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As far as the claim that the solar eclipse happened at the exact same time Jonah was in Nineveh, astronomers do confirm that it’s possible that within a ten-year window at approximately the same time period Jonah was in Nineveh there was an eclipse.

However, that’s not precisely the exact same time, it’s a ten-year window. But whether or not there was an eclipse isn’t really relevant, because in the book of Jonah it wasn’t the eclipse that got everyone’s attention, it was the fact that he survived 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a whale or great fish, that happened to spit him up on the shore. 

The Ninevites worshipped the goddess Inanna sometimes called Nina who was depicted as a fish within a house. So, when the great fish spit Jonah out and he actually survived he instantly captured everyone’s attention.

The fact that Jesus was alive after 3 days and 3 nights was the miraculous sign that caused all of Nineveh to repent not an astronomical sign in the heavens. Furthermore, Jesus in Matthew 12:39-40 was interpreting what the “sign of Jonah” actually is. 

It is NOT a star formation in the heavens.

Jesus made it clear that the sign of Jonah was a sign of His death, burial and ultimately His resurrection, when He would rise from the dead after 3 days. Do not be confused or misled.

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