belly of Sheol, Jonah is protected from the noise and clamour of all that had threatened him. His safe haven is not unlike the place he sought in the bowels of the ship, a place of refuge far away (he hoped) from the demands of the world and the call of God. As we shall see, the wriggling prophet is not going to be let off the hook of God’s call. But might there be a reason why God chose a great fish to swallow him? Had he been rescued by a heavenly chariot, for example, such as the one in which