Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

◄ Matthew 12:40 ►

New International Version
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

New Living Translation
For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

English Standard Version
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Berean Standard Bible
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Berean Literal Bible
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

King James Bible
For as Jonas 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.

New King James Version
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

New American Standard Bible
for just as JONAH WAS IN THE STOMACH OF THE SEA MONSTER FOR THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

NASB 1995
for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

NASB 1977
for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Legacy Standard Bible
for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Amplified Bible
for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Christian Standard Bible
For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

American Standard Version
for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Contemporary English Version
He was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights, just as the Son of Man will be deep in the earth for three days and nights.

English Revised Version
for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Just as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Good News Translation
In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth.

International Standard Version
because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Majority Standard Bible
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

NET Bible
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

New Heart English Bible
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

Weymouth New Testament
For just as Jonah was three days in the sea-monster's belly, so will the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth.

World English Bible
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
for as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Berean Literal Bible
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Young's Literal Translation
for, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Smith's Literal Translation
For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights; so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

New American Bible
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

New Revised Standard Version
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
For as Jonah was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, thus The Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

NT Translations

Anderson New Testament
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Godbey New Testament
For as Jonah was in the stomach of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Haweis New Testament
for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights; so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Mace New Testament
for as Jonas 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.

Weymouth New Testament
For just as Jonah was three days in the sea-monster's belly, so will the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth.

Worrell New Testament
For, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Worsley New Testament
for as Jonas 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.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

The Sign of Jonah
…39Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Jonah 1:17
Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Luke 11:30
For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

1 Corinthians 15:4
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10:7
or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

Acts 2:27
because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

Acts 2:31
Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay.

John 2:19-21
Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” / “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?” / But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body.

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

Luke 24:46
And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

Hosea 6:2
After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

Psalm 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

Isaiah 53:9
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Matthew 27:63
“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

Mark 8:31
Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.

Mark 9:31
because He was teaching His disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise.”

Treasury of Scripture

For as Jonas 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.

as.

Jonah 1:17
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.

so.

Matthew 16:21
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Matthew 17:23
And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Matthew 27:40,63,64
And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross…

in the heart.

Psalm 63:9
But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

Jonah 2:2-6
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice…

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Matthew 12

1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.

Berean Study Bible

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish
This phrase draws a direct parallel between the experience of Jonah and the forthcoming experience of Jesus. The Greek word for "just as" (καθώς) indicates a comparison that is not merely illustrative but prophetic. Jonah's entrapment in the belly of the fish is a typological foreshadowing of Christ's death and resurrection. Historically, Jonah's ordeal was a sign to the Ninevites, and similarly, Jesus' resurrection would be a sign to the generation of His time. The "three days and three nights" is a Hebrew idiom that signifies a period that includes parts of three days, aligning with the Jewish understanding of time reckoning.

so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
The title "Son of Man" (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου) is a messianic title that Jesus frequently uses for Himself, emphasizing both His humanity and His divine mission. The phrase "in the heart of the earth" metaphorically refers to Jesus' burial and His descent into the grave. The Greek word for "heart" (καρδία) suggests the centrality and depth of His entombment, indicating not just a physical location but a profound spiritual reality. This period in the "heart of the earth" is crucial for the fulfillment of the redemptive plan, as it precedes the triumph of the resurrection. The historical context of burial practices and the significance of the tomb in Jewish culture underscore the gravity of this prophetic statement.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40) As Jonas was three days and three nights.--To understand the words rightly, we have to remember the prominence which our Lord gives to the history of Jonah, and to the repentance of the men of Nineveh, in this and in the parallel passage of Luke 11:29, and in answer to another demand for a sign in Matthew 16:4. In the other passages "the sign of the prophet Jonas" appears with a vague mysteriousness, unexplained. Not a few critics have accordingly inferred from this difference that the explanation given by St. Matthew was an addition to the words actually spoken by our Lord, and that "the sign of the prophet Jonas" was sufficiently fulfilled by His preaching repentance to the wicked and adulterous generation as Jonah had done to the Ninevites. Against this view, however, it may be urged:--(1) That Jonah's work as a preacher was not a "sign" in any sense, and that nothing in his history had this character, except the two narratives of the whale (Jonah 1:17) and the gourd (Jonah 4:6-10). Any reference to the latter is, of course, out of the question; and it remains therefore, in any case, that we must look to the former as that to which our Lord alluded. (2) That the very difficulty presented by the prediction of "three days and three nights" as compared with the six-and-thirty hours (two nights and one day) of the actual history of the Resurrection, is against the probability of the verse having been inserted as a prophecy after the event. (3) That if we believe that our Lord had a distinct prevision of His resurrection, and foretold it, sometimes plainly and sometimes in dark sayings--and of this the Gospels leave no room for doubt (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 26:32; John 2:19)--then the history of Jonah presented an analogy which it was natural that He should notice. It does not necessarily follow that this use of the history as a prophetic symbol of the Resurrection requires us to accept it in the very letter of its details. It was enough, for the purposes of the illustration, that it was familiar and generally accepted. The purely chronological difficulty is explained by the common mode of speech among the Jews, according to which, any part of a day, though it were but a single hour, was for legal purposes considered as a whole. An instance of this mode of speech is found in 1Samuel 30:12-13, and it is possible that in the history of Jonah itself the measurement of time is to be taken with the same laxity. . . .

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 40. - Matthew only. For as Jonas (Jonah, Revised Version) was three days and three nights in the whale's belly. Verbally from the LXX. of Jonah 1:17 (2:1). So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Since, so far as the balance of evidence goes (cf., however, Bishop Westcott, 'Introduction,' p. 344, edit. 1872), the Crucifixion was on Friday and the Resurrection on Sunday, the actual time between them was only one clear day and two parts of days (which might fairly be called three days) and two whole nights. The reckoning, therefore, here is, strictly speaking, inaccurate. The words are perhaps a mere adaptation of the phrase in Jonah, and are here used only to roughly mark the time of our Lord's stay in the grave. Observe, however, that the addition of" nights" tends to emphasize the reality of our Lord's stay there. It was a matter of days and nights; he spent both kinds of earthly time "in the heart of the earth" (cf. Matthew 4:2, note). It will be noticed that the inaccuracy of the wording would, if modern Western habits were alone to be considered, make it most unlikely that the phrase is a later addition; but in view of the early Christian and Jewish method of illustrating events by passages of Scripture which do not apply in all respects, the improbability is not so great as would at first sight appear. However, upon our present information, we must say that the phrase was spoken by our Lord himself, and that although the exact time of his stay in the grave was well known to the early believers, they continued to repeat the saying in the form in which the Lord left it. In the heart of the earth. The form of the expression is derived from Jonah 2:3 (4), "in the heart of the seas" (cf. Exodus 15:8), and would therefore appear to mean some deeper place than the rock-hewn sepulchre. Hence many commentators, beginning with Irenaeus ('Adv. Haer.,' V. 31.) and Tertullian ('De Anima,' Iv.), understand it as directly denoting the place of departed spirits. Ephesians 4:9 ("the lower parts of the earth"), on the contrary, probably refers to the earth as such in contrast to heaven.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

just as
ὥσπερ (hōsper)
Adverb
Strong's 5618: Just as, as, even as. From hos and per; just as, i.e. Exactly like.

Jonah
Ἰωνᾶς (Iōnas)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2495: (Hebrew), Jonah, the Hebrew prophet. Of Hebrew origin; Jonas, the name of two Israelites.

was
ἦν (ēn)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

three
τρεῖς (treis)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5140: Three. Or neuter tria a primary number; 'three'.

days
ἡμέρας (hēmeras)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 2250: A day, the period from sunrise to sunset.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

three
τρεῖς (treis)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5140: Three. Or neuter tria a primary number; 'three'.

nights
νύκτας (nyktas)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3571: The night, night-time. A primary word; 'night'.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

belly
κοιλίᾳ (koilia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2836: From koilos; a cavity, i.e. the abdomen; by implication, the matrix; figuratively, the heart.

of the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

great fish,
κήτους (kētous)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 2785: A sea monster, huge sea fish, whale. Probably from the base of chasma; a huge fish.

so
οὕτως (houtōs)
Adverb
Strong's 3779: Thus, so, in this manner. Or (referring to what precedes or follows).

the
ὁ (ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Son
Υἱὸς (Huios)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5207: A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.

of Man
ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

will be
ἔσται (estai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

three
τρεῖς (treis)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5140: Three. Or neuter tria a primary number; 'three'.

days
ἡμέρας (hēmeras)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 2250: A day, the period from sunrise to sunset.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

three
τρεῖς (treis)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5140: Three. Or neuter tria a primary number; 'three'.

nights
νύκτας (nyktas)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3571: The night, night-time. A primary word; 'night'.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

heart
καρδίᾳ (kardia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2588: Prolonged from a primary kar; the heart, i.e. the thoughts or feelings; also the middle.

of the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

earth.
γῆς (gēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093: Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.

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NT Gospels: Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days (Matt. Mat Mt)