have remained trapped inside the fish until Judgement Day, but, because of his prayer, Jonah "stayed only a few days within the belly of the fish". The ninth-century Persian historian Al-Tabari records that, while Jonah

5830-541: The contents of the Book of Jonah are ahistorical. Although the prophet Jonah allegedly lived in the eighth century BCE, the Book of Jonah was written centuries later during the time of the Achaemenid Empire . The Hebrew used in the Book of Jonah shows strong influences from Aramaic and the cultural practices described in it match those of the Achaemenid Persians. Some scholars regard

5940-401: The convent and the school are fully restored and became a center of culture and education for students from the southern suburbs of Beirut to Sidon. Jieh is home to Lebanon's largest and oldest thermal power plant. Located on the southern tip of Jieh's border with neighbouring town Wadi El Zeina, this power station houses 5 units; the first two Toshiba units having been installed in 1970, while

6050-490: The course of thousands of years. In a 2013 interview the lead investigator of the National Geographic Society 's Genographic Project , Pierre Zalloua , pointed out that genetic variation preceded religious variation and divisions: "Lebanon already had well-differentiated communities with their own genetic peculiarities, but not significant differences, and religions came as layers of paint on top. There

6160-463: The creature that swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase "large fish". In the 17th century and early 18th century, the species of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation by naturalists , who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Some modern scholars of folklore , on the other hand, note similarities between Jonah and other legendary religious figures, like

6270-430: The day. On the 28 October 2010, St George's Catholic Cemetery was the subject of an attack by graveyard vandals. An exhumed body in the lone casket of one of the tombs was removed, dragged out of its resting place and disfigured. Jieh's main tourist attraction is its 7 km sand strip hosting a set of clean sandy beaches. Close to Beirut and still clean to swim in, Jieh is a go-to destination for beach lovers who like

6380-517: The divine mission. In Judaism , the story of Jonah represents the teaching of repentance in Judaism , the ability to repent to God for forgiveness. In the New Testament of Christianity , Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah" and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah" when referring to his resurrection . Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as the type of Jesus. Jonah in Islam

6490-609: The end of the Second World War , the Maronites gained substantial influence. Post-independence, they dominated Lebanese politics until the 1975–1990 civil war , which ended their supremacy. While the Taif Accords weakened Maronite influence, it endures alongside other dominant Lebanese communities, such as the Shiites and Sunnis . Lebanon's constitution was intended to guarantee political representation for each of

6600-411: The entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah , according to the word of the LORD , the God of Israel , which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai , the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher . In a lecture delivered in 1978 and published in 1979, Assyriologist Donald Wiseman defended the plausibility of many aspects of the story, supporting "the tradition that many features in

6710-404: The environment directly by the council of Barja up in the nearby mountains, the Jieh coastline has been subject to the continual release of unclean water through the Barja to Jieh sewerage canal. This canal routinely dumps Barja's human faeces and other liquid waste into Jieh's coastal waters and directly affects tourism and the environment in this town. There have also recently been plans to build

SECTION 60

#1732791051031

6820-443: The fable hits you right between the eyes", and concludes that the Book of Jonah is a polemic against "the Israelite people's hate and envy towards all the other nations of the earth." Albert Eichhorn was a strong supporter of Michaelis's interpretation. John Calvin and John Hooper regarded the Book of Jonah as a warning to all those who might attempt to flee from the wrath of God. While Luther had been careful to maintain that

6930-492: The first and only one from during the 1970s and mid 1980s until the first unit at Zouk was put into service in 1984. The power station at Jieh was closed for a period after the Israeli invasion in 1982, and so technicians who came to repair the older Toshiba turbines were deterred away from the country due to kidnappings of foreigners and the raging of the civil war. Likewise, the three Brown Boveri turbines had managed to get some service from BBC's India technicians rather than from

7040-478: The first half of the 7th century BCE was discovered beneath the ruined mosque. ISIL had plundered the palace of items to sell on the black market , but some of the artifacts that were more difficult to transport still remained in place. Other reputed locations of Jonah's tomb include: The story of a man surviving after being swallowed by a whale or giant fish is classified in the catalogue of folktale types as ATU 1889G. Many Biblical scholars hold that

7150-428: The fish in the Book of Jonah played a major role during Clarence Darrow 's cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial in 1925. Darrow asked Bryan "When you read that ... the whale swallowed Jonah ... how do you literally interpret that?" Bryan replied that he believed in "a God who can make a whale and can make a man and make both of them do what He pleases." Bryan ultimately admitted that it

7260-424: The fish swam up alongside the Leviathan and Jonah threatened to leash the Leviathan by its tongue and let the other fish eat it. The Leviathan heard Jonah's threats, saw that he was circumcised , and realized that he was protected by the Lord , so it fled in terror, leaving Jonah and the fish alive. The medieval Jewish scholar and rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1092–1167) argued against any literal interpretation of

7370-455: The fish that swallowed Jonah was created in the primordial era and the inside of its mouth was like a synagogue ; the fish's eyes were like windows and a pearl inside its mouth provided further illumination. According to the Midrash , while Jonah was inside the fish, the fish told him that its life was nearly over because soon the Leviathan would eat them both. Jonah promised the fish that he would save them. Following Jonah's directions,

7480-601: The following percentages are estimates only. However, in a country that had last census in 1932, it is difficult to have correct population estimates. The last Census in Lebanon in 1932 put the numbers of Maronites at 60%. A study done by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1985 put the numbers of Maronites at 46% of the population. In 2012, Maronites constituted 31% of Lebanon 's population, according to estimates. The Maronite Church's website claims 1,062,000 members were in Lebanon in 1994 which would have made them around 31% of Lebanon's population. Maronite Catholics are

7590-418: The fourteenth chapter of the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit , the conclusion of which finds Tobit's son, Tobias, rejoicing at the news of Nineveh's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus in apparent fulfillment of Jonah's prophecy against the Assyrian capital. In the New Testament , Jonah is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew and Luke . In Matthew, Jesus makes a reference to Jonah when he

7700-412: The government landlords' rights to preserve historical artifacts found on the said property which directly pertain to all local populous religious beliefs, practices, and or scriptures or text, all of which fall under the world preservation of historical and archaeological acts of 1971. In 1914, Georges Contenau located the basilica , the residential quarter, and the necropolis. The first excavations on

7810-425: The harshest blows of the Lebanese Civil War that raged from 1975 to 1990. Being a coastal town made it vulnerable to the countless numbers of Palestine Liberation Organization raids on the area, as well as Israeli army invasions during the 1980s, , the worst being on January 20, 1976. During the war, the Progressive Socialist Party controlled the seaport at Jieh. In March 1989, General Michel Aoun established

7920-462: The high rise section of Nabi Younes (Prophet Jonah) located in the central western and southern parts of the town on the coast. While the northern and central eastern area is occupied by the Christian and Sunni populous in the section of St. George's and Our Lady of the Star's Cathedrals. The rebuilding of Jieh's two churches took effect a few years after the civil war ended during the construction boom. On

8030-412: The just, son of Amittai !" Muhammad exclaimed. Addas was shocked because he knew that the pagan Arabs had no knowledge of the prophet Jonah. He then asked how Muhammad knew of this man. "We are brothers," Muhammad replied. "Jonah was a Prophet of God and I, too, am a Prophet of God." Addas immediately accepted Islam and kissed the hands and feet of Muhammad. One of the sayings attributed to Muhammad, in

8140-399: The left below is Our Lady of the Star, Maronite Catholic Church whose construction finished in 2017, as well as the new St Georges Church featured to the right. Many Christian families who fled the town of Jieh have sent money back to rebuild Our Lady of the Star, which is now completed and regularly hosts weddings and other religious events. The rebuilding of St George's has also begun. While

8250-523: The maintenance. This, as well as significant electricity piracy, resulted in deteriorating conditions of the power plant at Jieh. On 19 August 1997 the power station was hit by Israeli airstrikes. It was the culmination of a spike in violence which began the day before when two teenagers were killed by a roadside bomb near Jezzine. In response, 18 August, the South Lebanon Army had shelled Sidon, killing seven people. This led to Hizbullah firing

8360-497: The middle of the dispute and erected a Shia mosque without finding a common ground between both Muslim parties and the consent on placement of the facility with the Christian denominations in the area to confirm that the voluminous call to prayers would not be a hindrance upon their religious practices. Jieh also hosts many resorts that take advantage of the 7km of sandy beaches as well as the towns close proximity to Beirut that allows for many people staying in Beirut to easily visit for

8470-937: The modern Gregorian calendar ). In the Armenian Apostolic Church , moveable feasts are held in commemoration of Jonah as a single prophet and as one of the Twelve Minor Prophets . Jonah's mission to the Ninevites is commemorated by the Fast of Nineveh in Syriac and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Jonah is commemorated as a prophet in the Calendar of Saints of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church on 22 September. Christian theologians have traditionally interpreted Jonah as

8580-431: The mountains of Lebanon. Correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, which was solidified by Pope Hormisdas (514–523) on February 10, 518. A monastery was built around the shrine of St. Maro (Marun) after the Council of Chalcedon . The martyrdom of the Patriarch of Antioch in the first decade of the seventh century, either at the hands of Persian soldiers or local Jews, left

8690-404: The narrative exhibit an intimate and accurate knowledge of Assyria which could stem from an historical event as early as the eighth century B.C.", concluding that "the story of Jonah need not be considered as a late story or parable". The views expressed by Jonah in the Book of Jonah are a parody of views held by members of Jewish society at the time when it was written. The primary target of

8800-469: The nation's religious groups. Under the terms of an unwritten agreement known as the National Pact between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Lebanese people is a blend of both indigenous Phoenician elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over

8910-567: The original mosque of the town built directly over the tomb of the Nabi Younes to safe-guard the tomb, built around a century ago by the El Hajj family (one of the predominant Shia families in the village) still lies in ruins due to a dispute between Shia and Sunni factions on the placement and erection of the new facility. This has caused strife between all the religious denominations in the region. More now than ever since Hezbollah stepped into

9020-607: The other hand, it is not possible to breathe inside the sperm whale's stomach because there is no air (but probably methane instead). A 2023 novel by Daniel Kraus explores the idea of a man surviving being swallowed by a sperm whale, but with an oxygen tank. Maronite Christianity in Lebanon Lebanese diaspora : Europe Overseas Middle East Lebanese Maronite Christians ( Arabic : المسيحية المارونية في لبنان ; Classical Syriac : ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ ) refers to Lebanese people who are members of

9130-423: The penitence of the Ninevites as "untrained", and the king of Nineveh as a "novice". Hooper, on the other hand, sees Jonah as the archetypal dissident and the ship he is cast out from as a symbol of the state. Hooper deplores such dissidents, decrying: "Can you live quietly with so many Jonasses? Nay then, throw them into the sea!" In the eighteenth century, German professors were forbidden from teaching that

9240-453: The people (and even the livestock) wearing sackcloth and ashes. Displeased by this, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that God would turn from the threatened calamities. He leaves the city and makes a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed. God causes a plant (in Hebrew a kikayon ) to grow over Jonah's shelter to give him some shade from

9350-597: The plant numerous times until presently, although today the main problem is the lack of adequate fuel supply from the government that is needed to run the plant. Recent deals with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf have been sought to receive discounted fuel to ensure good supply to the power plants. According to current news articles, Jieh's power plant is undergoing extensive maintenance due to neighbouring Syria's recent cut of power supply to parts of Lebanon, meaning that

9460-470: The pleasure garden is a Gentile. Nevertheless, when Gentiles come there he gives them no fruit, but when Jews come he gives them a friendly reception, saying, Jonah, son of Amittai, was a Jew, therefore it is due to you to partake of what is his, and then gives to the Jews to eat thereof." Petachiah did not provide details about the exact location of the tomb. In the Book of Tobit Jonah is mentioned twice in

9570-401: The sailors on the ship and the people of Nineveh contrasts ironically with Jonah's own reluctance, as does Jonah's greater love for kikayon providing him shade than for all the people in Nineveh. The Book of Jonah also employs elements of literary absurdism ; it exaggerates the size of the city of Nineveh to an implausible degree and incorrectly refers to the administrator of the city as

9680-402: The sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and says that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail, and they eventually throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors offer sacrifices to God. After being cast from

9790-482: The sand, the sun, and some waves away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The mainly privately owned beach resorts that occupy the beach front range in themes that cater for all classes of society, including women's only beaches. Jieh is a town that houses the popular St Charbel College. The convent of Saint Charbel and the attached High School are run by the Lebanese Maronite Order of Monks. It

9900-482: The satire may have been a faction whom Morton Smith calls "Separationists", who believed that God would destroy those who disobeyed him, that sinful cities would be obliterated, and that God's mercy did not extend to those outside the Abrahamic covenant . McKenzie and Graham remark that "Jonah is in some ways the most 'orthodox' of Israelite theologians – to make a theological point." Jonah's statements throughout

10010-421: The scene of accidental excavations of a Byzantine-era Christian church and surrounding tombs which had been buried underground for centuries. Nothing is being done to protect them at the moment due to political hearings on the matters of the people versus the government - landlords' rights to preserve historical artifacts found on said property with viable direct ancestry value and or documentation. The people versus

10120-404: The ship, Jonah is swallowed by a large fish, within the belly of which he remains for three days and three nights. While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed. God commands the fish to vomit Jonah out. God again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and prophesy to its inhabitants. This time he travels there and enters

10230-734: The site were carried out in 1975 by Roger Saidah from the Directorate General of Antiquities . They uncovered most of the domestic architecture from the Byzantine period. The outbreak of civil war in Lebanon interrupted the work. The mosaics found during these excavations are currently on display in the museum in Beiteddine. Since 2004, research in Jiyeh has been conducted by the Polish-Lebanese archaeological expedition from

10340-503: The size and habits of the great white shark correspond better to the representations of Jonah's experiences, normally an adult human is too large to be swallowed whole. The development of whaling from the 18th century onwards made it clear that most, if not all, species of whale are incapable of swallowing a human, leading to much controversy about the veracity of the biblical story of Jonah. In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translations),

10450-524: The son of the woman of Shunem brought back to life by Elisha in 2 Kings and that he is called the "son of Amittai " ( Truth ) due to his mother's recognition of Elijah's identity as a prophet in 1 Kings. The Book of Jonah is read every year, in its original Hebrew and in its entirety, on Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement – as the Haftarah at the afternoon mincha prayer. According to Rabbi Eliezer ,

10560-425: The south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. No man, when he hath lighted

10670-519: The story of the Prophet Jonah and the giant fish in the Book of Jonah have been found in churches dug from underground over time. Examples of these are the grand floor mosaics from the Byzantine Empire period, which were so big that trucks were needed to transport them to museums, as was the case with the fine collection owned by Walid Jumblatt , a local politician, which is on display at his Beiteddine Palace Museum . Jieh has recently been

10780-520: The sun. Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant's root and it withers. Jonah, exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him. But God said to Jonah: "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" And he said: "I do. I am angry enough to die." But the LORD said: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight, and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than

10890-575: The three remaining turbines from the Brown Boveri Company in Switzerland were put into service later on between 1980 and 1981. The Toshiba units produce 65MW while the Brown Boveri Company (BBC) units each produce 72MW of electricity, totalling 346MW for the Jieh plant when at full capacity. Although this is only the second highest total capacity after Zouk from Lebanon's 7 thermal power plants, it must be commended for being

11000-542: The time of the crusades in order to avoid being branded heretics by the crusaders. The modern Maronite Church, however, rejects the assertion that the Maronites were ever monothelites separated from the rest of the universal Church. The question remains a cause of significant offence to this day. In 687, the Emperor Justinian II agreed to evacuate many thousand Maronites from Lebanon and settle them elsewhere. The chaos and utter depression which followed led

11110-592: The traditions of Anthony the Great of the Desert and Pachomius . Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle. Following the death of Maron in 410, his disciples built a monastery in his memory and formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church. The Maronites held fast to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. When the Monophysites of Antioch slew 350 monks, the Maronites sought refuge in

11220-482: The whale engulfed him while he was blameworthy. Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah, He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection . But We cast him onto the open (shore), (totally) worn out, and caused a squash plant to grow over him. We (later) sent him (back) to (his city of) at least one hundred thousand people, And they believed, so We allowed them enjoyment for

11330-734: The whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." Jonah is regarded as a saint by a number of Christian denominations. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is on 21 September, according to the Martyrologium Romanum . On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar , Jonah's feast day is on 22 September (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian calendar ; 22 September currently falls in October on

11440-452: The worm which devours it represents Christ. Luther also questioned the idea that the Book of Jonah was ever intended as literal history, commenting that he found it hard to believe that anyone would have interpreted it as such if it were not in the Bible. Luther's antisemitic interpretation of Jonah remained the prevailing interpretation among German Protestants throughout early modern history. J. D. Michaelis comments that "the meaning of

11550-400: Was hit once more the next day when two bridges on the main highway in Jieh were also destroyed by missile attacks. Ongoing black smoke continued to rise from the plant for weeks after the attack as the nearby tankers exploded one after the other from the heat while the remaining tens of thousands of litres of oil spilled endlessly into the Mediterranean sea. As a result of crude violations of

11660-433: Was inside the fish, "none of his bones or members were injured". Al-Tabari also writes that Allah made the body of the fish transparent, allowing Jonah to see the "wonders of the deep" and that Jonah heard all the fish singing praises to Allah. Kisai Marvazi , a tenth-century poet, records that Jonah's father was seventy years old when Jonah was born and that he died soon afterwards, leaving Jonah's mother with nothing but

11770-598: Was mirrored in other Christian communities in the Byzantine Empire and helped facilitate the Muslim conquest of most of Eastern Christendom by the end of the century. The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence , with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war . The Maronite Catholics and

11880-412: Was necessary to interpret the Bible, and is generally regarded as having come off looking like a "buffoon". The largest of all whales – blue whales – are baleen whales which eat plankton ; and "it is commonly said that this species would be choked if it attempted to swallow a herring ." The largest of all fishes – the whale shark — has a large mouth, but its throat is only four inches wide, with

11990-455: Was the direct result of repeated demands by the local residents and two decades of planning and negotiations. Construction was completed in 1965. The mission of this project was to provide education to students of different faiths from Jieh and neighboring villages in the Chouf district south of Beirut. The convent and school were lightly damaged during the 1975 war and then evacuated in 1985 when

12100-467: Was written in the second century CE, and in the novel Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia , published by Rudolf Erich Raspe in 1785. Though art and culture often depicts Jonah's fish as a whale , the Hebrew text, as throughout scripture, refers to no marine species in particular, simply saying "great fish" or "big fish". While some biblical scholars suggest

#30969