Charles Ellicott Commentary Jonah 1

JONAH’S DISOBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT.

Now ...—More strictly, And; but the English quite adequately represents the Hebrew style of beginning a narrative, whether it formed a book by itself or merely continued an historical account. (See the opening of Exodus, Leviticus, and other historical books; Ezekiel 1:1; and compare to 1 Kings 17:1, etc.)

Jonah the son of Amittai.— See Introduction.

Nineveh, that great city.— The size of Nineveh is throughout the book brought into prominent notice. (Jonah 4:11.) The traditions preserved in Greek and Roman writers dwell on the same feature, and modern research among the huge mounds scattered along the left bank of the Tigris more than confirms the impression produced on the ancient world by the city, or rather group of cities, buried beneath them. (Compare to Genesis 10:11.)

Cry.— A common word for a proclamation by a herald or a prophet. (Compare to Isaiah 40:6, and so on.) The English word, in the sense of “proclaim,” lingers in the term “public crier.”

For their wickedness is come up before me. —“Every iniquity has its own voice at the hidden judgment seat of God” (S. Gregory, Mor. v. 20; quoted by Pusey). But, as Pusey remarks, the Hebrew implies especially evil-doing against others, that violence which in Jonah 3:8 is recognised by the Ninevites themselves as their characteristic sin.

But Jonah rose up to flee.— The motive of the prophet’s flight is given by himself (Jonah 4:2). He foresaw the repentance of the city, and the mercy that would be displayed toward it, and was either jealous of his prophetic reputation, or had a patriotic dislike of becoming a messenger of good to a heathen foe so formidable to his own country.

Tarshish.— This can hardly be any other than Tartessus, an ancient Phoenician colony on the river Guadalquivir, in the southwest of Spain. (1 Chronicles 1:7.)

A profound moral lesson lies in the choice of this refuge by Jonah. A man who tries to escape from a clearly recognized duty—especially if he can at the time supply conscience with a plausible excuse—is in danger of falling all the lower, in proportion as his position was high. Jonah, commanded to go to Nineveh, in the far northeast, instantly tries to flee to the then farthest west. Often between the saintly height and an abyss of sin there is no middle resting-point. The man with the highest ideal, when unfaithful to it, is apt to sink lower than the ordinary mortal.

From the presence of the Lord.— Rather, from before the face of Jehovah. The words may imply:

1. The belief in a possibility of hiding from the sight of God , a belief that, as we gather from the insistence on its opposite in Psalm 139:0, lingered late in the popular conception.
2. A renunciation of the prophetic office (1 Kings 17:1).
3. Flight from the Holy Land, where the Divine presence was understood to be especially manifested.

Commentators have generally rejected the first of these as implying ignorance unworthy of a prophet. However, on embarking, Jonah went below, as if to hide even more securely, and used the same expression to the mariners, who would certainly take it in its literal and popular sense.

Joppa. —Hebrew, Yâpho; now Jaffa, the port of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 2:16.)

He found a ship. —Probably a Phoenician vessel trading between Egypt and Spain, and accustomed to touch at Joppa.

Sent out. —The Hebrew word (see margin, and compare to Jonah 1:5; Jonah 1:12; Jonah 1:15, where the same word is rendered “cast forth”) expresses the sudden burst of the storm. A squall struck the ship. The coast was well known to sailors as dangerous. (See Josephus, Antiquities xv. 9, § 6, The Jewish War iii. 9, § 3.)

So that the ship was likely to break apart.— See margin for the literal expression, which is that of a sailor to whom the ship is a living thing, with feelings, hopes, and fears. For the word break, in the sense of shipwreck (compare to naufragium), see 1 Kings 22:48.

And cried every man to his god. —If Phoenicians, the sailors would have their favorite deities in the national Pantheon; but they may have been a motley crew composed of various nationalities. For the panic, compare Psalms 107:23-30, and Shakespeare’s Tempest,

“All lost! to prayers! to prayers, all lost!”

Wares. —The Hebrew word is of general import, signifying furniture of any kind, and so includes all the movables in the ship. The cargo would probably, as in the case of St. Paul’s shipwreck, be reserved until the last extremity.

To lighten it of them.— This gives the sense, though the Hebrew idiom appears to mean, to give themselves relief. (Compare Exodus 18:22, “So shall it be easier for thyself; ” 1 Kings 12:10, “Make thou it lighter unto us.”)

Sides.— Rather, recesses. The word is used of the inner part of the Temple (1 Kings 6:16), of a cave (1 Samuel 24:3), of a dwelling-house (Psalms 128:3).

Ship. —The Hebrew word is different from the word used earlier in the verse and is peculiar to this passage. Its derivation from a root meaning “to cover with boards,” indicates a decked vessel. Jonah had gone below into the cabin, the natural course for a man fleeing from a disagreeable duty. To stand on deck and watch the slowly receding shore would have been mental torture.

And was fast asleep.— The fatigue of the hasty flight to the seashore accounts for this deep slumber. The same expression is used of Sisera (Judges 4:21). Besides, when a resolution is once irrevocably (as we think) taken, conscience ceases to disturb with its wakeful warning, and the restlessness of remorse has not yet arrived. There is a brief time during which “the exile from himself can flee.”