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Jonah
Chapter One
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 1
This
chapter gives an account of the call and mission of Jonah to go to Nineveh, and
prophesy there, and the reason of it, Jonah 1:1; his
disobedience to it, Jonah 1:3. God's
resentment of it, by sending a storm into the sea, where he was, which
terrified the mariners, and put the ship in danger of being lost, Jonah 1:4; The
discovery of Jonah and his disobedience as the cause of the tempest, and how it
was made, Jonah 1:6; The
casting of him into the sea at his own motion, and with his own consent, though
with great reluctance in the mariners, Jonah 1:11. The
preparation of a fish for him, which swallowed him up, and in which he lived
three days and three nights, Jonah 1:17.
Jonah 1:1 Now
the word of the Lord
came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
YLT
1And there is a word of
Jehovah unto Jonah son of Amittai, saying:
Now the word of the Lord
came unto Jonah the son of Amittai,.... Or, "and the
word of the Lord was"F12ויהי "et
fuit", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "factum fuit", Piscator. ;
not that this is to be considered as connected with something the prophet had
on his mind and in his thoughts when he began to write this book; or as a part
detached from a prophecy not now extant; for it is no unusual thing with the
Hebrews to begin books after this manner, especially historical ones, of which
kind this chiefly is, as the books of Ruth, First and Second Samuel, and
Esther; besides, the ו, "vau", is here not
copulative, but conversive; doing its office by changing the future tense into
the past; which otherwise must have been rendered, "the word of the Lord
shall be", or "shall come"; which would not only give another,
but a wrong sense. "The word of the Lord" often signifies a prophecy
from the Lord; and so the Targum, renders it,
"the
word of prophecy from the Lord;'
and
it may be so interpreted, since Jonah, under a spirit of prophecy, foretold
that Nineveh should be destroyed within forty days; though the phrase here
rather signifies the order and command of the Lord to the prophet to do as is
expressed in Jonah 1:2; whose
name was Jonah "the son of Amittai"; of whom see the introduction to
this book. Who his father Amittai was is not known: if the rule of the Jews
would hold good, that when a prophet mentions his own name, and the name of his
father, he is a prophet, the son of a prophet, then Amittai was one; but this
is not to be depended on. The Syriac version calls him the son of Mathai, or
Matthew; though the Arabians have a notion that Mathai is his mother's name;
and observe that none are called after their mothers but Jonas and Jesus
Christ: but the right name is Amittai, and signifies "my truth"; and
to be sons of truth is an agreeable character of the prophets and ministers of
the word, who should be given to truth, possessed of it, and publish it:
saying; as follows:
Jonah 1:2 2 “Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness
has come up before Me.”
YLT
2`Rise, go unto Nineveh, the
great city, and proclaim against it that their wickedness hath come up before
Me.'
Arise, go to Nineveh, that
great city,.... That is, arise from the place where he was, and leave the
business he was about, and prepare for a long journey to the place mentioned,
and be as expeditious in it as possible. Nineveh was the metropolis of the
Assyrian empire at this time; it was an ancient city built by Ashur, not by
Nimrod; though he by some is said to go into Ashur or Assyria, and build it, Genesis 10:11; and
called it after the name of his son Ninus; for it signifies the mansion or
palace of Ninus; and by most profane writers is called Ninus; according to
Diodorus SiculusF13Bibliothec. l 2. p. 92. , and StraboF14Geograph.
l. 16. p. 507. , it was built by Ninus himself in Assyria, in that part of it
called by him Adiabena. It is said to be a great city, as it must, to be three
days' journey in compass, and to have in it six score thousand infants, besides
men and women, Jonah 3:3. It is
allowed by StraboF15Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 16. p. 507.) to be
larger than Babylon. DiodorusF16Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92. says that
it was in compass of sixty miles; and had a wall a hundred feet high, and so
broad that three chariots or carriages might go abreast upon it; and it had,
fifteen hundred towers, two hundred feet high. Aben Ezra calls it the royal
city of Assyria, which is at this day destroyed; and the wise men of Israel, in
the country of Greece, say it is called Urtia; but, whether so or not, he knew
not:
and cry against it; or prophesy against it, as the Targum; he
was to lift up his voice, and cry aloud, as he passed along in it, that the
inhabitants might hear him; and the more to affect them, and to show that he
was in earnest, and what he delivered was interesting to them, and of the
greatest moment and importance: what he was to cry, preach, or publish, see Jonah 3:2;
for their wickedness is come up before me; it was come
to a very great height; it reached to the heavens; it was not only seen and
known by the Lord, as all things are; but the cry of it was come up to him; it
called aloud for vengeance, for immediate vengeance; the measure of it being
filled up, and the inhabitants ripe for destruction; it was committed openly
and boldly, with much impudence, in the sight of the Lord, as well as against
him; and was no more to be suffered and connived at: it intends and includes
their idolatry, bloodshed, oppression, rapine, fraud, and lying; see Jonah 3:8.
Jonah 1:3 3 But
Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down
to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went
down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
YLT
3And Jonah riseth to flee to
Tarshish from the face of Jehovah, and goeth down [to] Joppa, and findeth a
ship going [to] Tarshish, and he giveth its fare, and goeth down into it, to go
with them to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah.
But Jonah rose up to flee
unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,.... He was not obedient
to the heavenly vision; he rose up, but not to go to Nineveh, but to Tarshish,
the reverse of it; to the sea, as the Targum, the Mediterranean sea, which lay
west, as Nineveh was to the east. Tarshish sometimes is used for the sea; see Psalm 48:7; he
determined to go to sea; he did not care where, or to what place he might find
a ship bound; or to Tarsus in Cilicia, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, Acts 22:3; so
JosephusF17Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2. and Saadiah Gaon; or to
Tunis in Africa, as R. Melasser in Aben Ezra; or to Carthage, as Theodoret, and
others; or Tartessus in Spain, as others. Among this difference of
interpreters, it is hard to say what place it was: it seems best to understand
it of Tarsus. The prophet had better knowledge of God, and of the perfections
of his nature, than to imagine he could flee from his general presence, which is
everywhere, and from which there is no fleeing, Psalm 139:7; but
his view was to flee out of that land where he granted his special presence to
his people; and from that place where were the symbols of his presence, the
ark, the mercy seat, and cherubim, and in which he stood, and ministered before
the Lord; but now upon this order left his post, and deserted his station. The
reasons given of his conduct are various. The Jewish writers suppose that he
concerned more for the glory of Israel than the glory of God; that he was
fearful, should he do as he was bid, the word of the Lord would be carried from
Judea into the Gentile world, and there remain; that he was of opinion that the
Heathens would repent of their sins at his preaching, though Israel did not,
which would turn to the reproach and condemnation of the latter; see Matthew 12:41; and
that he knew that the spirit of prophecy did not dwell upon any out of the land
of Israel, and therefore got as fast as he could out of it, that he might not
be further urged with such a message; which notion is confuted by the instances
of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; to this, sense the Targum inclines, which
adds,
"lest
he should prophesy in the name of the Lord:'
but
there is no need to seek for reasons, and which are given by others; such as
going out of his own country into a foreign one; the length of the journey; the
opposition and difficulties he might expect to meet with; and the risk he
should run of his life, by prophesying in and against the metropolis of the
Assyrian empire, where the king's court and palace were; and he not only a
Heathen, but a sovereign and arbitrary prince; when the true reasons are
suggested by the prophet himself; as that he supposed the people would repent;
he knew that God was gracious and merciful, and upon their repentance would not
inflict the punishment pronounced; and he should be reckoned a false prophet, Jonah 4:2;
and went down to Joppa; a seaport town in the
tribe of Dan, upon the Mediterranean sea, where was a haven of ships, formerly
called Japho, Joshua 19:16; at
this time Joppa, as it was in the times of the apostles: here Peter raised
Dorcas to life, and from hence he was sent for by Cornelius, Acts 9:36; it is
now called Jaffa; of which Monsieur ThevenotF18Travels, par. 1. B.
2. c. 52. p. 208. says,
"it
is a town built upon the top of a rock, whereof there remains no more at
present but some towers; and the port of it was at the foot of the said
rock.--It is at present a place of few inhabitants; and all that is to be seen
of it is a little castle with two towers, one round, and another square; and a
great tower separate from it on one side. There are no houses by the seaside,
but five grottos cut in the rock, of which the fourth is in a place of retreat
for Christians.--There is a harbour still in the same place where it was
formerly; but there is so little water in it, that none but small barks can
enter.'
It
was a very ancient city, saidF19Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 13. to be
older than the flood; and built on a hill so high, that Strabo saysF20Geograph.
l. 16. p. 522. Jerusalem might be seen from thence, which was forty miles from
it. It had its name from Jope the daughter of Aeolus, the wife of Cepheus, the
founder of itF21Stephanus apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2.
p. 865. . Jonah went thither, either from Jerusalem, or from Gathhepher, as
Kimchi and Ben Melech observe: if from the former, it was forty miles to Joppa,
as Jerom says; and if from the latter, it is supposed to be about fifty: a
journey of this length must be some time in performing, which shows with what
deliberation and resolution he sinned in disobeying the divine command:
and he found a ship going to Tarshish; just ready to
put to sea, and bound for this place: Providence seemed to favour him, and
answer to his wishes; from whence it may be observed, that the goodness of an
action, and its acceptableness to God, are not to be concluded from its wished
for success:
so he paid the fare thereof; the freight of the ship;
the whole of it, according to Jarchi; that haste and a quicker dispatch might
be made, and no stay for passengers or goods; but that it might be put under,
sail directly, and he be the sooner out of the land; which, if true, would show
him to be a man of substance; and agrees with a notion of the Jews, and serves
to illustrate and confirm it, that the spirit of prophecy does not dwell upon
any but a rich man; for which reason the above interpreter catches at it; but
Aben Ezra more truly observes, that he paid his part, what came to his share,
what was usual to be paid for a passage to such a place: and whereas it might
be usual then, as now, not to pay till they were arrived at port, and went out
of the ship; he paid his fare at entrance, to secure his passage, lest through
any pretence he should not be took in upon sailing; so determined was he to fly
from God, and disobey his orders:
and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the
presence of the Lord; having paid his fare, he entered the ship directly, lest he
should be left behind; and went down into the cabin perhaps, to go along with
the mariners and merchants, all Heathens to Tarshish, whither they were bound,
in order to be clear of any fresh order from the Lord, to go and prophesy
against Nineveh: here again the Targum adds,
"lest
he should prophesy in the name of the Lord.'
Jonah 1:4 4 But
the Lord
sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so
that the ship was about to be broken up.
YLT
4And Jehovah hath cast a
great wind on the sea, and there is a great tempest in the sea, and the ship
hath reckoned to be broken;
But the Lord sent out a
great wind into the sea,.... He took a wind out of his treasures, and hurled it, as the
wordF23הטיל "projecit",
Mercerus, Drusius; "conjecit", Cocceius. signifies, into the sea:
"into that sea"F24בים "in
mare illud", Mercerus. ; that part of it where the ship was Jonah was in.
Winds are at the command of God, which he raises at his pleasure, and fulfil
his will, and are servants of his that obey his orders: this here was sent in
pursuit of Jonah, to stop him in his voyage, when he thought he had got clear
off, and was safe enough. The Jews sayF25Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol.
10. 1. this was done when he had been one day's voyage:
and there was a great tempest in the sea; which caused
the waves to rise and roar, and become very tumultuous: this wind was an
extraordinary one, like that "laelaps" or storm of wind which came
down into the sea when the disciples of Christ were on it in a ship; or like
the "Euroclydon", in which the Apostle Paul was, Acts 27:14;
so that the ship was like to be broken; it was in
danger of it; it seemed as if it would, the waves of the sea were so strong,
and beat so hard upon it. It is in the original text, "the ship thought it
should be broken"F26חשבה
"putabat", Montanus; "cogitavit", Vatablus, Burkius;
"cogitabat", Drusius, Cocceius. ; that is, the men in it; they that
had the management of it thought nothing less but that it would be dashed to
pieces, and all their goods and lives lost; so great was the hurricane
occasioned by the wind the Lord sent. It may be rendered, "that shipF1האניה "navem iliam", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator. was like", &c. The JewsF2Pirke Eliezer, c. 10.
fol. 10. 1. So Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana in loc. have a notion
that other ships passed to and fro in great tranquillity, and this only was in
distress.
Jonah 1:5 5 Then
the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the
cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.[a] But Jonah
had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast
asleep.
YLT
5and the mariners are
afraid, and cry each unto his god, and cast the goods that [are] in the ship
into the sea, to make [it] light of them; and Jonah hath gone down unto the
sides of the vessel, and he lieth down, and is fast asleep.
Then the mariners were
afraid,.... Perceiving that the storm was not an ordinary, but a
supernatural one; and that the ship and all in it were in extreme danger, and
no probability of being saved. This shows that the storm must be very violent,
to frighten such men who were used to the sea, and to storms, and were
naturally bold and intrepid. The word used signifies "salters", so
called from the salt sea they used, as they are by us "mariners",
from "mare", the "sea"; though R. Japhet in Aben Ezra
thinks the commodity they carried in their vessel was salt:
and cried every man to his god: to help them, and save
them out of their distress. In the ship it seems were men of different nations,
and who worshipped different gods. It was a notion of the Jews, and which
Jarchi mentions as his own, that there were men of the seventy nations of the
earth in it; and as each of them had a different god, they separately called
upon them. The polytheism of the Pagans is to be condemned, and shows the great
uncertainty of their religion; yet this appears to be agreeable to the light of
nature that there is a God, and that God is to be prayed unto, and called upon,
especially in time of trouble:
and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the
sea, to lighten it of them; or, "the
vessels"F3את הכלים
"vasa", V. L. Vatablus, Grotius. , a word the Hebrews use for all
sorts of goods, utensils, &c. it includes, with others, their military
weapons they had to defend themselves, their provisions, the ship's stores or
goods it was freighted with; finding their prayers to their gods were
ineffectual, they betook themselves to this prudential method to lighten the
ship, that they might be able to keep its head above water. So the Targum,
"when
they saw there was no profit in them;'
that
is in the gods they called upon, then they did this; the other was a matter of
religion this a point of prudence; such a step the mariners took that belonged
to the ship in which the Apostle Paul was, Acts 27:18;
but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; into one of
its sides, into a cabin there; the lowest side, as the Targum:
and he lay, and was fast asleep; even snored, as some
versions have it: it may seem strange he should when the wind was so strong and
boisterous; the sea roaring; the waves beating; the ship rolling about; the
mariners hurrying from place to place, and calling to each other to do their
duty; and the passengers crying; and, above all, that he should fall into so
sound a sleep, and continue in it, when he had such a guilty conscience. This
shows that he was asleep in a spiritual as well as in a corporeal sense.
Jonah 1:6 6 So
the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise,
call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not
perish.”
YLT
6And the chief of the
company draweth near to him, and saith to him, `What -- to thee, O sleeper?
rise, call unto thy God, it may be God doth bethink himself of us, and we do
not perish.'
So the shipmaster came to
him,.... The master of the vessel, who had the command of it; or the
governor of it, as Jarchi; though JosephusF4Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9.
c. 10. sect. 2.) distinguishes between the governor and the shipmaster:
"the master of the ropers"F5רב החבל "magister funalis", Munster; "magister
funiculaiorum", so some in;Mercer; "magister funis", Calvin. ,
as it may be rendered; of the sailors, whose business it was to draw the ropes,
to loose or gather the sails, at his command: missing him, very probably, he
sought after him, and found him in the hold, in the bottom of the ship, on one
side of it, fast asleep:
and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? this is not a
time to sleep, when the ship is like to be broke to pieces, all lives lost, and
thine own too: thus the prophet, who was sent to rebuke the greatest monarch in
the world, is himself rebuked by a shipmaster, and a Heathen man. Such an
expostulation as this is proper enough to be used with professors of religion
that are gotten in a spiritual sense into a sleepy and drowsy frame of spirit;
it being an aggravation of it, especially when the nation they are of, the
church of Christ they belong to, and their own persons also, are in danger; see
Romans 13:11 Ephesians 5:14;
arise, call upon thy God; the gods of this
shipmaster and his men were insufficient to help them; they had ears, but they
heard not; nor could they answer them, or relieve them; he is therefore
desirous the prophet would pray to his God, though he was unknown to him; or at
least it suggests that it would better come him to awake, and be up, and
praying to his God, than to lie sleeping there; and the manner in which the
words are expressed, without a copulative, show the hurry of his spirit, the
ardour of his mind, and the haste he was in to have that done he advises to:
every good man has a God to pray unto, a covenant God and Father, and who is a
prayer hearing God; is able to help in time of need, and willing to do it; and
it is the duty and interest of such to call upon him in a time of trouble; yea,
they should arise and stir up themselves to this service; and it may be
observed, that the best of men may sometimes be in such a condition and
circumstances as to need to be stirred up to it by others; see Luke 22:46;
if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not; the supreme
God; for the gods they had prayed to they looked upon as mediators with the
true God they knew not. The shipmaster saw, that, to all human probability,
they were all lost men, just ready to perish; that if they were saved, (as who
knew but they might, upon Jonah's praying to his God?) it must be owing to the
kind thoughts of God towards them; to the serenity of his countenance, and
gracious acceptance of prayer, and his being propitious and merciful through
that means; all which seems to be the import of the word used: so the saving of
sinners in a lost and perishing condition, in which all men are, though all are
not sensible of it, is owing to God's thoughts of peace, to his good will, free
favour, and rich grace in Christ Jesus, and through him, as the propitiatory
sacrifice. The Targum is,
"if
so be mercy may be granted from the Lord, and we perish not.'
Jonah 1:7 7 And
they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot
fell on Jonah.
YLT
7And they say each unto his
neighbour, `Come, and we cast lots, and we know on whose account this evil [is]
on us.' And they cast lots, and the lot falleth on Jonah.
And they said everyone to
his fellow,.... That Jonah awoke and rose up, upon the shipmaster's calling
to him, is certain; but whether or no he called upon his God is not; perhaps he
did: and when his prayer was over, and the storm still continuing, the sailors
said one to another,
come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this
evil is upon us; for, Observing something very uncommon and extraordinary in the
tempest, and all means, both natural and religious, failing to help them; and
though they might know that they were each one of them sinners, yet they
supposed there must be some one notorious sinner among them, that had committed
some very enormous crime, which had drawn the divine resentment upon them to
such a degree; and therefore they proposed to cast a lot, which was an appeal
to the divine Being, in order to find out the guilty person. That the Heathens
used the lot upon occasion is not only manifest from profane writers, but from
the sacred Scriptures; as Haman, and other enemies of God's people; and the
soldiers that attended the cross of Christ, Esther 9:24 Nahum 3:10. Drusius
reports, from Xavierus, of some Heathens sailing to Japan, and other places in
the East Indies, that they used to carry an idol with them, and by lots inquire
of it whither they should go; and whether they should have prosperous winds,
&c.
so they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah; through the
overruling providence and disposing hand of God, which attended this affair;
for, not to inquire whether the use of the lot was lawful or not, or whether
performed in that serious and solemn manner as it should be, if used at all; it
pleased God to interfere in this matter, to direct it to fall on Jonah, with
whom he had a particular concern, being a prophet of his, and having disobeyed
his will; see Proverbs 16:33. The
Syriac version renders it, "the lot of Jonah came up"; that is, the
piece of paper, or whatever it was, on which his name was written, was taken up
first out of the vessel in which the lots were put.
Jonah 1:8 8 Then
they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon
us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country?
And of what people are you?”
YLT
8And they say unto him,
`Declare to us, we pray thee, on what account this evil [is] on us? what [is]
thine occupation, and whence comest thou? what [is] thy country, seeing thou
art not of this people?'
Then they said unto him,
tell us, we pray thee,.... They did not fall upon him at once in an outrageous manner,
and throw him overboard; as it might be thought such men would have done,
considering what they had suffered and lost by means of him; but they use him
with great respect, tenderness, and lenity: and entreat him to tell them
for whose cause this evil was upon them: or rather, as
the Targum,
"for
what this evil is upon us;'
and
so NoldiusF6Concordant. Part. Ebr. p. 182. No. 828. renders the
words; for their inquiry was not about the person for whose cause it was; that
was determined by the lot; but on what account it was; what sin it was he had
been guilty of, which was the cause of it; for they supposed some great sin
must be committed, that had brought down the vengeance of God in such a manner:
what is thine occupation? trade or business? this
question they put, to know whether he had any, or was an idle man; or rather,
whether it was an honest and lawful employment; whether it was by fraud or
violence, by thieving and stealing, he got his livelihood; or by conjuring, and
using the magic art: or else the inquiry was about his present business, what
he was going about; what he was to do at Tarshish when he came there; whether
he was not upon some ill design, and sent on an unlawful errand, and going to
do some ill thing, for which vengeance pursued him, and stopped him:
and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what
people art thou? which questions seem to relate to the same thing, what nation he
was of; and put by different persons, who were eager to learn what countryman
he was, that they might know who was the God he worshipped, and guess at the
crime he had been guilty of.
Jonah 1:9 9 So
he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of
heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
YLT
9And he saith unto them, `A
Hebrew I [am], and Jehovah, God of the heavens, I am reverencing, who made the
sea and the dry land.'
And he said unto them, I am
an Hebrew,.... He does not say a Jew, as the Targum wrongly renders it; for
that would have been false, since he was of the tribe of Zebulun, which was in
the kingdom of Israel, and not of Judah; nor does he say an Israelite, lest he
should be thought to be in the idolatry of that people; but a Hebrew, which was
common to both; and, besides, it not only declared what nation he was of, but
what religion he professed, and who was his God:
and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea
and the dry land; this answers to the other question, what was his occupation or
business? he was one that feared the Lord, that served and worshipped him; a
prophet of the great God, as JosephusF7Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2.
expresses and so Kimchi; the mighty Jehovah, that made the "heavens",
and dwells in them; and from whence that storm of wind came, which had so much
distressed the ship, and still continued: and who made the "sea",
which was now so boisterous and raging, and threatened them with ruin; and
"the dry land", where they would be glad to have been at that
instant. By this description of God, as the prophet designed to set him forth
in his nature and works, so to distinguish him from the gods of Heathens, who
had only particular parts of the universe assigned to them, when his Jehovah
was Lord of all; but where was the prophet's fear and reverence of God when he
fled from him, and disobeyed him? it was not lost, though not in exercise.
Jonah 1:10 10 Then
the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For
the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he
had told them.
YLT
10And the men fear a great
fear, and say unto him, `What [is] this thou hast done!' for the men have known
that from the face of Jehovah he is fleeing, for he hath told them.
Then were the men
exceedingly afraid,.... When they found he was a Hebrew, and that it was the God of
the Hebrews that was angry; of whom they had heard much, and what great and
wonderful things had been done by him, and now had an experience of his power
and providence, and that it was for fleeing from his presence that all this
was; and therefore, since they had been guilty of greater sins than this, as
they might imagine, what would be done to them? and particularly it might fill
them with dread and terror, when they heard of the destruction of Nineveh, the
prophet was sent to denounce; of which no doubt he had told them, and they
might from hence conclude it would certainly be:
and said unto him, why hast thou done this? they wonder
he should act such a foolish part as to flee from such a God he had described
to them, who was Lord of heaven, earth, and sea; and therefore could meet with
him, and seize him, be he where he would; and they reprove him for it, and the
rather as it had involved them in so much distress and danger:
for the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord,
because he had told them; not when he first
entered into the ship, but now, though not before mentioned; for no doubt Jonah
told the whole story at length, though the whole is not recorded; how that he
was sent by the Lord with a message to Nineveh, to denounce destruction to it;
and that he refused to go, and fled from his face; and this was the true reason
of the storm.
Jonah 1:11 11 Then
they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for
us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
YLT
11And they say unto him,
`What do we do to thee that the sea may cease from us, for the sea is more and
more tempestuous?'
Then said they unto him,
what shall we do unto thee,.... Though, both by the lot and his own
confession, they knew he was the guilty person; for whose sake this storm was;
yet were unwilling to do anything to him without his will and consent, his
counsel and advice; perceiving that he was a prophet of the God of the Hebrews,
whom he had offended, and knew the mind and will of his God, and the nature of
his offence against him, and what only would appease him they desire him to
tell what they ought to do; fearing that, though they had found out the man,
they should make a mistake in their manner of dealing with him, and so continue
the distress they were in, or increase it; their great concern being to be rid
of the storm:
that the sea may be calm unto us? or "silent"F8וישתק "ut sileat", Pagninus, Vatablus, Mercerus,
Drusius; "et silebit", Montanus; "ut conticeseat", Junius
& Tremellius, Piscator, Burkius. ? for the waves thereof made a hideous
roaring, and lifted up themselves so high, as was terrible to behold; and dashed
with such vehemence against the ship, as threatened it every moment with
destruction:
(for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous); or, "it
went and swelled"F9הולך וסער "ibat et intumescebat", Pagninus, Vatablus,
Drusius. ; it was agitated to and fro, and was in a great ferment, and grew
more and more stormy and tempestuous. Jonah's confession of his sin, and true
repentance for it, were not sufficient; more must be one to appease an angry
God; and what that was the sailors desired to know. These words are inserted in
a parenthesis with us, as if put by the writer of the book, pointing out the
reason of the men's request; but, according to Kimchi: they are their own
words, giving a reason why they were so pressing upon him to know what they
should do with him, "seeing the sea was going and stormy"F11"Vadeus
et turbinans", Montanus; "magis ac magis procellosum erat",
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "inhorrescebat", Cocceius. ; or
more and more stormy; which seems right.
Jonah 1:12 12 And
he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will
become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of
me.”
YLT
12And he saith unto them,
`Lift me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea doth cease from you; for I
know that on my account this great tempest [is] upon you.'
And he said unto them,
take me up, and cast me forth into the sea,.... This he said not as
choosing rather to die than to go to Nineveh; or as having overheard the men
say that they would cast him into the sea, as Aben Ezra suggests, greatly to
the prejudice of the prophet's character; but as being truly sensible of his
sin, and that he righteously deserved to die such a death; and in love to the
lives of innocent men, that they might be saved, and not perish, through his
default; and as a prophet, knowing this to be the mind and will of God, he
cheerfully and in faith submits to it, with a presence of mind and courage suitable
to his character. It was not fit he should leap into the sea and destroy
himself; but that he should die by the hand of justice, of which the shipmaster
and the ship's crew were the proper executioners:
so shall the sea be calm unto you; or "silent",
as before; it will cease from its roaring, and do no further hurt and damage:
for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you; for the sin
he had committed in fleeing from God, this storm was raised and continued; nor
could it go off till they had done what he had directed them to; there was no
other way of being clear of it. In this Jonah was a type of Christ, who
willingly gave himself to suffer and die, that he might appease divine wrath,
satisfy justice, and save men; only with this difference, Jonah suffered for
his own sins, Christ for the sins of others; Jonah to endured a storm he
himself had raised by his sins, Christ to endure a storm others had raised by
their sins.
Jonah 1:13 13 Nevertheless
the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued
to grow more tempestuous against them.
YLT
13And the men row to turn
back unto the dry land, and are not able, for the sea is more and more
tempestuous against them.
Nevertheless, the men
rowed hard to bring it to the land,
but they could not,.... Or, "they digged"F12ויחתרו "et fodiebant", Montanus, Calvin,
Piscator, Tarnovius; "foderunt", Vatablus, Liveleus. ; that is, the
waters of the sea with their oars; not by casting anchor, as Abendana; they
used all their skill and exerted all their strength; they laboured with all
their might and main, as a man digs in a pit; they ploughed the ocean, and
furrowed the sea, as the Latins speak, but all in vain; they rowed against wind
and tide; God, his purposes and providence, were against them; and it was not
possible for them to make land, and get the ship ashore, which they were
desirous of, to save the life of Jonah, as well as their own; for, seeing him
penitent, they had compassion on him; his character and profession as a
prophet, the gravity of the man, the sedateness of his countenance, his
openness of mind, and his willingness to die, wrought greatly upon the men,
that they would fain have saved him if they could; and perhaps being Heathens,
and not knowing thoroughly the nature of his offence, might think he did not deserve
to die; but all their endeavours to save him were to no purpose:
for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them; it grew more
and more so; the storm beat right against them, and drove them back faster than
they came; so that it was impossible to stand against it.
Jonah 1:14 14 Therefore
they cried out to the Lord
and said, “We pray, O Lord,
please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with
innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased
You.”
YLT
14And they cry unto Jehovah,
and say, `We pray Thee, O Jehovah, let us not, we pray Thee, perish for this
man's life, and do not lay on us innocent blood, for Thou, Jehovah, as Thou
hast pleased, Thou hast done.'
Wherefore they cried unto
the Lord,.... Not unto their gods, but unto the true Jehovah, the God of
Jonah, and of the Hebrews; whom they now, by this providence, and Jonah's
discourse, had some convictions and knowledge of as the true God; and therefore
direct their prayer to him, before they cast the prophet into the sea:
and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee; which
repetition shows the ardent, vehemence, and earnestness of their minds in
prayer:
let us not perish for this man's life; they were in
the utmost perplexity of mind, not knowing well what to do; they saw they must
perish by the storm, if they saved his life; and they were afraid their should
perish, if they took it away; and which yet they were obliged to do; and
therefore had no other way left but to pray to the Lord they might not perish
for it; or it be reckoned as their crime, and imputed to them, as follows:
and lay not upon us innocent blood; for so it was to them;
he had done no hurt to them since he had been with them, except in being the
cause of the storm, whereby they had suffered the loss of their goods; however,
had not been guilty of anything worthy of death, as they could observe; and as
for his offence against God, they were not sufficient judges of, and must leave
it with him: the light of nature teaches men to be tender of the lives of
fellow creatures, and to avoid shedding of innocent blood:
for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee; it appeared
to them to be the wilt of God that he should be cast into the sea; from the
storm that was raised on his account; from the determination of the lot; from
the confession of Jonah, and his declaration of the will of God in this matter,
as a prophet of his: they did not pretend to account for it; it was a secret to
them why it should be; but it was no other than what he would have done; and
therefore they hoped no blame would be laid on them.
Jonah 1:15 15 So
they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its
raging.
YLT
15And they lift up Jonah, and
cast him into the sea, and the sea ceaseth from its raging;
So they took up, Jonah,
and cast him forth into the sea,.... They took him out of the hold or cabin
where he was, and brought him upon deck; they took him, not against his will,
but with his full consent, and according to the direction and advice he gave
them: "they", for there were more than one employed in this affair;
one or more very probably took him by the legs, and others put their hands
under his arm holes, and so threw him into the sea:
and the sea ceased from her raging; immediately, and became
a calm; and the wind also ceased from blowing, which is supposed; the end being
answered by the storm, and the person found and obtained, what was sought after
by it, it was still and quiet. The story the JewsF13Pirke Eliezer,
c. 10. fol. 10. 2. tell of his being let down into the sea to his knees, upon
which the sea was calm, but became raging again upon his being taken up; and
so, at the second time, to his navel; and the third time to his neck; is all
fabulous; but he being wholly thrown in, it raged no more.
Jonah 1:16 16 Then
the men feared the Lord
exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.
YLT
16and the men fear Jehovah --
a great fear, and sacrifice a sacrifice to Jehovah, and vow vows.
Then the men feared the
Lord exceedingly,.... This was not a natural fear, as before, but a religious one;
and not a servile fear, or a fear of punishment, but a reverential godly fear;
for they feared him, not only because they saw his power in raising and
stilling the tempest, but his goodness to them in saving them:
and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord; a spiritual
sacrifice; the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for a safe deliverance from
the storm; for other sort of sacrifice they seemed not to have materials for; since
they had thrown overboard what they had in the ship to lighten it, unless there
might be anything left fit for this purpose; but rather, if it is to be
understood of a ceremonial sacrifice, it was offered when they went out of the
ship, according to the gloss of Aben Ezra; or they solemnly declared they
would, as soon as they came to land; to which sense is the Targum,
"and
they said, they would offer a sacrifice:'
and
agreeably to this the words may be rendered, with what follows, thus, "and
offered a sacrifice unto the Lord", that is,
and made vows; they vowed that they would offer a
sacrificeF14So Drusius. when arrived in their own country, or should
return to Judea, and come to Jerusalem. So the Hebrew ו,
"vau", is often usedF15Vid. Nold. Ebr. Part. Concord. p.
280. , as exegetical and explanative; though many interpreters understand the
vows as distinct from the sacrifice; and that they vowed that the God of the
Hebrews should be their God, and that they would for the future serve and
worship him only; that they would become proselytes, as Jarchi; or give alms to
the poor, as Kimchi; as an evidence of their sense of gratitude to God, the
author of their mercies. If these men were truly converted, as it seems as if
they were, they were great gainers by this providence; for though they lost
their worldly goods, they found what was infinitely better, God to be their God
and portion, and all spiritual good thing a with him; and it may be observed of
the wise and wonderful providence of God, that though Jonah refused to go and
preach to the Gentiles at Nineveh, for which he was corrected; yet God made
this dispensation a means of converting other Gentiles.
Jonah 1:17 17 Now
the Lord
had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the
fish three days and three nights.
YLT
17And Jehovah appointeth a
great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three
days and three nights.
Now the Lord had prepared
a great fish to swallow up Jonah,.... Not from the
creation of the world, as say the JewsF16Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol.
10. 2. ; for this is to be understood, not of the formation or making of it;
but of the ordering and disposition of it by the providence of God to be near the
ship, and its mouth open to receive Jonah, as soon as he was cast forth from
thence: and a great one it must be, to take him at once into its mouth, and
swallow him down its throat, and retain him whole in its belly; and such great
fishes there are in the sea, particularly the "carcharias", or dog
fish; the same with Triton's dog, said to swallow Hercules, in which he was
three days; and which fable perhaps took its rise from hence. In Matthew 12:40, it
is said to be a "whale"; but then that must be understood, not as the
proper name of a fish, but as common to all great fishes; otherwise the whale,
properly so called, it is said, has not a swallow large enough to take down a
man; though some deny this, and assert they are capable of it. Of the
"balaena", which is one kind of whale, it is reportedF17Philostrat.
Vit. Apollonii, l. 1. c. 7. , that when it apprehends its young ones in danger,
will take them, and hide them within itself; and then afterwards throw them out
again; and certain it is that the whale is a very great fish, if not the
greatest. PlinyF18Nat. Hist. l. 32, c. 1. speaks of whales six
hundred feet long, and three hundred and sixty broad; and of the bones of a
fish, which were brought to Rome from Joppa, and there shown as a miracle,
which were forty feet long; and said to be the bones of the monstrous fish to
which Andromede at Joppa was exposedF19Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 5. ;
which story seems to be hammered out of this history of Jonah; and the same is
reported by SolinusF20Polyhistor. c. 47. ; however, it is out of
doubt that there are fishes capable of swallowing a man. NierembergiusF21Nat.
Hist. l. 2. c. 26. apud Schotti Physics Curiosa, par. 2. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 9.
speaks of a fish taken near Valencia in Spain, so large that a man on horseback
could stand in its mouth; the cavity of the, brain held seven men; its jaw
bones, which were kept in the Escurial, were seventeen feet long; and two carcasses
were found in its stomach: he says it was called "piscis mularis";
but some learned men took it to be the dog fish before mentioned; and such a
large devouring creature is the shark, of which the present bishop of BergenF23Pantoppidan's
History of Norway, par. 2. p. 114, 116. , and others, interpret this fish here;
in which sometimes has been found the body of a man, and even of a man in
armour, as many writersF24Vid, Lipen. Jonae Displus, c. 2. th. 6. in
Dissert. Theolog. Philol. tom. 1. p. 987. have observed. SomeF25Vid.
Texelii Phoenix, l. 3. c. 6. p. 242, 243. think it was a crocodile, which,
though a river fish, yet, for the most part, is at the entrance of rivers, and
sometimes goes into the sea many miles, and is capable of swallowing a man;
some are above thirty feet long; and in the belly of one of them, in the
Indies, was found a woman with all her clothes onF26Mandelsloe in
Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 1. B. 1. c. 2. p. 759. :
and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights: that is, one
whole natural day, consisting of twenty four hours, and part of two others; the
Jews having no other way of expressing a natural day but by day and night; and
to this the antitype answers; namely, our Lord's being so long in the grave; of
whose death, burial, and resurrection, this was a type, as appears from Matthew 12:40; for
which reason Jonah was so miraculously preserved; and a miracle it was that he
should not in this time be digested in the stomach of the creature; that he was
not suffocated in it, but breathed and lived; and that he was able to bear the
stench of the creature's maw; and that he should have his senses, and be in
such a frame of mind as both to pray and praise; but what is it that the power
of God cannot do? Here some begin the second chapter, and not amiss.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)