John Calvin Commentary Jonah 1:6

"So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not." — Jonah 1:6 (ASV)

Jonah relates here how he was reproved by the pilot or master of the ship, since he alone slept while all the rest were in anxiety and fear. “What meanest thou, fast sleeper?” The pilot no doubt upbraids Jonah for his sleepiness and reproves him for being almost void of all thought and reflection. “What meanest thou, fast sleeper,” he says; “when you see all the rest smitten with alarm, how can you sleep? Is this not unnatural? Rise, then, and call on thy God.”

We see that where there is no rule of faith, a liberty is commonly taken, so that everyone goes astray here and there. Why was it that the pilot said to Jonah, “Call on thy God,” and that he did not confine him to any certain rule? Because it had been customary in all ages for men to be satisfied with some general apprehension of God; and then everyone, according to his own fancy, formed a god for himself. Nor could it have been otherwise, as I have said, while men were not restrained by any sacred bond.

All agree as to this truth: that there is some God, and also that no dead idol can do anything, but that the world is governed by the providence and power of God, and further, that safety is to be sought from him. All this has been received by the common consent of all; but when we come to particulars, then everyone is in the dark; they do not know how God is to be sought.

Hence everyone takes his own liberty: “For the sake of appeasing God I will then try this; this shall be my mode of securing his favor; the Lord will regard this service as acceptable; in this way shall all my iniquity be expiated, that I may obtain favor with God.” Thus each invents for himself some tortuous way to come to God; and then everyone forms a god peculiar to himself.

Therefore, there can be no stability nor consistency in men unless they are joined together by some bond, even by some certain rule of religion, so that they may not vacillate and not be in doubt as to what is right to be done, but be assured and certainly persuaded that there is but one true God, and know what sort of God he is, and then understand the way by which he is to be sought.

We then learn from this passage that there is a dreadful license taken in fictitious religions, and that all who are carried away by their fancy are involved in a labyrinth, so that men do nothing but weary and torment themselves in vain when they seek God without understanding the right way.

They indeed run with all their might, but they go further and further from God. But that they, at the same time, form in their minds an idea of some God, and that they agree on this great principle, is sufficiently evident from the second clause of this verse: If so be that God will be Propitious to us. Here the pilot does not confine his discourse to the God of Jonah but speaks simply of a God. For though the world by their differences divides God, and Jonah worshipped a God different from the rest, and, in short, there was almost an endless number of gods among the passengers, yet the pilot says, If so be that God, etc. Then he acknowledges some Supreme God, though each of them had his own god.

Hence, we see that what I have said is most true—that this general truth has ever been received with the consent of all—that the world is preserved by the providence of God, and hence that the life and safety of men are in his hand. But as they are very far removed from God, and not only creep slowly but are also more inclined to turn to the earth than to look up to heaven, and are uncertain and ever change, so they seek gods which are near to them, and when they find none, they do not hesitate to invent them.

We have elsewhere seen that the Holy Spirit uses this form of speaking, If so be, when no doubt is intended, but only difficulty. It is, however, probable that the pilot in this case was perplexed and doubtful, as is usual with ungodly men, and that he could determine nothing certain as to any help from God; and as his mind was thus doubtful, he says that every means of relief was to be tried.

And here, as in a mirror, we may see how miserable is the condition of all those who do not call on God in pure faith: they indeed cry to God, for the impulse of nature thus leads them; but they do not know whether they will obtain anything by their cries. They repeat their prayers, but they do not know whether they pass off into air or really come to God.

The pilot acknowledges that his mind was thus doubtful: If so be that God will be propitious to us, call thou also on thy God. Had he been so surely convinced as to call on the true God, he would have certainly found it to have been no doubtful relief.

However, that nothing might be left untried, he exhorted Jonah, if he had a God, to call upon him. Hence, we see that there are strange windings when we do not understand the right way. Men would rather run here and there a hundred times, through earth and heaven, than come to God, except where his word shines.

How so? Because when they make the attempt, an insane impulse drives them in different ways, and thus they are led here and there: “It may be that this may be useful to me; as that way has not succeeded, I will try another.” God then thus punishes all the unbelieving, who do not obey his word; for they do not keep to the right way. He indeed shows how great a madness it is when men give loose reins to their imaginations and do not submit to celestial truth.

As to the words, interpreters translate them in different ways. Some say, “If so be that God will think of us;” others, “If so be that God will favor us.” עשת, oshit, is properly “to shine”; but when put as here in the conjugation Hithpael, it means to render oneself clear or bright. It is a metaphor very common in Scriptures that the face of God is cloudy or dark when he is not propitious to us; and again, God is said to make his face bright and to appear serene to us when he really shows himself kind and gracious to us. As, then, this mode of speaking altogether suits this place, I wonder that some seek extraneous interpretations.

He afterwards adds, Lest we perish. Here the pilot clearly acknowledges that he thought the life of man to be in the power of God, for he concluded that they must perish unless the Lord brought aid. Imprinted then in the minds of all is this notion or προληψις, that is, preconception: that when God is angry or adverse, we are miserable, and that near destruction impends over us. Another conviction is found in the hearts of men—that as soon as the Lord looks on us, his favor and goodwill bring to us immediate safety.

The Holy Spirit does not speak here, but a heathen. We know too how great the impiety of sailors is; yet he declares this by the impulse of nature, and there is here no feigning. For God, as I have already said, extorts by necessity a confession from the unbelievers, which they would gladly avoid.

Now what excuse can we have if we think our safety to be in our own hands, if we do not depend wholly on God, and if we neglect him in prosperity, as though we could be safe without his help? These words then, spoken by the sailor, ought to be weighed by us: If so be that God’s face may appear bright to us, and that we perish not.