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WHALE. The general name of an order of animals inhabiting the ocean, arranged in zoology under the name of Cete or Cetacea, and belonging to the class Mammalia ... The common whale is of the genus Balna. It is the largest animal of which we have any account ... sometimes 90 feet in length in the northern seas, and in the torrid zone much larger (Webster) (Ge. 1:21; Job 7:12; Eze. 32:2). The fish that swallowed the prophet Jonah is called a "whale" in Mt. 12:40 and "a great fish" in Jonah 1:17. There have been many documented cases of whales swallowing men, and in some cases they have survived. We know that Jonah is not a myth because the Lord Jesus Christ said it is history (Mt. 12:40). [See Bible, Fable, Inspiration , Jonah.]