Who was the prophet swallowed by a great fish?

The prophet swallowed by a great fish was Jonah.

In the Book of Jonah, God sends Jonah to warn Nineveh, but Jonah tries to escape by ship toward Tarshish. A violent storm threatens the sailors, and Jonah acknowledges that his disobedience is responsible. After he is thrown overboard, the sea becomes calm and God provides a great fish to swallow him.

Jonah remains inside the fish for three days and three nights, praying and promising to fulfill his vow. The fish then vomits him onto dry land, and Jonah finally travels to Nineveh. The city’s people repent after hearing his warning, which becomes the story’s central moral reversal.

A common mix-up is calling the animal a whale. The Hebrew wording means “great fish” and does not identify a species. The Book of Jonah also differs from the Gospel of Matthew’s wording and from later artistic tradition, which helped make “Jonah and the whale” the familiar expression.