John Gill Commentary Jonah 1

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai ,
&c.] Or, "and the word of the Lord was" ^F12 ; 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 (w) , "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:

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: (yhyw) "et fuit", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "factum fuit", Piscator.

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 Siculus ^F13 , and Strabo ^F14, 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) (4:11) . It is allowed by Strabo ^F15 to be larger than Babylon. Diodorus ^F16 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 3:2Jonah 3:4) ;

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) (Nahum 3:1) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Bibliothec. l 2. p. 92.
• F14: Geograph. l. 16. p. 507.
• F15: Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 16. p. 507.)
• F16: Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92.

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 (Psalms 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 Josephus^F17 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, (Psalms 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 here he was sent for by Cornelius, (Acts 9:36) (10:5) ;

it is now called Jaffa; of which Monsieur Thevenot^F18 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, said^F19 to be older than the flood; and built on a hill so high, that Strabo says^F20 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 it^F21. 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 which 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, where 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.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2.
• F18: Travels, par. 1. B. 2. c. 52. p. 208.
• F19: Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 13.
• F20: Geograph. l. 16. p. 522.
• F21: Stephanus apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 865.

But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea
He took a wind out of his treasures, and hurled it, as the word ^F23 signifies, into the sea: "into that sea" ^F24 ; 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 say ^F25 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" ^F26 ; 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 ship" ^F1 was like. The Jews ^F2 have a notion that other ships passed to and fro in great tranquillity, and this only was in distress.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (lyjh) "projecit", Mercerus, Drusius; "conjecit", Cocceius.
• F24: (Myb) "in mare illud", Mercerus.
• F25: Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 1.
• F26: (hbvx) "putabat", Montanus; "cogitavit", Vatablus, Burkius; "cogitabat", Drusius, Cocceius.
• F1: (hynah) "navem iliam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F2: Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 1. So Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana in loc.

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" ^F3 , a word the Hebrews use for all sorts of goods, utensils 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 27:18Acts 27:19Acts 27:38) ;

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.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: (Mylkh ta) "vasa", V. L. Vatablus, Grotius.