Jonah 1:17 Is the story of Jonah & the whale true?

¹⁷ Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. -Jonah 1:17 King James Version (KJV)




Spiritual Experiences by Emanuel Swedenborg


#1391 
...Jonah was swallowed by a whale [Jonah i. 17,] which actually happened in the world, as also the miracles of Egypt, and many others which are called miracles.




Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com


538.

...the hells where and from which are falsities, ...those hells where the falsities of evil have rule appear like seas, in the depths of which is the infernal [hellish] crew, which is in the falsities of evil. These hells appear like seas because falsities continually flow out from them, and falsities appear like waters; this is why "waters" in the Word also signify falsities. Moreover, from the waters themselves the quality of the falsity there is known, for falsities are of many kinds, as many as there are evils. Falsities that are from grievous evils appear over those hells like dense and black waters, and falsities from the evil of the love of self like ruddy waters, the density and color making evident the kind of falsity. It must be remembered that in the spiritual world truths also appear like waters, but like limpid [completely clear and transparent] and pure waters... [Hells] are called in the Word "seas" and "abysses," "seas" because they appear like seas, and "abysses" from their depth. [2] That "seas," "depths," and "abysses" signify the hells where and from which are the falsities of evil, can be seen in the following passages of the Word... [11] In Jonah: Out of the belly of hell have I cried; Thou hast heard my voice. Thou hadst cast me into the depth, even into the heart of the seas; and the river was round about me; all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me. The waters enclosed me about even to the soul; the abyss encompassed me round about, the sedge [a plant like grass that grows in wet ground or near water] was wrapped about my head. I went down to the cuttings off of the mountains; the bars of the earth are upon me forever; yet Thou hast made my life to come up out of the pit (2:2, 3, 5, 6). The Lord teaches in Matthew (12:39, 40; 16:4; Luke 11:29, 30), that Jonah's being in the whale three days and three nights represented that the Lord would thus be in the heart of the earth; and these words of Jonah describe the Lord's direful temptations. And because it is by the overflow of evils and falsities that come up out of hell, and as it were overwhelm, that temptations exist, it is said that "out of the belly of hell he cried," and that "he was cast into the depth, even into the heart of the seas," which signifies hell; "the river and the waters that enclosed him," and "the billows and waves that passed over," signify the evils and falsities from hell; "the abyss that encompassed round about," signifies the hells where and from which are the falsities; "the cuttings off of the mountains to which he went down," signify the hells where and from which are evils; that the Lord was as it were bound by these is signified by "the sedge wrapped about the head," and "the bars of the earth that were upon him," "wrapped by sedge" signifying to be bound as it were by falsities, and "the bars of the earth" signifying to be bound as it were by evils... In the ...following passages of Revelation: The beast that came up out of the abyss and made war (11:7). The beast that thou sawest was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss (17:8). I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain upon his hand. And he bound the dragon a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss (20:1-3). In these passages, also, "the abyss" and "the depth of the sea" signify the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil; for the reason that the evil spirits who are there, and who while they lived as men in the world were in the falsities of evil, seem to dwell as it were in the bottom of the seas, and this the more deeply according to the grievousness of the evil from which was their falsity. [14] As "abysses" signify the hells, where and from which are falsities, so "abysses" signify also the ultimates [or lowest outer regions] of heaven, where and from which are the knowledges of truth, which are the truths of the natural man. This is because the ultimates of heaven appear to be in waters, but such as are limpid and clear; for, as was said above, the atmosphere of the highest heaven is like an ethereal atmosphere, that of the middle heaven like an aerial atmosphere, and that of the lowest heaven like a watery atmosphere; this is like a watery atmosphere because the truths with those who are in it are truths of the natural man, and the atmosphere of the natural man is as it were watery. This is what gives rise to the appearances of rivers, lakes, and seas, in the spiritual world; consequently "seas" signify also cognitions and knowledges in general, or in the whole complex (see above, n. 275, 342)...




Doctrine of Sacred Scriptures, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1763], tr. by John F. Potts [1904] at sacred-texts.com
29
...by "three" in the Word in the spiritual sense is meant what is complete and perfect; and also the whole simultaneously. And... it is employed in the Word whenever any such thing is marked out for notice. As in the following passages: ...Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Matt. 13:33). Jesus said unto Peter that he should deny Him thrice (Matt. 26:34). The Lord said three times unto Peter, Lovest thou Me? (John 21:15-17). Jonah was in the whale's belly three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). Jesus said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19; Matt. 26:61). Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39-44). Jesus rose again on the third day (Matt. 28:1). Besides many other passages where the number "three" is mentioned; and it is mentioned wherever a finished and perfect work is treated of, because this is signified by that number.