30. — [Jonas was a sign.] The likeness between Jonas and our Lord has been variousij explained. The three days and nights daring which Jonah was in the whale's belly, and his coming forth alive at the end of them, are undoubtedly the principsd point. They were a type of our Lord being in the grave, and rising again the third day. — ^The forty days after which Nineveh was to be destroyed are probably another point. They were a type of the forty years which elapsed between our Lord's minis- try and the destruction of Jerusalem. — The mighty fact of the resurrection is unquestionably the main point in the tvpe. It was the hinge on which the whole Gospel turned, and the truth which the apostles constantly pressed on the Jews.
81. — [The qiteen of the south.] It need hardly be remarked that the person so described is the queen of Sheba of the Old Testa- ment. (1 Kings X. 1.) • Her name is not known at all. Her do- minions are not known with certainty. Some think that they were in Arabia. Some think they were in Ethiopia. "The utmost parts of the earth " must be interpreted with qualifica- tion, as a very distant land.
[A greater than Solotnon.] Let it be noted, that both here and in the end of the following verses, the Greek word translated " a greater," is literally " a greater thing." It is not improbable that the ** thing " referred to is " the sign." — ^There is one here who is a sign of far greater moment than either Jonah or Solomon,
Let it be observed, that the point in which the queen of the South surpassed the Jews of our Lord's time and put them to shame, was ** faith." She had faith enough to c<^me a long journey to hear a wise man. The Jews, on the other hand, had " the wis- dom of God" actually in the midst of them, preaching and teach ing for three years, and yet they would not believe.
Let it be observed, that the point in which the Ninevites surpassed the Jews and put them to shame, was repentance. Thev had among them for a short time a prophet, and a very weal and erring prophet too. Yet they repented and turned to God. The Jews had among them the mightiest and most faith- M preacher that ever warned a people, and yet they would not repent.
In this, as well as in other passages, we should not fail to remark that our Lord speaks of the story of Jonah as an un- doubtedly true story, and of Jonah himself and the queen of Sheba as real persons. The modem theory which says that the histories of the Old Testament are nothing better than amusing fables, finds no countenance in the New Testament.
Here again, as well as elsewhere, we see the general judgment and the resurrection spoken of as events which will undoubtedly take place, and events in which the saints of the Old Testament are as much and really interested as those who lived after Christ's ministry began.