J. W. CT.

Jonah and the Whale (Vol. iii., p. 517.).

—E. J. K. probably founds his unqualified rejection of the word "whale" on the English version, as a presumed more correct interpretation of the corresponding term in the original Hebrew. But it should not be forgotten, that the equal, or perhaps superior authority of the Seventy translators, to that of our best modern interpreters, is becoming daily more apparent. At all events, without a reference to such collateral aid, it is scarcely safe to pronounce on the meaning of any word or passage in the Old Testament. On this subject, among many other works, may be consulted the valuable Lexicon of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, Canon of Winchester; and the learned Apology for the Septuagint, by the Rev. E. W. Grinfield.

In the present case, it is certainly of little consequence, whether the Greek word κῆτος, and the Latin cetus, be translated "whale," or "great fish," both of which may be comprehended under them. Though the former is the usual interpretation, and though the English translators employ the term "great fish" in the passages "Καὶ προσέταξε Κύριος κήτει μεγάλῳ," and "ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους," the commonly accepted word seems more in accordance with an authority of unquestionable importance.

C. H. P.

Brighton, June 28. 1851.

It must have escaped the memory of your correspondent E. J. K., in speaking of the supposed error of calling the "great fish" which swallowed Jonah a "whale," that our Lord, in giving this sign to the Jews, calls it in our English version a "whale" (τοῦ κήτους, St. Matt. xii. 40., this being the word used in the Septuagint version, from which the Evangelists quoted the SS. of the Old Testament).

Surely then there is not any popular error in the term "whale" as expressing the "great fish" of the prophet Jonah, for your correspondent does not go beyond the English version, nor can I say what the word used in the original Hebrew would strictly signify. Κῆτος, it is true, may not, and probably does not, mean anything more definite than the "great fish" of the Hebrew; but certainly our translators, by adopting the term "whale" in the Gospels, have so sanctioned the interpretation, that the error, if such, must be referred to them, and not to any later period, and therefore can hardly be reckoned amongst those of the popular class.

OXONIENSIS.

Walthamstow, June 30. 1851