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Why the Assyrians Believed Jonah

The Bible tells us that Jonah, a man, was caught in the belly of a great fish and taken off to Nineveh, where, being ejected from the fish on the banks of the Euphrates, he preached repentance to the Assyrians and they believed him, and they repented of their sin in sackcloth and ashes. This was just a short time before Nineveh was to be destroyed, according to the Book of Jonah itself. What the Bible does not tell us, however, is why the Ninevites should have believed Jonah, or even the witnesses who must have seen him ejected from the fish. Why would the sinful Assyrians believe this man? Maybe here we will see just how much the Bible can come to life once we gain an understanding of ancient history.

The following paragraph is from Diodorus Siculus' Library of History, 2.4.2-4, from the Loeb Classical Library edition, Volume 1 pages 359-361.