Albert Barnes Commentary Jonah 1:7

"And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah." — Jonah 1:7 (ASV)

Come, and let us cast lots. Jonah too had probably prayed, and his prayers also were not heard. Probably, too, the storm had some unusual character about it: the suddenness with which it burst upon them, its violence, the direction from which it came, its whirlwind force.

“They knew the nature of the sea and, as experienced sailors, were acquainted with the character of wind and storm. Had these waves been such as they had known before, they would never have sought by lot for the one responsible for the threatened wreck, or, by an uncertain thing, sought to escape certain peril.”

God, who sent the storm to arrest Jonah and to cause him to be thrown into the sea, provided that its character would lead the mariners to divine why it came. Even when working great miracles, God brings about, through human actions, all the preceding events, all but the final act, in which He puts forth His might. Just as, among His people, He directed the lot to fall upon Achan or upon Jonathan, so here He overruled the lots of the pagan sailors to accomplish His purpose.

“We must not, on this precedent, immediately trust in lots, or combine this testimony with that from the Acts of the Apostles, when Matthias was elected by lot to the apostolate, since the privileges of individuals cannot form a common law.”

Lots, according to the purposes for which they were cast, were for:

1. Dividing.

   The lot for dividing is not wrong if not used:

   1. “Without any necessity, for this would be to tempt God.”

   2. “If in case of necessity, not without reverence for God, as if Holy Scripture were used for an earthly purpose,” as in determining any secular matter by opening the Bible.

   3. For objects which ought to be decided otherwise (for example, an office ought to be given to the fittest).

   4. In dependence upon any other than God (Proverbs 16:33). The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is the Lord’s.

   So then they are lawful “in secular things which cannot otherwise be conveniently distributed,” or “when there is no apparent reason why, in any advantage or disadvantage, one should be preferred to another.” Augustine even allows that, in a time of plague or persecution, the lot might be cast to decide who should remain to administer the sacraments to the people, lest, on the one hand, all should be taken away, or, on the other, the Church be deserted.

2. Consulting.

   The lot for consulting, that is, to decide what one should do, is wrong, unless in a matter of mere indifference, or under inspiration of God, or in some extreme necessity where all human means fail.

3. Divining.

   The lot for divining, that is, to learn truth, whether of things present or future, of which we can have no human knowledge, is wrong, except by direct inspiration of God. For it is either to tempt God who has not promised so to reveal things, or, against God, to seek superhuman knowledge by ways unsanctioned by Him. Satan may readily involve himself unknown in such inquiries, as in mesmerism. Forbidden ground is his own province.

God overruled the lot in the case of Jonah, just as He did the sign which the Philistines sought. “He made the heifers take the way to Bethshemesh, so that the Philistines might know that the plague came to them, not by chance, but from Himself.” “The fugitive (Jonah) was taken by lot, not by any virtue of the lots, especially the lots of pagans, but by the will of Him who guided the uncertain lots.”

“The lot betrayed the culprit. Yet not even then did they throw him overboard. Even while such a tumult and storm lay upon them, they held, as it were, a court in the vessel, as though in entire peace. They allowed him a hearing and defense, and sifted everything accurately, like men who were to give an account of their judgment.

Hear them sifting everything as in a court: the roaring sea accused him; the lot convicted and witnessed against him. Yet not even then did they pronounce judgment against him, until the accused became the accuser of his own sin.

The sailors, uneducated, untaught, imitated the good order of courts. When the sea scarcely allowed them to breathe, from where did such forethought about the prophet come? It was by the disposal of God.

For God by all this instructed the prophet to be humane and mild, all but saying aloud to him: ‘Imitate these uninstructed sailors. They do not think lightly of one soul, nor are unsparing concerning one body—your own. But you, for your part, gave up a whole city with so many thousands. They, discovering you to be the cause of the evils that befell them, did not even then hurry to condemn you. You, having nothing of which to accuse the Ninevites, sank them and destroyed them. You, when I commanded you to go and by your preaching call them to repentance, did not obey. These men, untaught, do all, try everything, in order to recover you, already condemned, from punishment.’”