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The earliest Christian interpretations of Jonah are found in the Gospel of Matthew ( see and 16: 1-4 ) and the Gospel of Luke ( see Luke 11: 29-32 ).

Both Matthew and Luke record a tradition of Jesus ’ interpretation of the story of Jonah ( notably, Matthew includes two very similar traditions in chapters 12 and 16 ).

As with most Old Testament interpretations found in the New Testament, Jesus ’ interpretation is primarily “ typological ” ( see Typology ( theology )).

Jonah becomes a “ type ” for Jesus.

Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish ; Jesus will spend three days in the grave.

Here, Jesus plays on the imagery of Sheol found in Jonah ’ s prayer.

While Jonah metaphorically declared, “ Out of the belly of Sheol I cried ,” Jesus will literally be in the belly of Sheol.

Finally, Jesus compares his generation to the people of Nineveh.

Jesus fulfills his role as a type of Jonah, however his generation fails to fulfill its role as a type of Nineveh.

Nineveh repented, but Jesus ' generation, which has seen and heard one even greater than Jonah, fails to repent.

Through his typological interpretation of the story of Jonah, Jesus has weighed his generation and found it wanting.