Riddle me this, bible scholars: reading through Genesis 1, it seems like god singles out whales as being particularly significant. They’re the first animals to get created (1:21), other sea creatures get created afterwards, and then when mankind shows up we get dominion over, specifically: the “fish of the sea”, birds, and “creeping things that creepeth” (1:26).

But NOT whales. They are the only animals created by god which get to escape the dominion of mankind. Is that why one ate Jonah later on? Was this supposed to be a major plot point, but which became less relevant after most of the action moved onto the land?

Please tell me that this isn’t like the “whoever finds a treetop, he will get the master magic” line at the beginning of the Kalevala which nobody ever mentions again. I read the entire thing, patiently waiting for someone to find a treetop but it never happened. What is the master magic? Is it different from the complete knowledge of the universe Väinämöinen gained from Vipunen to finish his boat? CHECKOV’S GUN, PEOPLE