After being cast from 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 then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.

Jonah is the Old Testament prophet of the Northern Kingdom, the successor of the prophet Elisha. It was under Jeroboam II that the "increment" of the territory of Israel predicted by Jonah was realized as a result of the successful war with Syria for the Northern Kingdom. Jonah is the oldest of the Jewish prophets, whose scripture has come down to our time.