Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city–a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

three days

Instead, Jonah boards a ship to Tarshish. Caught in a storm, he orders the ship’s crew to cast him overboard, whereupon he is swallowed by a giant fish. In the New Testament, Jesus calls himself “greater than Jonah” and promises the Pharisees “the sign of Jonah”, which is his resurrection.

Rabbinic sources suppose that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus (better known as Artaxerxes – Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15a, based on the Book of Esther 4, 5), but he was killed by Haman, the wicked prime minister of Ahasuerus (Targum Sheini on Esther, 4, 11).

Hermaphrodites, commonly known as eunuchs, can now choose a gender of their liking and some can even give birth to babies, thanks to a special procedure developed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

In light of these two clues it does seem likely, although not altogether certain, that Daniel and his friends were made eunuchs by the Babylonians. And yet Daniel is one of the most honored and respected figures in the rest of the Bible.

Chileab, also known as Daniel, was the second son of David, King of Israel, according to the Bible. He was David’s son with his third wife Abigail, widow of Nabal the Carmelite, and is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:1, and 2 Samuel 3:3. Chileab is known as Daluyah in 2 Samuel in the Septuagint.

They were spiritually unclean according to the laws of the people of Israel. This eunuch had been a follower of Yahweh for some time now and it would have cost him a small fortune to make the expensive and long pilgrimage all the way from the Nile River Valley to the holy city of Jerusalem to honor God.

Eunuchs were considered the most suitable guards for the many wives or concubines a ruler might have in his palace, and the eunuchs’ confidential position in the harems of princes frequently enabled them to exercise an important influence over their royal masters and even to raise themselves to stations of great trust …

The eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading the Book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 53:7-8. After this, Philip was suddenly taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing” (verse 39).

In the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (445 or 444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Appearing in the Queen’s presence may indicate that he was a eunuch, and in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, he is described as such: eunochos (eunuch), rather than oinochoos (wine-cup-bearer).

Ezra–Nehemiah and Chronicles Of the three, it is generally accepted that Ezra–Nehemiah forms a unified work separate from Chronicles: the many scholars who agree on this include H. G. M. Williamson, Sara Japhet, and Gary Knoppers.

Nehemiah, also spelled Nehemias, (flourished 5th century bc), Jewish leader who supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the mid-5th century bc after his release from captivity by the Persian king Artaxerxes I. He also instituted extensive moral and liturgical reforms in rededicating the Jews to Yahweh.

God instructed Nehemiah to build a wall around Jerusalem to protect its citizens from enemy attack. You see, God is NOT against building walls! And the Old Testament book of Nehemiah records how Nehemiah completed that massive project in record time — just 52 days.