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Verse Takeaways
1
Human Effort vs. God's Will
Commentators emphasize that the sailors' intense effort, described with a Hebrew word for "digging" into the sea, was ultimately useless. Their struggle highlights a key spiritual principle: human effort, no matter how strenuous, cannot overcome a situation orchestrated by God's will. As Charles Spurgeon noted, their safety lay not in labor, but in the required sacrifice, teaching that obedience to God is the only solution when facing the consequences of sin.
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Book Overview
Jonah
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Commentaries
6
Albert Barnes
On Jonah 1:13
18th Century
Theologian
The men rowed hard -, literally "dug." The word, like our "plowed the main," describes the great efforts which they made. Amid the violence …
Charles Ellicott
On Jonah 1:13
19th Century
Bishop
Rowed hard.— This is a sufficient rendering of the Hebrew verb, though it misses the metaphor. In every other instance of…
Charles Spurgeon
On Jonah 1:13
19th Century
Preacher
But they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
Their safety lay in the sacrifice—not in the labour. The…
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John Calvin
On Jonah 1:13–14
16th Century
Theologian
This verse shows that the sailors and the others were more inclined to mercy when they saw that the holy Prophet was willing to undergo the punishm…
John Gill
On Jonah 1:13
17th Century
Pastor
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring [it] to the land ,
but they could not Or, "they …
Matthew Henry
On Jonah 1:13–17
17th Century
Minister
The mariners rowed against wind and tide, the wind of God's displeasure, the tide of His counsel; but it is in vain to think of saving ourselves an…