But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep. So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”
They all said to each other, “Come! Let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they asked him, “Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?”
He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”
Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy. He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.”
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.” So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3–17 Jonah now relates how he sought hiding-places, that he…
Jonah now relates how he sought hiding-places, that he might withdraw himself from the service of God; not that he deceived himself with such a gross notion, as that he would be no longer under the power of God, after having passed over the sea; but he intended to shun, as it were, the light of the present life, by proceeding to a foreign country. He was, no doubt, not only in a disturbed state of mind, when he formed such a purpose, but was utterly confused.
It may be asked, why Jonah thus avoided the command of God. The Jews, indulging in frigid trifles in divine things, say that he feared lest, when he came to Nineveh, he should be deprived of the prophetic spirit, as though he were not in the same danger by passing over the sea: this is very frivolous and puerile. And further, they blend things of no weight, when reasons sufficiently important present themselves to us.
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It was first a new and unusual thing for Prophets to be drawn away from the chosen people, and sent to heathen nations. When Peter was sent to Cornelius, (Acts 10:17,) though he had been instructed as to the future call of the Gentiles, he yet doubted, he hesitated until he was driven as it were forcibly by a vision. What then must have come to the mind of Jonah? If only on account of one man the mind of Peter was disquieted, so as to think it an illusion, when he was sent a teacher to Cornelius, what must Jonah have thought, when he was sent to a city so populous? Hence novelty, doubtless, must have violently shaken the courage of the holy Prophet, and induced him to retake himself elsewhere, as one destitute of understanding. Again, doubt might have had an influence on him: for how could he have hoped that a people, who were notorious for their licentiousness, would be converted? He had indeed before an experience of the hardness of the chosen people. He had been faithfully engaged in his office, he had omitted nothing to confirm the worship of God and true religion among the people of Israel: but he had effected but little; and yet the Jews had been called from the womb. What then could he hope, when the Lord removed him to Nineveh? for unbridled licentiousness ruled there; there was also there extreme blindness, they had no knowledge of divine worship; in a word, they were sunk in extreme darkness, and the devil in every way reigned there. Doubt then must have broken down the spirit of Jonah, so that he disobeyed the command of God. Still further, the weakness of the flesh must have hindered him from following his legitimate call: “What then? even this, — I must go to the chief city of that monarchy, which at this day treads under its feet the whole earth; I must go there, a man obscure and despised; and then I must proclaim a message that will excite the greatest hatred, and instantly kindle the minds of men into rage; and what must I say to the Ninevites? ‘Ye are wicked men, God can no longer endure your impiety; there is, therefore, a dreadful vengeance near at hand.’ How shall I be received?” Jonah then, being still surrounded by the infirmities of the flesh, must have given way to fear, which dislodged the love of obedience.
And I have no doubt, in my own mind, but that Jonah discussed these things within himself, for he was not a log of wood. And doubtless it was not to no purpose, as I have already said, that he mentions that the city was great. God indeed sought to remove what might prove an hindrance, but Jonah, on the other hand, reasoned thus, — “I see that I am to have a fierce contest; nay, that such a number of people will fall on me, enough to overwhelm me a hundred times, as the Lord has not in vain foretold me that the city is great.” And though he might have had some hope, if they had been chastised, that they would give God his due honor; yet he confesses, that this hindrance came to his mind, which prevented him to proceed in the course of his calling. Hence doubt, as well as the fear of the flesh made Jonah to stumble, and novelty also, as I have already said, must have perplexed him; so that he preferred to go down, as it were, to the grave, than to undertake an office which apparently had no reason in its favor. For why were the Prophets sent, except to effect something by their labor, and to bring forth some fruit? but of this Jonah had no hope. Some authority was also allowed the Prophets, at least they were allowed the liberty of teaching; but Jonah thought that all entrance was closed up against him: and still more, Jonah thought that he was opposing the covenant of the Lord, who had chosen one people only; and he also thought that he was, as it were, fixed to his own land, when he was appointed a Teacher in his own country; he therefore could not remove elsewhere without feeling a great repugnance.
I hence think, that Jonah disobeyed the command of God, partly because the weakness of the flesh was an hindrance, partly because of the novelty of the message, and partly because he despaired of fruit, or of success to his teaching.
But he doubtless grievously transgressed: for the first rule, as to all our actions, is to follow the call of God. Though one may excel in heroic virtues, yet all his virtues are mere fumes, which shine before the eyes of men, except the object be to obey God. The call of God then, as I have said, holds the first place as to the conduct of men; and unless we lay this foundation, we do like him who would build a house in the air. Disordered then will be the whole course of our life, except God presides over and guides us, and raises up over us, as it were, his own banners. As then Jonah subverted the first and the only firm foundation of a right conduct, what could have remained for him? There is then no reason for us to extenuate his fault, for he could not have sinned more grievously than by forsaking God, in having refused to obey his call: it was, as it were to shake off the yoke; and this he confesses himself.
They therefore very childishly write who wish to be his apologists, since he twice condemns himself — Jonah rose up to flee from the presence of Jehovah — to go unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. Why does he the second time repeat, from the presence of Jehovah? He meant, no doubt, to express here more distinctly his fault: and the repetition is indeed very emphatical: and it also proves clearly that it was not a slight offense, when Jonah retook himself elsewhere when he was sent to Nineveh. He could not indeed have departed from the Lord, for God fills heaven and earth; and, as I have said already, he was not fascinated by so gross an error as to think, that when he became a fugitive, he was beyond the reach of God’s hand. What then is to flee from the face of Jehovah, except it be that which he here confesses, that he fled from the presence of God, as though he wished, like runaway servants, to reject the government of God? Since then Jonah was carried away by this violent temptation, there is no reason why we should now try, by some vain and frivolous pretenses, to excuse his sin. This is one thing.
With regard to the word Tharsis, or Tharsisa, I doubt not but that it means Cilicia. There are those who think that it is the city Tarsus; but they are mistaken, for it is the name of a country. They are also mistaken who translate it, Sea; for Jonah intended not only to go to sea, but also to pass over into Cilicia, which is opposite to the Syrian Sea. But the Jews called that the Sea of Tarshish, as it appears from many passages, because there was very frequent sailing to that place. As then that transmarine country was more known to them than any other, and as they carried there their merchandise, and in their turn purchased their goods, they called that the Sea of Tarshish, as it is well known, as being near it.
Jonah then intended to flee into Cilicia, when the Lord would have sent him to Nineveh. It is said that he rose up to flee, and then, that he went down to Joppa, that he found there a ship, which was passing over to Tarshish, that he paid the fare, that he went down into the ship, to go with them into Cilicia: now by all those expressions Jonah intimates that he was wholly fixed in his purpose, and that it was necessary that he should have been brought back by a strong hand; for he was touched by no repentance during his journey. Many things may indeed come to our minds when the call of God appears to us too burdensome. There is none of us, when service is to be performed to God, who does not roll this and that in his mind: “What will be the issue? how wilt thou reach the place where thou expectest to be? See what dangers await thee.” For Satan always comes forth, whenever we resolve to obey God; but we are to struggle in this case, and then repel what we see to be contrary to our calling. But Jonah shows that he was obstinately fixed in his purpose of fleeing: for he not only intended to go into Tarshish, but he actually went down to the city Joppa, which was nigh to Judea; and, therefore some think that Tarshish was Africa; but this is strained. Others divine it to be Thunetus or Carthage, as though indeed these cities were built at that time; but men are very bold in dreaming. But what need of giving a new meaning to this word against the most common usage of Scriptures when it is evident enough that Tarshish is Cilicia?
Now, when Jonah went down to Joppa, it was evident that he intended immediately to migrate from the land of Judah, and to pass over the sea: but by saying that he paid the fare, that he went down into the ship, that he might go, — by this gradual progress, he sets before us, as I have said, more fully his own perverseness; so that he admits that he not only resolutely purposed to reject the call of God, but that he also confirmed himself in it: and though there were many things to be done, which might have sometimes forced him to stand still, he yet constantly followed where his perverse and blind impulse led him. There is no doubt then, but that Jonah, in these distinct words sets himself forth as a fugitive, not only by one act, but by many acts.
Now, as to his flight, we must bear in mind what I have before said — that all flee away from the presence of God, who do not willingly obey his commandments; not that they can depart farther from him, but they seek, as far as they can, to confine God within narrow limits, and to exempt themselves from being subject to his power. No one indeed openly confesses this; yet the fact itself shows, that no one withdraws himself from obedience to God’s commands without seeking to diminish and, as it were, to take from him his power, so that he may no longer rule. Whosoever, then, do not willingly subject themselves to God, it is the same as though they would turn their backs on him and reject his authority that they may no more be under his power and dominion.
It is deserving of notice, that as Jonah represents himself as guilty before the whole world, so he intended by his example to show how great and detestable a sin it is, not to submit to the commands of God, and not to undertake whatever he enjoins, but to evade his authority. That he might then enhance the atrocity of his sin, he shows by his own example that we cannot rebel against God, without seeking, under some pretense or another to thrust him from his throne, and, at the same time, to confine him within certain limits that he may not include heaven and earth within his empire.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16, 17 Whereby he declared his weakness, that would not promptly…
Whereby he declared his weakness, that would not promptly follow the Lord’s calling, but gave place to his own reason, which persuaded him that he should nothing at all profit there, seeing he had done so small good among his own people, Jonah 4:2.
From that vocation whereunto God had called him, and wherein he would have assisted him.
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Which was the haven, and port to take shipping thither, called also Joppa.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–17 Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto…
Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Ver. 3. But Jonah rose up to flee, &c.] i.e. He made haste (more haste than good speed) to disobey God. Homo est inversus decalogus. The natural man standeth across to the will of God; "being abominable, disobedient, and to every good work reprobate," Tit 1:16. Jonah was a spiritual man, and should have discerned all things, 1Co 2:15. But this spiritual man was mad, Hos 9:7 (as they that are cured of a frenzy will yet have their freaks and frantic tricks sometimes), he cast off the yoke, and turned, for the time, renagade from the Lord; who met him at half turn, and brought him back again, though by weeping cross. Of the blackbird’s dung is made the lime whereby he is taken; so here. They that would excuse Jonah, and say that he sinned not, Dei scriptis iniuriam faciunt, saith Luther, they wrong the Scriptures. The best have their infirmities; as the snow-like swan hath black legs; and as no pomegranate is without some rotten grains. David saw such volumes of corruptions, and so many erratas in all that he did, that he cries out, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults," Psa 19:12.
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To flee unto Tarshish] Tarsus, in Cilicia, St Paul’s country, Act 21:39; Act 22:3, rather than the city Tunis, in Africa, as Vatablus will have it, or the East Indies, as others. Tarshish sometimes signifieth the main ocean, as Psa 48:7 (whence some take it here for the sea), but that may be by a metonymy {a} of the adjunct; because Tarsus stood upon the ocean shore, and was a fit haven whence to hoist up sail into various countries.
From the presence of the Lord] Ab ante Domini, from the special and spiritual presence of God, wherein he had hitherto stood and ministered. For from God’s general presence, whereby he filleth all places, and is "not far from any one of us," Act 17:27 (not so far, surely, as the bark is from the tree, the skin from the flesh, or the flesh from the bones), Jonah knew he could not flee. Blind nature saw, and could say,
-- “ quascunque accesseris eras,
Sub Iove semper eris. ” --
God is a circle, said Empedocles, whose centre is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere. Why the prophet fled many causes are assigned by interpreters: as Amor patriae, timer humanus, his fear of the Ninevites, his love to his Israelites, his conceit that it would be to little purpose to preach to heathens, since he had prevailed so little at home. The very cause was that which we find Jon 4:2, "I fled to Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God," &c., and I feared, lest I should thereupon be counted a false prophet. So much there is of self found in the best; who, when once they are got out of God’s way, they may run they know not whither, and return they know not when.
And went down to Joppa] Heb. Japho, a sea town in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:46; distant about fifty miles from Gathhepher (Jonas’s town, 2Ki 14:25), which was in the tribe of Zabulon, towards the lake of Tiberias. Sinners are no small painstakers. There is the same Hebrew and Greek word for wickedness and toilsomeness ( עמל πονηρια). Would sinners be at the same pains for heaven that they are at for hell they could not lightly miss it.
And he found a ship going to Tarshish] They that have a mind to commit sin shall easily meet with an occasion. The tempter, who feeleth their pulses, and knoweth which way they will beat, will soon fit them a pennyworth. He hath a wedge of gold to set before Achan, a Cozbi before Zimri, Non causabitur, aptabitur. It is not to be excused or acommodated. Indeed it is the just man’s happiness that no evil shall happen to him, Pro 12:21; that is (as Mercer interpreteth it) non parabitur ei, et dabitur occasio iniquitatis, God shall cut off from him the occasions of sin, remove stumblingblocks out of his way; either not lead him into temptation or not leave him in it.
So he paid the fare thereof] Forsan ut citius navim solveret (Mercer); perhaps to make the mariners hasten the more. Jonah might better have obeyed God, and gone to Nineveh on free cost. But wit is best when it is bought, they say. How many be there who perish at their own charge, as Phocion, the Athenian, paid for the poison that despatched him.
To go with them to Tarshish from the presence, &c.] i.e. Out of God’s blessing into the world’s warm sun. All wilful sinners are renegades from the Lord; factique sunt a corde suo fugitivi, saith Tertullian, fain they would also run (if they knew how or whither) from their own consciences. But if they belong to God, conscience shall be awakened to do its office; and they shall one day say with her, "I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi? call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me," Rth 1:20-21.
{a} A figure of speech which consists in substituting for the name of a thing the name of an attribute of it or of something closely related. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–17 But, Heb. And.
But, Heb. And.
Jonah rose up: he was commanded to arise, Jon 1:2, so here Jonah did, but it was to run from his business, not to do it; it was a rising against God.
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To flee: whatever was the cause which moved Jonah to do this, it is strange that he should fall into a fixed opinion that he might, and a fixed resolution that he would, thus flee from his God and from his duty.
Unto Tarshish; to sea, as some, but this seemeth too rambling a humour: to Cilicia, say others, and particularly to Tarsus, no mean city of Cilicia, Act 21:39; others say it was Tunis or Carthage in Africa, to which Jonah minded to flee; either of these carry such probability with them, that we will not determine for our reader.
From the presence of the Lord: I cannot suppose that Jonah dreamed of fleeing from the omnipresence of God, he knew how David described this, Psa 139:7-12, and natural reason told him he could never flee from this; but this presence of God is to be interpreted of the place where God usually had showed himself present by revealing his word and will to his prophets, who are servants to the Lord, and as such did stand before the Lord ready to receive his commands: now this command to Jonah being displeasing to him, and yet whilst he was in his own country, the valley of vision, he is still put upon the work, now he resolves to shift off the work by shifting place; perhaps he might think God would not put him upon it when he was gotten into a strange and remote country, where were no prophets, nor prophetic impulses. Joppa; a well-known haven on the-Mediterranean, now called Jaffa, anciently Japho, Jos 19:46.
Going; bound for, and ready to set sail for, the place he designed.
Tarshish; Carthage or Tunis, or Tarsus in Cilicia.
Paid the fare; forthwith agreed. with the master of the ship, and, though unusual, paid presently, staid not till he came to the port designed.
Went down into it; immediately went a ship-board, and in a melancholy, discomposed humour gets into a cabin, or under deck, to go with them; waiting the time when they should go, that he might be sure to go with them.
From the presence of the Lord: see above.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv4, 11 When Jonah was set on ship-board, and under sail…
When Jonah was set on ship-board, and under sail for Tarshish, he thought himself safe enough; but here we find him pursued and overtaken, discovered and convicted as a deserter from God, as one that had run his colours.
I. God sends a pursuer after him, a mighty tempest in the sea, Jon 1:4. God has the winds in his treasure (Psa 135:7), and out of these treasures God sent forth, he cast forth (so the word is), with force and violence, a great wind into the sea; even stormy winds fulfil his word, and are often the messengers of his wrath; he gathers the winds in his fist (Pro 30:4), where he holds them, and whence he squeezes them when he pleases; for though, as to us, the wind blows where it listeth, yet not as to God, but where he directs. The effect of this wind as a mighty tempest; for when the winds rise the waves rise. Note, Sin brings storms and tempests into the soul, into the family, into churches and nations; it is a disquieting disturbing thing. The tempest prevailed to such a degree that the ship was likely to be broken; the mariners expected no other; that ship (so some read it), that and no other. Other ships were upon the same sea at the same time, yet, it should seem, that ship in which Jonah was was tossed more than any other and was more in danger. This wind was sent after Jonah, to fetch him back again to God and to his duty; and it is a great mercy to be reclaimed and called home when we go astray, though it be by a tempest.
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II. The ship's crew were alarmed by this mighty tempest, but Jonah only, the person concerned, was unconcerned, Jon 1:5. The mariners were affected with their danger, though it was not with them that God has this controversy. 1. They were afraid; though, their business leading them to be very much conversant with dangers of this kind, they used to make light of them, yet now the oldest and stoutest of them began to tremble, being apprehensive that there was something more than ordinary in this tempest, so suddenly did it rise, so strongly did it rage. Note, God can strike a terror upon the most daring, and make even great men and chief captains call for shelter from rocks and mountains. 2. They cried every man unto his god; this was the effect of their fear. Many will not be brought to prayer till they are frightened to it; he that would learn to pray, let him go to sea. Lord, in trouble they have visited thee. Every man of them prayed; they were not some praying and others reviling, but every man engaged; as the danger was general, so was the address to heaven; there was not one praying for them all, but every one for himself. They cried every man to his god, the god of his country or city, or his own tutelar deity; it is a testimony against atheism that every man had a god, and had the belief of a God; but it is an instance of the folly of paganism that they had gods many, every man the god he had a fancy for, whereas there can be but one God, there needs to be no more. But, though they had lost that dictate of the light of nature that there is but one God, they still were governed by that direction of the law of nature that God is to be prayed to (Should not a people seek under their God? Isa 8:19), and that he is especially to be prayed to when we are in distress and danger. Call upon me in the time of trouble. Is any afflicted? Is any frightened? Let him pray. 3. Their prayers for deliverance were seconded with endeavours, and, having called upon their gods to help them, they did what they could to help themselves; for that is the rule, Help thyself and God will help thee. They cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them, as Paul's mariners in a like case cast forth even the tackling of the ship, and the wheat, Act 27:18, Act 27:19, Act 27:38. They were making a trading voyage, as it should seem, and were laden with many goods and much merchandise, by which they hoped to get gain; but now they are content to suffer loss by throwing them overboard. to save their lives. See how powerful the natural love of life is. Skin for skin, and all that a man has, will he give for it. And shall we not put a like value upon the spiritual life, the life of the soul, reckoning that the gain of all the world cannot countervail the loss of the soul? See the vanity of worldly wealth, and the uncertainty of its continuance with us. Riches make themselves wings and fly away; nay, and the case may be such that we may be under a necessity of making wings for them, and driving them away, as here, when they could not be kept for the owners thereof but to their hurt, so that they themselves are glad to be rid of them, and sink that which otherwise would sink them, though they have no prospect of ever recovering it. Oh that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would be willing to part with that wealth, pleasure, and honour which they cannot keep without making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience and ruining their souls for ever! Those that thus quit their temporal interests for the securing of their spiritual welfare will be unspeakable gainers at last; for what they lose upon those terms they shall find again to life eternal. But where is Jonah all this while? One would have expected gone down into his cabin, nay, into the hold, between the sides of the ship, and there he lies, and is fast asleep; neither the noise without, for the sense of guilt within, awoke him. Perhaps for some time before he had avoiding sleeping, for fear of God's speaking to him again in a dream; and now that he imagined himself out of the reach of that danger, he slept so much the more soundly. Note, Sin is of a stupifying nature, and we are concerned to take heed lest at any time our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of it. It is the policy of Satan, when by his temptations he has drawn men from God and their duty, to rock them asleep in carnal security, that they may not be sensible of their misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch therefore.
III. The master of the ship called Jonah up to his prayers, Jon 1:6. The ship-master came to him, and bade him for shame get up, both to pray for life and to prepare for death; he gave him, 1. A just and necessary chiding: What meanest thou, O sleeper? Here we commend the ship-master, who gave him this reproof; for, though he was a stranger to him, he was, for the present, as one of his family; and whoever has a precious soul we must help, as we can, to save it from death. We pity Jonah, who needed this reproof; as a prophet of the Lord, if he had been in his place, he might have been reproving the king of Nineveh, but, being out of the way of his duty, he does himself lie open to the reproofs of a sorry ship-master. See how men by their sin and folly diminish themselves and make themselves mean. Yet we must admire God's goodness in sending him this seasonable reproof, for it was the first step towards his recovery, as the crowing of the cock was to Peter. Note, Those that sleep in a storm may well be asked what they mean. 2. A pertinent word of advice: "Arise, call upon thy God; we are here crying every man to his god, why dost not thou get up and cry to thine? Art not thou equally concerned with the rest both in the danger dreaded and in the deliverance desired?" Note, The devotions of others should quicken ours; and those who hope to share in a common mercy ought in all reason to contribute their quota towards the prayers and supplications that are made for it. In times of public distress, if we have any interest at the throne of grace, we ought to improve it for the public good. And the servants of God themselves have sometimes need to be called and stirred up to this part of their duty. 3. A good reason for this advice: If so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. It should seem, the many gods they called upon were considered by them only as mediators between them and the supreme God, and intercessors for them with him; for the ship-master speaks of one God still, from whom he expected relief. To engage prayer, he suggested that the danger was very great and imminent: "We are all likely to perish; there is but a step between us and death, and that just ready to be stepped." Yet he suggested that there was some hope remaining that their destruction might be prevented and they might not perish. While there is still life there is hope, and while there is hope there is room for prayer. He suggested also that it was God only that could effect their deliverance, and it must come from his power and his pity. "If he think upon us, and act for us, we may yet be saved." And therefore to him we must look, and in him we must put our trust, when the danger is ever so imminent.
IV. Jonah is found out to be the cause of the storm.
1. The mariners observed so much peculiar and uncommon either in the storm itself or in their own distress by it that they concluded it was a messenger of divine justice sent to arrest some one of those that were in that ship, as having been guilty of some enormous crime, judging as the barbarous people (Act 28:4), "no doubt one of us is a murderer, or guilty of sacrilege, or perjury, or the like, who is thus pursued by the vengeance of the sea, and it is for his sake that we all suffer." Even the light of nature teaches that in extraordinary judgments the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against some extraordinary sins and sinners. Whatever evil is upon us at any time we must conclude there is a cause for it; there is evil done by us, or else this evil would not be upon us; there is a ground for God's controversy.
2. They determined to refer it to the lot which of them was the criminal that had occasioned this storm: Let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause the evil is upon us. None of them suspected himself, or said, Is it I, Lord; is it I? But they suspected one another, and would find out the man. Note, It is a desirable thing, when any evil is upon us, to know for what cause it is upon us, that what is amiss may be amended, and, the grievance being redressed, the grief may be removed. In order to this we must look up to heaven, and pray, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me; that which I see not teach thou me. These mariners desired to know the person that was the dead weight in their ship, the accursed thing, that that one man might die for the people and that the whole ship might not be lost; this was not only expedient, but highly just. In order to this they cast lots, by which they appealed to the judgment of God, to whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secret is hid, agreeing to acquiesce in his discovery and determination, and to take that for true which the lot spoke; for they knew by the light of nature, what the scripture tells us, that the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord. Even the heathen looked upon the casting of lots to be a sacred thing, to be done with seriousness and solemnity, and not to be made a sport of. It is a shame for Christians if they have not a like reverence for an appeal to Providence.
3. The lot fell upon Jonah, who could have saved them this trouble if he would but have told them what his own conscience told him, Thou are the man; but as is usual with criminals, he never confesses till he finds he cannot help it, till the lot falls upon him. We may suppose there were those in the ship who, upon other accounts, were greater sinners than Jonah, and yet he is the man that the tempest pursues and that the lot pitches upon; for it is his own child, his own servant, that the parent, that the master, corrects, if they do amiss; others that offend he leaves to the law. The storm is sent after Jonah, because God has work for him to do, and it is sent to fetch him back to it. Note, God has many ways of bringing to light concealed sins and sinners, and making manifest that folly which was thought to be hidden from the eyes of all living. God's right hand will find out all his servants that desert him, as well as all his enemies that have designs against him; yea, though they flee to the uttermost parts of the sea, or go down to the sides of the ship.
4. Jonah is hereupon brought under examination before the master and mariners. He was a stranger; none of them could say that they knew the prisoner, or had any thing to lay to his charge, and therefore they must extort a confession from him and judge him out of his own mouth; and for this there needed no rack, the shipwreck they were in danger of was sufficient to frighten him, so as to make him tell the truth. Though it was discovered by the lot that he was the person for whose sake they were thus damaged and exposed, yet they did not fly outrageously upon him, as one would fear they might have done, but calmly and mildly enquired into his case. There is a compassion due to offenders when they are discovered and convicted. They give him no hard words, but, "Tell us, we pray thee, what is the matter?" Two things they enquire of him: - (1.) Whether he would himself own that he was the person for whose sake the storm was sent, as the lot had intimated: "Tell us for whose cause this evil is upon us; is it indeed for thy cause, and, if so, for what cause? What is this offence for which thou art thus prosecuted?" Perhaps the gravity and decency of Jonah's aspect and behaviour made them suspect that the lot had missed its man, had missed its mark, and therefore they would not trust it, unless he would himself own his guilt; they therefore begged of him that he would satisfy them in this matter. Note, Those that would find out the cause of their troubles must not only begin, but pursue the enquiry, must descend to particulars and accomplish a diligent search. (2.) What his character was, both as to his calling and as to his country. [1.] They enquire concerning his calling: What is thy occupation? This was a proper question to be put to a vagrant. Perhaps they suspected his calling to be such as might bring this trouble upon them: "Art thou a diviner, a sorcerer, a student in the black art? Hast thou been conjuring for this wind? Or what business are thou now going on? It is like Balaam's, to curse any of God's people, and is this wind send to stop thee?" [2.] They enquire concerning his country. One asked, Whence comest thou? Another, not having patience to stay for an answer to that, asked, What is thy country? A third to the same purport, "Of what people art thou? Art thou of the Chaldeans," that were noted for divination, "or of the Arabians," that were noted for stealing? They wished to know of what country he was, that, knowing who was the god of his country, they might guess whether he was one that could do them any kindness in this storm.
5. In answer to these interrogatories Jonah makes a full discovery. (1.) Did they enquire concerning his country? He tells them he is a Hebrew (Jon 1:9), not only of the nation of Israel, but of their religion, which they received from their fathers. He is a Hebrew, and therefore is the more ashamed to own that he is a criminal; for the sins of Hebrews, that make such a profession of religion and enjoy such privileges, are greater than the sins of others, and more exceedingly sinful. (2.) Did they enquire concerning his calling - What is thy occupation? In answer to that he gives an account of his religion, for that was his calling, that was his occupation, that was it that he made a business of: "I fear the Lord Jehovah; that is the God I worship, the God I pray to, even the God of heaven, the sovereign Lord of all, that has made the sea and the dry land and has command of both." Not the god of one particular country, which they enquired after, and such as the gods were that they had been every man calling upon, but the God of the whole earth, who, having made both the sea and the dry land, makes what work he pleases in both and makes what use he pleases of both. This he mentions, not only as condemning himself for his folly, in fleeing from the presence of this God, but as designing to bring these mariners from the worship and service of their many gods to the knowledge and obedience of the one only living and true God. When we are among those that are strangers to us we should do what we can to bring them acquainted with God, by being ready upon all occasions to own our relation to him and our reverence for him. (3.) Did they enquire concerning his crime, for which he is now persecuted? He owns that he fled from the presence of the Lord, that he was here running away from his duty, and the storm was sent to fetch him back. We have reason to think that he told them this with sorrow and shame, justifying God and condemning himself and intimating to the mariners what a great God Jehovah is, who could send such a messenger as this tempest was after a runagate servant.
6. We are told what impression this made upon the mariners: The men were exceedingly afraid, and justly, for they perceived, (1.) That God was angry, even that God that made the sea and the dry land. This tempest comes from the hand of an offended justice, and therefore they have reason to fear it will go hard with them. Judgments inflicted for some particular sin have a peculiar weight and terror in them. (2.) That God was angry with one that feared and worshipped him, only for once running from his work in particular instance; this made them afraid for themselves. "If a prophet of the Lord be thus severely punished for one offence, what will become of us that have been guilty of so many, and great, and heinous offences?" If the righteous be thus scarcely saved, and for a single act of disobedience thus closely pursued, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Pe1 4:17, Pe1 4:18. They said to him, "Why hast thou done this? If thou fearest the God that made the sea and the dry land, why wast thou such a fool as to think thou couldst flee from his presence? What an absurd unaccountable thing is it!" Thus he was reproved, as Abraham by Abimelech (Gen 20:16); for if the professors of religion do a wrong thing they must expect to hear of it from those that make no such profession. "Why hast thou done this to us?" (so it may be taken) "Why has thou involved us in the prosecution?" Note, Those that commit a willful sin know not how far the mischievous consequences of it may reach, nor what mischief may be done by it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–17 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from…
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 Psa 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, Act 22:3; so Josephus (q) 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, Psa 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 Mat 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:''
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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, Jon 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, Jos 19:16; at this time Joppa, as it was in the times of the apostles: here Peter raised Dorcas to life, and from hence he was sent for by Cornelius, Act 9:36; it is now called Jaffa; of which Monsieur Thevenot (r) 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 (s) to be older than the flood; and built on a hill so high, that Strabo says (t) 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 (u). 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 whence 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, whither 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.''
(q) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2. (r) Travels, par. 1. B. 2. c. 52. p. 208. (s) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 13. (t) Geograph. l. 16. p. 522. (u) Stephanus apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 865.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17 From the presence - From the place where God…
From the presence - From the place where God usually had shewed himself present, by revealing his word and will to his prophets. Perhaps he might think God would not put him upon this work, when he was got into a strange country.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 Verse 3. To flee unto Tarshish] Some say Tartessus,…
Verse 3. To flee unto Tarshish] Some say Tartessus, in Spain, near the straits of Gibralter, others, Tarsus, in Cilicia; and others, Taprobana, or the island of Ceylon, formerly called Taprobah; and Tabrobavagh in Sanscrit, to the present day.
And went down to Joppa] This place is celebrated as that where Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus, was chained to a rock, and exposed to be devoured by a sea-monster, from which she was delivered by the valour of Perseus. It is the nearest port to Jerusalem on that side of the Mediterranean.
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And he found a ship] The Phoenicians carried on a considerable trade with Tartessus, Eze 27:12; and it was probably in one of their ships that Jonah embarked.
He paid the fare thereof] He paid for his passage. This shows that there was traffic between the two places, and that each passenger paid a stated fare.
From the presence of the Lord.] He considered that God was peculiarly resident in Judea; and if he got out of that land, the Lord would most probably appoint another prophet to carry the message; for Jonah appears to have considered the enterprise as difficult and dangerous, and therefore wished to avoid it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17 Jon 1:3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto…
Jon 1:3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish — It is not to be wondered at that Jonah should be averse to undertake this mission. He probably considered it as a dangerous one, and might be tempted to think it would be unprofitable, and answer no valuable end. The journey was long, and the perils and hardships of it, he supposed, would be great. The inhabitants of the city were idolaters, and knew nothing of Jehovah, in whose name the warning was to be given, and the destruction denounced. The city was proud as well as idolatrous, and would look down with contempt on an Israelite, coming from a distant country, hardly known to many of them, or at least despised by them. And he had every reason to suppose that the delivery of such an unpleasant message would draw upon him the resentment both of the rulers and multitude. Indeed, “when we reflect how such a message would be received in the streets of London at this day, we shall not wonder that he was extremely reluctant to undertake the service. Strong faith and a habit of unreserved obedience were necessary to overcome the reluctance that he must have felt: and perhaps he was a young man, and not as yet inured to perilous employments.” — Scott. And, besides this, Jonah himself assigns another reason, Jon 4:2, namely, that he knew God’s mercifulness to be great, and that it was probable God would be moved to forbear executing the judgments denounced; and so he would have the shame of being accounted a false prophet. This and other parts of his conduct, however, deserve censure. But, as Bishop Newcome observes, “men endued with extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and made the instruments of declaring God’s will to mankind, have occasionally been subject to great human infirmities, and have even contracted great guilt.” Of Tarshish, see note on Isa 2:16. From the presence of the Lord — That is, to be at a distance from the land of Israel, the immediate residence of God, as Grotius and Locke interpret the expression. Houbigant however reads, through fear of the Lord; and what he feared is shown Jon 4:2. Perhaps Jonah hoped, if he were at a greater distance, God would send some other prophet to preach repentance to the Ninevites. And went down to Joppa — A well-known haven on the Mediterranean. And he found a ship going to Tarshish — Bound for, and ready to sail to the place he designed. Thus Providence seemed to favour his design, and to give him an opportunity to escape. Observe, reader, we may be out of the way of duty, and yet may meet with apparently favourable providences. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it — He lost no time, for he was in haste to get at a distance from the presence of the Lord. Here we see what the best of men are when God leaves them to themselves, and what need we have, when the word of the Lord comes to us, to have the Spirit of the Lord to come along with the word, to bring every thought within us into obedience to it. Let us learn from hence to cease from man, and not to be too confident either respecting ourselves or others in time of trial, but let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–17 But (And) Jonah rose up to flee ... from…
But (And) Jonah rose up to flee ... from the presence of the Lord - literally “from being before the Lord.” Jonah knew well, that man could not escape from the presence of God, whom he knew as the Self-existing One, He who alone is, the Maker of heaven, earth and sea. He did not “flee” then “from His presence,” knowing well what David said Psa 139:7, Psa 139:9-10, “whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me.” Jonah fled, not from God’s presence, but from standing before him, as His servant and minister. He refused God’s service, because, as he himself tells God afterward Jon 4:2, he knew what it would end in, and he misliked it.
So he acted, as people often do, who dislike God’s commands. He set about removing himself as far as possible from being under the influence of God, and from the place where he “could” fulfill them. God commanded him to go to Nineveh, which lay northeast from his home; and he instantly set himself to flee to the then furthermost west. Holy Scripture sets the rebellion before us in its full nakedness. “The word of the Lord came unto Jonah, go to Nineveh, and Jonah rose up;” he did something instantly, as the consequence of God’s command. He “rose up,” not as other prophets, to obey, but to disobey; and that, not slowly nor irresolutely, but “to flee, from” standing “before the Lord.” He renounced his office. So when our Lord came in the flesh, those who found what He said to be “hard sayings,” went away from Him, “and walked no more with Him” Joh 6:66. So the rich “young man went away sorrowful Mat 19:22, for he had great possessions.”
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They were perhaps afraid of trusting themselves in His presence; or they were ashamed of staying there, and not doing what He said. So men, when God secretly calls them to prayer, go and immerse themselves in business; when, in solitude, He says to their souls something which they do not like, they escape His Voice in a throng. If He calls them to make sacrifices for His poor, they order themselves a new dress or some fresh sumptuousness or self-indulgence; if to celibacy, they engage themselves to marry immediately; or, contrariwise, if He calls them not to do a thing, they do it at once, to make an end of their struggle and their obedience; to put obedience out of their power; to enter themselves on a course of disobedience. Jonah, then, in this part of his history, is the image of those who, when God calls them, disobey His call, and how He deals with them, when he does not abandon them. He lets them have their way for a time, encompasses them with difficulties, so that they shall “flee back from God displeased to God appeased.”
“The whole wisdom, the whole bliss, the whole of man lies in this, to learn what God wills him to do, in what state of life, calling, duties, profession, employment, He wills him to serve Him.” God sent each one of us into the world, to fulfill his own definite duties, and, through His grace, to attain to our own perfection in and through fulfilling them. He did not create us at random, to pass through the world, doing whatever self-will or our own pleasure leads us to, but to fulfill His will. This will of His, if we obey His earlier calls, and seek Him by prayer, in obedience, self-subdual, humility, thoughtfulness, He makes known to each by His own secret drawings, and, in absence of these, at times by His Providence or human means. And then , “to follow Him is a token of predestination.” It is to place ourselves in that order of things, that pathway to our eternal mansion, for which God created us, and which God created for us.
So Jesus says Joh 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand.” In these ways, God has foreordained for us all the graces which we need; in these, we shall be free from all temptations which might be too hard for us, in which our own special weakness would be most exposed. Those ways, which people choose out of mere natural taste or fancy, are mostly those which expose them to the greatest peril of sin and damnation. For they choose them, just because such pursuits flatter most their own inclinations, and give scope to their natural strength and their moral weakness. So Jonah, disliking a duty, which God gave him to fulfill, separated himself from His service, forfeited his past calling, lost, as far as in him lay, his place among “the goodly fellowship of the prophets,” and, but for God’s overtaking grace, would have ended his days among the disobedient. As in Holy Scripture, David stands alone of saints, who had been after their calling, bloodstained; as the penitent robber stands alone converted in death; as Peter stands singly, recalled after denying his Lord; so Jonah stands, the one prophet, who, having obeyed and then rebelled, was constrained by the overpowering providence and love of God, to return and serve Him.
“Being a prophet, Jonah could not be ignorant of the mind of God, that, according to His great Wisdom and His unsearchable judgments and His untraceable and incomprehensible ways, He, through the threat, was providing for the Ninevites that they should not suffer the things threatened. To think that Jonah hoped to hide himself in the sea and elude by flight the great Eye of God, were altogether absurd and ignorant, which should not be believed, I say not of a prophet, but of no other sensible person who had any moderate knowledge of God and His supreme power. Jonah knew all this better than anyone, that, planning his flight, he changed his place, but did not flee God. For this could no man do, either by hiding himself in the bosom of the earth or depths of the sea or ascending (if possible) with wings into the air, or entering the lowest hell, or encircled with thick clouds, or taking any other counsel to secure his flight.
This, above all things and alone, can neither be escaped nor resisted, God. When He willeth to hold and grasp in His Hand, He overtaketh the swift, baffleth the intelligent, overthroweth the strong, boweth the lofty, tameth rashness, subdueth might. He who threatened to others the mighty Hand of God, was not himself ignorant of nor thought to flee, God. Let us not believe this. But since he saw the fall of Israel and perceived that the prophetic grace would pass over to the Gentiles, he withdrew himself from the office of preaching, and put off the command.” “The prophet knoweth, the Holy Spirit teaching him, that the repentance of the Gentiles is the ruin of the Jews. A lover then of his country, he does not so much envy the deliverance of Nineveh, as will that his own country should not perish. - Seeing too that his fellow-prophets are sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to excite the people to repentance, and that Balaam the soothsayer too prophesied of the salvation of Israel, he grieveth that he alone is chosen to be sent to the Assyrians, the enemies of Israel, and to that greatest city of the enemies where was idolatry and ignorance of God. Yet more he feared lest they, on occasion of his preaching, being converted to repentance, Israel should be wholly forsaken. For he knew by the same Spirit whereby the preaching to the Gentiles was entrusted to him, that the house of Israel would then perish; and he feared that what was at one time to be, should take place in his own time.” “The flight of the prophet may also be referred to that of man in general who, despising the commands of God, departed from Him and gave himself to the world, where subsequently, through the storms of ill and the wreck of the whole world raging against him, he was compelled to feel the presence of God, and to return to Him whom he had fled. Whence we understand, that those things also which men think for their good, when against the will of God, are turned to destruction; and help not only does not benefit those to whom it is given, but those too who give it, are alike crushed. As we read that Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians, because it helped Israel against the will of God. The ship is emperiled which had received the emperiled; a tempest arises in a calm; nothing is secure, when God is against us.”
Tarshish - , named after one of the sons of Javan, Gen 10:4. was an ancient merchant city of Spain, once proverbial for its wealth (Psa 72:10. Strabo iii. 2. 14), which supplied Judaea with silver Jer 10:9, Tyre with “all manner of riches,” with iron also, tin, lead. Eze 27:12, Eze 27:25. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, as (with a harder pronunciation) Tartessus; but in our first century, it had either ceased to be, or was known under some other name. Ships destined for a voyage, at that time, so long, and built for carrying merchandise, were naturally among the largest then constructed. “Ships of Tarshish” corresponded to the “East-Indiamen” which some of us remember. The breaking of “ships of Tarshish by the East Wind” Psa 48:7 is, on account of their size and general safety, instanced as a special token of the interposition of God.
And went down to Joppa - Joppa, now Jaffa (Haifa), was the one well-known port of Israel on the Mediterranean. There the cedars were brought from Lebanon for both the first and second temple 2Ch 3:16; Ezr 2:7. Simon the Maccabee (1 Macc. 14:5) “took it again for a haven, and made an entrance to the isles of the sea.” It was subsequently destroyed by the Romans, as a pirate-haven. (Josephus, B. J. iii. 9. 3, and Strabo xvi. 2. 28.) At a later time, all describe it as an unsafe haven. Perhaps the shore changed, since the rings, to which Andromeda was tabled to have been fastened, and which probably were once used to moor vessels, were high above the sea. Perhaps, like the Channel Islands, the navigation was safe to those who knew the coast, unsafe to others. To this port Jonah “went down” from his native country, the mountain district of Zabulon. Perhaps it was not at this time in the hands of Israel. At least, the sailors were pagan. He “went down,” as the man who fell among the thieves, is said to “have gone down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” Luk 10:30. He “went down” from the place which God honored by His presence and protection.
And he paid the fare thereof - Jonah describes circumstantially, how he took every step to his end. He went down, found a strongly built ship going where he wished, paid his fare, embarked. He seemed now to have done all. He had severed himself from the country where his office lay. He had no further step to take. Winds and waves would do the rest. He had but to be still. He went, only to be brought back again.
“Sin brings our soul into much senselessness. For as those overtaken by heaviness of head and drunkenness, are borne on simply and at random, and, be there pit or precipice or whatever else below them, they fall into it unawares; so too, they who fall into sin, intoxicated by their desire of the object, know not what they do, see nothing before them, present or future. Tell me, Fleest thou the Lord? Wait then a little, and thou shalt learn from the event, that thou canst not escape the hands of His servant, the sea. For as soon as he embarked, it too roused its waves and raised them up on high; and as a faithful servant, finding her fellow-slave stealing some of his master’s property, ceases not from giving endless trouble to those who take him in, until she recover him, so too the sea, finding and recognizing her fellow-servant, harasses the sailors unceasingly, raging, roaring, not dragging them to a tribunal but threatening to sink the vessel with all its unless they restore to her, her fellow-servant.”
“The sinner “arises,” because, will he, nill he, toil he must. If he shrinks from the way of God, because it is hard, he may not yet be idle. There is the way of ambition, of covetousness, of pleasure, to be trodden, which certainly are far harder. ‘We wearied ourselves (Wisdom 5:7),’ say the wicked, ‘in the way of wickedness and destruction, yea, we have gone through deserts where there lay no way; but the way of the Lord we have not known.’ Jonah would not arise, to go to Nineveh at God’s command; yet he must needs arise, to flee to Tarshish from before the presence of God. What good can he have who fleeth the Good? what light, who willingly forsaketh the Light? “He goes down to Joppa.” Wherever thou turnest, if thou depart from the will of God, thou goest down. Whatever glory, riches, power, honors, thou gainest, thou risest not a whit; the more thou advancest, while turned from God, the deeper and deeper thou goest down. Yet all these things are not had, without paying the price. At a price and with toil, he obtains what he desires; he receives nothing gratis, but, at great price purchases to himself storms, griefs, peril. There arises a great tempest in the sea, when various contradictory passions arise in the heart of the sinner, which take from him all tranquility and joy. There is a tempest in the sea, when God sends strong and dangerous disease, whereby the frame is in peril of being broken. There is a tempest in the sea, when, thro’ rivals or competitors for the same pleasures, or the injured, or the civil magistrate, his guilt is discovered, he is laden with infamy and odium, punished, withheld from his wonted pleasures. Psa 107:23-27. “They who go down to the sea of this world, and do business in mighty waters - their soul melteth away because of trouble; they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16 Tharsis. Which some take to be Tharsus of Cilicia,…
Tharsis. Which some take to be Tharsus of Cilicia, others to be Tartessus of Spain, others to be Carthage. (Challoner) --- Joppe, now Jaffa, (Menochius) a miserable seaport. (Haydock) --- It was formerly the best near Jerusalem, (2 Paralipomenon ii. 16.) though very dangerous. (Josephus, Jewish Wars iii. 15. or 29.) --- It is said to have been built before "the inundation" of the world, (Mela. i. 11.) and was famous for the adventure of Andromeda, rescued by Perseus from a sea monster. (Pliny, [Natural History?] v. 13.) (Calmet) --- Lord. He feared being accounted a false prophet, (Worthington) knowing how much God was inclined to shew mercy, (chap. iv. 2.) and being disheartened at the difficulty of the undertaking, like Moses and Gedeon. (Calmet) --- He might also think that if the Ninivites repented, it would be a reflection on the obstinacy of the Jews. (St. Gregory, Mor. vi. 13.) (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–17 flee--Jonah's motive for flight is hinted at in :…
flee--Jonah's motive for flight is hinted at in : fear that after venturing on such a dangerous commission to so powerful a heathen city, his prophetical threats should be set aside by God's "repenting of the evil," just as God had so long spared Israel notwithstanding so many provocations, and so he should seem a false prophet. Besides, he may have felt it beneath him to discharge a commission to a foreign idolatrous nation, whose destruction he desired rather than their repentance. This is the only case of a prophet, charged with a prophetical message, concealing it.
from the presence of the Lord--(Compare ). Jonah thought in fleeing from the land of Israel, where Jehovah was peculiarly present, that he should escape from Jehovah's prophecy-inspiring influence. He probably knew the truth stated in , but virtually ignored it (compare ; ).
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went down--appropriate in going from land to the sea ().
Joppa--now Jaffa, in the region of Dan; a harbor as early as Solomon's time ().
Tarshish--Tartessus in Spain; in the farthest west at the greatest distance from Nineveh in the east.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17 3. Jonah proceeds on his journey, but in the…
3. Jonah proceeds on his journey, but in the opposite direction.
Tarshish — This city has been identified with Tarsus in Cilicia, the home of the apostle Paul; but it should be identified with Tartessus, a Phoenician colony in southwest Spain, not far from Gibraltar. Nineveh was in the far east, Tarshish appears to have been the most distant city toward the west then known. The author evidently desires to represent Jonah as attempting to get away from his mission as far as possible.
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From the presence of Jehovah — The prophet is anxious to get out of God’s sight, lest God, seeing him, might be reminded of the commission imposed. The motive leading to the flight is indicated in Jon_4:2. The expression goes back to a time when it was actually thought that removal from the land of the Hebrews was removal from the presence of Jehovah (1Sa_26:19; compare Dan_6:10). At the time when the Book of Jonah was written the phrase had lost its older, primitive significance, for the omnipresence of Jehovah had long been recognized (see Amos, p. 207). Nevertheless, it continued to be used in a figurative sense.
Joppa — One of the harbors on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, which from ancient times has served as a seaport of Jerusalem (2Ch_2:16; Ezr_3:7). It is still a flourishing town; Cheyne says (Encyclopaedia Biblica) that its population was estimated in 1897 at over thirty-five thousand; but Mackie (Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible) estimates its population at “about eight thousand.” The present name of the city is Yafa, Eng. Jaffa. The city is the western terminus of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway. There Jonah found a ship which was ready to sail; he paid the fare and set out for Tarshish; but Jehovah overtook him.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–17 3. Tarshish] Probably Tartessus, an ancient mercantile city of…
3. Tarshish] Probably Tartessus, an ancient mercantile city of the Phœnicians, in the S. of Spain, of which the site is supposed to have been “between the two arms by which the Guadalquivir flowed into the sea.” See Smith’s Bib. Dict. Art. Tarshish. “God bid him go to Nineveh, which lay North-East from his home, and he instantly set himself to flee to the then furthermost West.”—Pusey.
from the presence of the Lord] This may mean from standing before the Lord or being in His presence, as His servant or minister (Deu_10:8, 1Ki_17:1, Mat_18:10, Luk_1:19. See Dr Pusey, Commentary on Jonah, p. 247, note d.); i. e. he renounced his office of prophet rather than obey so unwelcome a command. It may, however, only refer to that special presence of God in the Holy Land, which all Jews recognised. Either view is compatible with a belief on the part of Jonah in the omnipresence of God (Psalms 139). It is said of Cain (Gen_4:16) that he “went out from the presence of the Lord” (and the Heb. phrase is the same as here), when he forfeited the favourable regard, together possibly with some local manifestation of the presence of the Almighty.
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The reason of Jonah’s disobedience is given by himself, ch. Jon_4:2. Knowing well the lovingkindness of God, he anticipated that He would spare the Ninevites on their repentance, and he could not bring himself to be the messenger of mercy to heathen, much less to heathen who (as the Assyrian inscriptions state) had already made war against his own people, and who as he may have known were destined to be their conquerors. See the statements of his probable contemporary, Hos_9:3; Hos_11:5.
Joppa] Now Jaffa, the well-known port of Palestine on the Mediterranean. It was 50 miles from Gath-hepher.
“Jaffa is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was given to Dan (?), in the distribution of the land by Joshua, and it has been known to history ever since. It owes its existence to the low ledge of rocks, which extends into the sea from the extremity of the little cape on which the city stands, and forms a small harbour. Insignificant as it is and insecure, yet there being no other in all this coast, it was sufficient to cause a city to spring up around it even in the earliest times, and to sustain its life through numberless changes of dynasties, races and religions, down to the present hour. It was in fact the only harbour of any notoriety possessed by the Jews throughout the greater part of their national existence. To it the timber for both the temples of Jerusalem was brought from Lebanon; and no doubt a lucrative trade in cedar and pine was always carried on through it with the nations who had possession of the forests of Lebanon. Through it also nearly all the foreign commerce of the Jews was conducted until the artificial port of Cæsarea was built by Herod.”
“The harbour, however, is very inconvenient and insecure. Vessels of any considerable burden must lie out in the open roadstead—a very uneasy berth at all times; and even a moderate wind will oblige them to slip cable and run out to sea, or seek anchorage at Haifa, sixty miles distant. The landing also is most inconvenient, and often extremely dangerous. More boats upset and more lives are lost in the breakers at the north end of the ledge of rocks that defend the inner habour, than anywhere else on this coast. I have been in imminent danger myself, with all my family in the boat, and never look without a shudder at this treacherous port, with its noisy surf tumbling over the rocks, as if on purpose to swallow up unfortunate boats.”—Thomson, Land and Book, pp. 514–516; see also Smith’s Bible Dict. Art. Joppa.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–17 (3) But Jonah rose up to flee.—The motive of…
(3) But Jonah rose up to flee.—The motive of the prophet’s flight is given by himself (Jon_4:2). He foresaw the repentance of the city, and the mercy which would be displayed towards 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 Phœnician colony on the river Guadalquivir, in the south-west of Spain. (See Gen_10:4; 1Ch_1:7.)
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A profound moral lesson lies in the choice of this refuge by Jonah. A man who tries to escape from a clearly-recognised 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 north-east, instantly tries to flee to the then farthermost 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 (as in Gen_3:8), a belief which, as we gather from the insistence on its opposite in Psalms 139, lingered late in the popular conception; (2) a renunciation of the prophetic office. (Comp. Deu_10:8; 1Ki_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; but, on embarking, Jonah went below, as if still more securely to hide, and used the same expression to the mariners, who would certainly take it in its literal and popular sense.
Joppa.—Heb., Yâpho; now Jaffa, the port of Jerusalem. (See Jos_19:46; 2Ch_2:16.)
He found a ship.—Probably a Phœnician vessel trading between Egypt and Spain, and accustomed to touch at Joppa.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–17 Tarshish; probably, Tartessus, a Phoenician city on the south…
Tarshish; probably, Tartessus, a Phoenician city on the south coast of Spain, and therefore in the opposite direction to Nineveh. He was sent to the far east; he flees to the distant west. From the presence of the Lord; literally, from the face of Jehovah. This may mean, from God s special presence in Jerusalem or the Holy Land, as banishment from Cannaan is called "casting out of his sight"; (2Ki_17:20, 23 23:27) or, from serving the Lord as his minister, (Deu_10:8) Jonah preferring to renounce his office as prophet rather than execute his mission. The former seems the most natural explanation of the phrase. Kimchi says that Jonah supposed that the spirit of prophecy would not extend beyond the land of Israel. He could never have thought to escape from God"s all-seeing eye. His repugnance to the duty imposed upon him arose partly from national prejudice, which made him loth to interfere in Gentile business, and partly, as he himself says, (Jon_4:2) because he feared God"s compassion would spare the Ninevites on their repentance, and that thus his prediction would be discredited, and mercy shown to heathens already inimical to Israel, if not known to him as the future conquerors of his people. Joppa. This is the modern Jaffa, (called Japho in Jos_19:46) a town on the seacoast thirty miles in a northwesterly direction from Jerusalem. "Jaffa," says Dr. Thomson ("The Land and the Book," p. 8, etc.), "is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was given to Dan in the distribution of the land by Joshua, and it has been known to history ever since. It owes its existence to the low ledge of rocks which extends into the sea from the extremity of the little cape on which the city stands, and forms a small harbour. Insignificant as it is, and insecure, yet, there being no other on all this coast, it was sufficient to cause a city to spring up around it even in the earliest times, and to sustain its life through numberless changes of dynasties, races, and religions, down to the present hour. It was, in fact, the only harbour of any notoriety possessed by the Jews throughout the greater part of their national existence. To it the timber for both the temples of Jerusalem was brought from Lebanon; and no doubt a lucrative trade in cedar and pine was always carried on through it with the nations who had possession of that goodly mountain. Through it, also, nearly all the foreign commerce of the Jews was conducted, until the artificial pert of Caessarea was built by Herod .... The harbour, howewer, is very inconvenient and insecure. Vessels of any considerable burden must lie out in the open road-stead a very uneasy berth at all times; and even a moderate wind will oblige them to slip their cables and run out to sea, or seek anchorage at Haifa, sixty miles distant .... The road-stead is liable to sudden and unexpected storms, which stir up a tumultuous sea in a very short time .... The landing also is most inconvenient, and often extremely dangerous. More boats upset, and more lives are lost in the breakers at the north end of the ledge of rocks that defend the inner harbour than anywhere else on this coast." Went down into it; anebh enebh , Alex. eiv auto , "went up into it" (Septuagint). Went on board; or, as Jerome says, sought a hiding place in the ship (comp. ver. 5). With them. With the crew. Jonah had told them (ver. 10) that he was flying from God"s service, but, knowing and earing nothing about Jehovah, they took him on board when he paid his fare, and thought nothing of his private reasons for joining them
Fleeing from the Lord.
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There is something wonderfully simple in this language, and something wonderfully childish and naive in the action here described. Yet when Jonah, who should have gone eastward, turned his face towards the west, when he went down to the port of Joppa and took ship for Tarshish, though he was acting in a way sinful in itself and most disastrous for him, he was teaching for all time and for all readers of Scripture a lesson of human infirmity which is to us chiefly precious as preparing the way for a lesson of human repentance and of Divine forgiveness and acceptance.
I THE MOTIVE WHICH LEADS MEN TO WISH TO FLEE FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS BAD. There are various impulses which may tend to drive men away from the all-searching eye of the Supreme. Some, like Jonah, may wish to avoid a service to which they cherish repugnance; for which, perhaps, they feel personally disqualified. Others may wish to hide their sins from One who, they know well, must regard them with displeasure. In any case, though the degree of culpability may vary, the motive is unworthy. The child should hide nothing from the Father; the Christian should never ask Where shall I hide from thy presence? but should rather rejoice in the nearness, the interest, the favour, of his Maker and Saviour.
II THE METHOD WHICH MEN ADOPT IN ORDER TO FLEE FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS ABSURD. Change of place cannot take us out of the territory of the Omnipresent King. Jacob found that when at Bethel; the Lord was in that place, though he knew it not. Jonah learned that God"s hand held in its hollow the raging sea; the same hand that fashioned the dry land from which he fled. It is now more common for those who would flee from God to betake themselves to the society of the profane, the licentious, the ungodly; thus they seek at least to banish the thought of God, if they cannot escape from his all-regarding eye.
III THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF FLEEING FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS OBVIOUS. That is to say, obvious to all who reflect upon the nature and the attributes of the Eternal. And it is well that all who are tempted to wish that relations between themselves and their Creator were suspended should reflect upon this impossibility. In God we live and move and have our being. We may forget him, but he does not overlook us. We may be out of harmony with his highest purposes, but we cannot cease even for one moment to be subjects of his kingdom, whether contented or discontented, loyal or rebellious.
IV THE CONSEQUENCES OF ENDEAVOURING TO FLEE FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD ARE AFFLICTING. In his favour is life. It is well to walk in the light of the Lord. They who depart from God forsake their true happiness. The presence of the Lord of all is necessary in order to strength and success in our work. A messenger from God above all men needs the consciousness of the Divine favour; for him to flee from God is to sacrifice his life, to throw up his vocation, and, except God have mercy upon him, to destroy his spiritual prospects.
V GOD"S FORBEARANCE AND COMPASSION MAY BRING BACK THOSE WHO TRY TO FLEE FROM HIM. The narrative tells not only how Jonah. fled, but how God followed him; how God did indeed chasten his servant, but did not forsake him; how Providence overruled his sinful conduct and secured his spiritual good. We need not despond, even if we have, as it were, turned our back upon God. "He restoreth our soul." He so reveals his grace that, instead of fleeing from his presence, we come to find in that presence fulness of joy.
Jonah the fugitive.
I THE MOTIVES THAT IMPELLED HIM TO FLIGHT. We cannot know all that prevailed with him. If we knew just where the call found him, and "the spirit of his mind," then we might be less surprised at his flight. Had he been "restraining prayer"? yielding to self-indulgence? or falling to the idolatry of his own judgment confident that he knew his own powers, what he could best do, where best labour? not in all things seeking that higher wisdom which is our only safe and unerring guidance? Anyway, such a man as Jonah falls only by little and little. There are many steps to reach a spiritual catastrophe. Let us be warned, then, against the first steps, however secret, that lead from God. Among the things that wrongly influenced him to flight we may suppose:
1. The novelty of the work. To be a prophet to a heathen people, to go to them as God"s messenger, was striking into a new line of duty. How different from work in Israel amid familiar surroundings!
2. It was work afar off, involving a long journey of several hundred miles.Those, too, were days of slow travelling, and Jonah too, perhaps, a poor traveller.
3. The difficulties of the work would only be beginning when Nineveh wasreached. That he, a solitary man, a foreigner, should, in that city of insolent pride and pitiless violence, denounce judgment upon it, was indeed a stupendous work something to do and to shrink from.
4. His little success at home was not encouraging. Jeroboam may havebeen quickened by his prophecies to military effort and victories, but Jeroboam was still an idolater. And idolaters, as a whole, were his people. What can Jonah expect, then, in Nineveh?
5. But if the Ninevites repented, then (for they would surely be saved) Jonah would be discredited. "He had foretold doom, and, lo! deliverance.
6. Why should Nineveh, Israel"s enemy, be spared? All the small blind patriot in Jonah kindled into revolt against the work to which he was bidden. Let Nineveh perish! And have we no excuses for flight from duty? Such a novel work, or so new to us! So far away from all our experiences! Beset with countless difficulties! Amid dangers, too, perhaps! And little likelihood of success in it! Must the work be done? Then others must do it] Excuses may be many, valid reasons there can be none, for neglecting the duty which God bids us to do.
II THE FAVOURABLE-SEEMING CHARACTER OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN JONAH"S FLIGHT. He left Gath-hepher; went down to the coast. No accident stopped him. In Joppa no illness delayed him. The sea was peaceful. He found just the ship he wished, and bound whither he desired. There was room for him on board. He had money enough for the passage; "so he paid the fare." He went aboard. What could be better? Not into the book of providence must we look to know the right way from the wrong. In themselves, prosperity is no proof of the Divine favour, nor adversity of the Divine displeasure. We have a "sure word" to guide us. And had Jonah tested his conduct by God"s word, he would have known, in spite of all that seemed favourable, that he was going "the way of transgressors." Have you success in wrong? It is none the less wrong. Things are not really, permanently favourable if God is unfavourable. Are we right with him? Then all things, storm as well as shine, shall be right with us. "Even the night shall be light about us.
III JONAH"S SPIRITUAL DEGRADATION IN FLIGHT FROM DUTY. "He went down to Joppa." Literally, down from the mountains of Zebulun, down to Joppa, and, having secured his berth, down into it." Spiritually, how he had been going down! Down from his moral elevation as a prophet. Down from the heights of fellowship. Down from the highlands of peace. Down from Divine service in which he had been as "upon the top of the mountains." Down, ever less noble, beautiful, Divine! Men may "go up" in society, wealth, local influence, and yet morally be going down. By every act of duty done we ascend; by each neglected we morally descend. Having the Word of the Lord, may we have his Spirit too, that daily we may cheerfully respond to the heavenly voice that says, "Come up higher"! G.T.C.
The prophet"s disobedience.
Scripture never seeks to palliate the sins of the saints, but reveals them in all their wickedness. Jonah"s disobedience is exhibited in the strongest light, as being resolute and prompt, following immediately on the Divine command. He had been told to make his way to Nineveh, which lay northeast of his home, and he instantly started in the opposite direction, being determined to go as far west as he could. He "went down" from the mountain district of Zebulun, where he bred, "to Joppa now known as Jaffa, a port on the Mediterranean. There he found a vessel on the point of sailing for Spain, which was much larger and safer than the ordinary coasters, as we may judges not only from the length of the voyage undertaken, but from such a verse as this: "Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind;" the destruction of these great vessels by storm being evidently considered a special proof of Divine power. Tarshish was an ancient city of Spain, proverbial for its wealth, and was the exporter to Tyre, to Judaea, and other lands, of silver, iron, tin, and lead. It was known to the Greeks and Romans as Tartessus. In that distant place, mingling with the crowds which thronged its streets, occupied by the fresh strange scenes which would surround him, Jonah hoped to escape from his duty and to drown the voice of conscience. His folly and sin are suggestive of warning to all who are tempted to disobey their God.
I MANY LIKE JONAH, FLEE FROM THE WAY IN WHICH GOD WOULD HAVE THEM GO. The expression, "to flee... from the presence of the Lords" should be rendered "to flee ... from being before the Lord," i.e. from standing in his presence as his servant. Jonah knew perfectly well that he would never be beyond the reach of God"s sight and power. The truths celebrated in Psalm 139, he sincerely believed. But he resolved no longer to act as God"s messenger and prophet. He felt sure that his message of warning was meant to bring Nineveh to repentance, and that then the merciful God would spare the city, which, with far-seeing prescience, the prophet perceived would be the destroyer of his country. If the sins of its inhabitants were so great, they deserved to die; and if their growing power was shattered, he cared not how,. threatening danger would be averted from his native land. Just as some Englishmen, jealous of the rising power of the United States, would not have lifted a finger to avert its destruction in the late civil war, so Jonah felt about Nineveh. He determined that he at least would not be the messenger to avert its destruction; so he fled as far as he could from the appointed sphere. Examples of similar conduct are to be seen amongst us.
1. God calls men to private prayer. They hear of its benefits; they are conscious that it is a duty and a privilege. Yet they avoid solitude, or they plunge into an interesting book, or they yield themselves to sleep, just when the opportunity comes for praying to the Father who seeth in secret.
2. God calls men to his service. The work requires to be done, but they shut their eyes to it, or they leave it to others, or so absorb their time in business that God"s service is neglected.
3. God calls men to give themselves to him. At times they are almost persuaded to be Christians. But they leave the sphere in which good influences surround them, and wander away into the far country as the prodigal did.
II IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO AVOID THE GOD-APPOINTED WAY. Jonah felt that he could not remain where he was. He wished to divert his mind by travel, and to make it so difficult to journey to Nineveh that he could quiet his conscience in Tarshish by saying, "The distance is too great." Money, time, and trouble were necessary to his disobedience. Every wrong doer has had some such experience. Around most of us God mercifully puts a protecting hedge of holy influences, which it is difficult and painful to break through. Those who are brought up in Christian homes do not find it easy to snap the bonds of love which have held them, and to get rid of the sacred memories of a hopeful childhood. They feel shocked and ashamed when they first witness scenes of vice and hear words of evil. Doubts and fears trouble them, especially at the beginning of a downward course, though all too soon they learn even to rejoice in iniquity. All such feelings and associations are among the God-appointed means for saving us from sin.
III GOD DOES NOT RESISTLESSLY STOP THOSE WHO ARE DETERMINED TO GO WRONG. Jonah had no accident on his journey down to Joppa. He found the very ship he wanted at anchor in the harbour. He paid the fare and embarked for his destination, and when the anchors were raised and the vessel sailed out to sea, he felt that he had nothing more to do but wait, while the breeze that filled the sails would soon carry him to a distant land. Those who mean to leave the ways of unrighteousness do not meet with insuperable difficulties. They may be sometimes troubled with self-reproach, but meantime outward circumstances may appear even to favour their downward progress. If only they can stifle convictions and cast scruples to the winds while they resolutely make their way to scenes of gaiety and sin, God will work no miracle to prevent them. And the time may come when even the inward monitor is silent; for God"s voice has been heard saying, "Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone. A.R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish.
Jon_1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish.
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The refusal to obey a God-given charge
Jonah sullenly resolved not to obey Gods voice. What a glimpse into the prophetic office that gives us! The Divine Spirit could be resisted, and the prophet was no mere machine, but a living man who had to consent with his devoted will to bear the burden of the Lord. One refused, and his refusal teaches us how superb and self-sacrificing was the faithfulness of the rest. Jonah represents the national feelings which he shared. He refused because he feared success. Gods goodness was being stretched rather too far if it was going to take in Nineveh. His was the spirit of the prodigals elder brother. Israel was set among the nations, not as a dark lantern, but as the great candlestick in the temple court proclaimed, to ray out light to all the world. Jonahs mission was but a concrete instance of Israels charge. All sorts of religious exclusiveness, contemptuous estimates of other nations, and that bastard patriotism which would keep national blessings for our own country alone, are condemned by this story. Note the fatal consequences of refusal to obey the God-given charge. Jonah only meant to escape from service. The storm is described with a profusion of unusual words, all apparently technical terms, picked up on board. No wonder that the fugitive prophet slunk down into some dark corner, and sat bitterly brooding there, self-accused and condemned, till weariness and the relief of the tension of his journey lulled him to sleep. It was a stupid and heavy sleep. Over against the picture of the insensible prophet is set the behaviour of the heathen sailors, or salts, as the story calls them. Their conduct is part of the lesson of the book. Their treatment of Jonah is generous and chivalrous. They are so much touched by the whole incident that they offer sacrifices to the God of the Hebrews, and are, in some sense, and possibly but for a time, worshippers of Him. All this holds up the mirror to Israel, by showing how much of human kindness and generosity, and how much of susceptibility for the truth which Israel had to declare, lay in rude hearts beyond its pale. Jonahs conduct in the storm is no less noble than his former conduct had been base. The burst of the tempest blew all the fog from his mind, and he saw the stars again. His confession of faith; his calm conviction that he was the cause of the storm; his quiet, unhesitating command to throw him into the wild chaos foaming about the ship; his willing acceptance of death as the wages of his sin--all tell how true a saint he was in the depths of his soul. The miracle of rescue is the last point. Jonahs repentance saved his life. The wider lesson of the means of making chastisement into blessing, and securing a way of escape--namely, by owning the justice of the stroke, and returning to duty--is meant for us all. The ever-present providence of God, the possible safety of the nation, even when in captivity, the preservation of every servant of God who turns to the Lord in his chastisement, the exhibition of penitence as the way of deliverance, are the purposes for which the miracle was wrought and told. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Jonahs soft-will
The main features of the ease are clear, and from these we draw the principles and lessons to be enforced. On the one hand, there is a Divine commission and command distinctly and authoritatively given, with some of the reasons for it annexed, although with others certainly not fully revealed. On the other hand, there is a state of reluctance and suspense ever verging towards actual disobedience--expressing itself, now in remonstrance, now in request for exemption, now in moody and distrustful silence. The situation is none so rare. The principles involved, and the lessons arising, are for all time. The supreme and unchallengeable obligation of the Divine will when clearly expressed. There can be no higher obligation to man or angel than that. That will is always in harmony with the eternal principles of truth and goodness. When God speaks to a servant, there can be no pretence for delay or non-compliance, much less for disobedience. Obedience, promptly, fully given, is the most beautiful thing that walks the earth. Prompt and simple obedience, when we are sure that God speaks, is the way to clearness, virtue, honour, strength, safety, and peace.
2. The exceeding danger of a mood of hesitation or remonstrance. We should watch with great self-jealousy the moral hesitations of the will, and the silent petitionings for delay or exemption. All such heart movements are fraught with peril. Divine light is given for walking and working. In most, if not all of the critical moments of life, duty is revealed very quickly, and made very plain and clear. In matters of expediency and prudence, wait for the afterthoughts. In matters of conscience and present duty, take the first thoughts that arise, for they are the Divinest. Happy is he whose action is as quick as the impulse that calls for it! whose daily obedience has in it the fresh colours of newborn convictions! whose feet sound the echo of Gods Arise! (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Jonahs motive in his flight
This dereliction of duty could not arise from imperfect acquaintance with Gods will. That is nowhere intimated in the narrative. It was deliberate disobedience.
1. The arduousness of the duty may have been one cause of the sin. He shrank from the service because of the hardships he supposed to be involved in it. He thought of the journey; of the probable reception of his message by the Ninevites; and of possible violence done to himself by them. If God calls to arduous duty, He is prepared to give all needed grace for doing it.
2. The mortification of his own vanity. Gods mercy and forbearance on repentance Jonah feared would be a personal dishonour to him as a prophet. Rather than subject himself to the possibility of such mortification Jonah chose to decline the duty altogether. This motive argues a painful obtuseness of right human feelings. Learn--
1. In the prosecution of arduous and self-denying duties to seek the help of God, and not throw off our responsibilities by shunning them. Responsibility can only be met by the conscientious discharge of duty. Human nature often shrinks, as Jonah did, from this duty, but let us be faithful to God, and depend on Him for strength and blessing.
2. And let us discharge all our obligations to our fellew-men from a sincere desire to benefit them and please God. Let us not mingle personal vanity with any of our religious endeavours, nor be too anxious about our fame and reputation. Our record is on high, our judgment is with our God. (Thomas Harding.)
Jonahs soft-persuasions to disobedience
How did he persuade himself to enter on a course of disobedience to the Divine will so open and declared?
1. It was a long way.
2. The thing to be done was very difficult.
3. It would be natural that he should despair of any great success.
4. He may have thought that, in the event of attaining a spiritual success, failure must come in another way. His own reputation would suffer. Over-consciousness of personal character, and over-carefulness for the Divine honour, were not of old, are not now so very uncommon.
5. The prophet had some dark forecast of evil to his own country from the probable turn which matters would take, if his mission at Nineveh should be successful. We cannot pass any severe and overwhelming judgment on Jonah. There is too much reason to fear that his kind of disobedience is not at all uncommon. Far oftener than many suppose, great and gifted spirits have shrunk back from great responsibilities. See cases of Moses, Gideon, etc. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The story of Jonah
The Book of Jonah is a prophetic history. It sets forth in object-lessons truths which bring us very near to the heart of the Gospel.
I. The scorned message of mercy. The prophet was the recipient of a Divine message. He was to declare to the people of Nineveh their sins, and summon them to repentance. This should have been an acceptable and agreeable duty. Why should Jonah have closed his ear against the Divine Word, shut up his heart against compassion for Nineveh, and fled from his duty? The answer uncovers at once Gods compassion and Jonahs sin. Jonahs fault lay in narrowing the compassion of Jehovah, and exaggerating the claims of the chosen people. His pride of race overrode his humanity; his sectarian zeal consumed his charity.
1. What shall we say of one who refuses to enter upon a work of salvation such as this? Jonah sinned against God and humanity.
2. If we seek downward for the tap-root of Jonahs fault, where do we find it? In false views of Gods nature.
3. There are still men and women--good but misguided people--who hold that the salvation of God is limited to their Church. In the light of Jonahs story, we may regard all such people with sincere pity, even while we condemn their presumptuous bigotry.
II. The sinner pursued by God. If God is com passionate, He is also just. He pities Nineveh, but He punishes Jonah. He pursues the offending prophet with a rod of judgment. If we suppose that Jonahs sleep was one of self-security, we may imagine the sharp awakening to the sad truth of his condition.
III. A verdict of the self-condemned. The behaviour of the ships crew at the climax of the storm presents an interesting study. We are insensibly drawn to these rough pagan mariners. We respect their manhood, we praise their virtues, we pity their gropings after truth and duty, and long that they and such as they might have knowledge of the one sufficient atonement for sin. We are drawn with even tenderer sympathy to Jonah. He stands there on the tossing deck, self-condemned indeed, but his whole attitude is noble. His fault has risen upon him at once in its full magnitude. He neither denies nor extenuates it; he confesses it fully, and he offers himself in atonement therefor. No wonder that the sailors, profoundly touched by Jonahs act, struggled to the verge of hope ere they could find heart to sacrifice this man.
1. We see here a wonderful illustration of the force of conscience when it is once awakened within the breast.
2. We have here a fine example of the operation of a genuine repentance. What must have beer the influence of this experience upon Jonahs after preaching?
IV. Burial in the deep. The miracle consisted not so much in the fact that Jonah was swallowed alive, as that he was kept alive within the fish for three days. We must place this miracle upon the same footing as other Scripture miracles. Our Lord teaches that this burial and resurrection was a sign of His own burial and resurrection (Mat_12:40-41). (Henry C. MCook, D. D.)
The prophets disobedience, and what came of his flight from duty
Jonah must have been a contemporary, or near successor, of Elisha.
I. His disobedience and flight from Gods presence. All men at least try to believe that they have good reasons for their disobedience. What was Jonahs? Told in Joh_4:2. It was thought that God was specially present in Israel. If he left the country he would not be at hand to be sent on missions. His fleeing was a way of resigning his prophetic office. Have none of us ever done as Jonah did? When God calls to service or duty, do we never go another way? How easy to fancy that, by some means, we can escape the Divine presence!
II. His arrest and exposure. Thus far all had seemed to go well with the renegade prophet. For a time the Lord allowed him to have his way. And so He does with us all. If one chooses to run from duty, to decline service, to defer obedience, God does not ordinarily interpose to prevent his doing it. The downward way is commonly broad and smooth for a time. But, happily for us, God often finds means for the arrest of the disobedient. In the case of the fleeing prophet, He made use of the tempest. All sorts of persons pray in those great emergencies, which prove to us how utterly powerless we are. There is a feeling, which seems native to the human heart, that behind all physical ills there is a moral cause. Troubles come out of sin. These seamen, imagining, as it is so common to imagine, that unusual calamity is proof of unusual guilt, jumped to the conclusion that their present peril was due to the presence of some flagrant wrong-doer. They thought that, by means of the lot, the culprit might be detected. The lot fell on Jonah. In so unlikely a way his sin had found him out.
III. His confession and surrender. Crowding about this mysterious stranger, the questions of the sailors fell fast and thick. They wanted to have his whole story. Jonah made frank and full confession. There was no self-justification, but a declaration that God is to be reverenced and feared. And he put himself into Gods hands. Understanding, as a prophet, that only by casting him into the sea could the tempest be stayed, he humbly, submissively, bowed his will to Gods. It is precisely that spirit of penitence and trust which ever marks one as a sure subject of that mercy which, whatever befalls the body, saves the soul unto the life ever lasting.
IV. His chastisement and preservation. It is clear that Jonahs conduct had won the respect of the seamen, and touched their hearts. They would save him if they could. Jonahs preaching and conduct had convinced them of the true faith; for soon we find them offering sacrifice and making vows unto the Lord. True penitence does not save from present and outward ills. The forgiven still need correction, Note the blending of the providential and the miraculous in the story. Having brought a self-willed servant to account and repentance, and administered needed correction, it was the Lords will to restore Jonah to the place he had deserted. The chief practical lesson is the great folly of attempting to escape the service or duty to which God may call us. To obey is easier than to flee. There are crosses and hardships in the way of obedience, but they are far lighter than those which are sure to overtake unbelief and self-will. (Sermons by Monday Club.)
Jonahs failure
Jonah was unwilling to execute his commission;--not under a humble sense of unworthiness and insufficiency;--this would have made him earnest in prayer to God for the courage and strength in which he felt himself to be deficient. This would, in fact, have been the very best qualification for the work assigned him: such feelings and such qualifications we find in Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, but he shrunk from it, through a distrust of God, and a dread of the consequences. His faith in God failed; and then, what did he foresee at Nineveh, but ridicule, and bonds, and death? Perhaps, too, he was living in the enjoyment of comforts, which he must forego, for the chance only of returning from his perilous expedition. It seems, too, that he was apprehensive that the labour and peril might be encountered by him for nothing; for that, after all, the mercy of God would spare the Ninevites, and then some might pour contempt on his predictions. His motives were probably mixed: some of them might not be known to himself; for, having resolved to disobey God, he yielded himself to the power of Satan, who would pour darkness and perplexity into his mind, and would probably succeed at last in persuading him that his offence was far from heinous, and that the severity of the trial would almost excuse his sinning. Possibly he set against this act of disobedience his former zealous exertions in the cause of God; he excused his present cowardice by his former boldness--his present love of ease, by his former self-denial and endurance of injuries. Thus, while he regarded his own credit and ease and safety more than the honour of God and the deliverance of the Ninevites, he deserted his post. Let us not condemn him; but ask ourselves, before God, how we should have acted in the same circumstances. (Matthew M. Preston, M. A.)
Faithless to a high vocation
Though the Israelites were the elect people, the mercy of God was continually extending itself beyond them. He would from time to time send prophets and messengers to turn them from their idols, to reveal to them the knowledge of Himself, and bring them to repentance. Jonah resisted the call of God, and refused to go to Nineveh. Why did he refuse to go? Because he thought God would spare the Ninevites after he, His prophet, had proclaimed their ruin, and he shrank from the supposed humiliation of appearing in their eyes a false prophet. He shrank from the sensitiveness of a proud nature. Another reason has been suggested, that he passionately loved his country, and feared the uprising of this powerful nation on its borders. It is said that Jonah fled unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Is it possible that he thought by a change of place to get beyond the reach of the Divine displeasure? It is more probable that he fled from the service of God. He meant to abandon his prophetic office. He was faithless to his vocation, and would cast off the responsibility of a high calling. Dwell on this unfaithfulness, and draw lessons from it. Are we not, each of us, like Jonah, called to stand in the presence of God and to serve Him? We have each certain duties and responsibilities, as clear and definite as the prophet had when he heard the Word of God, bidding him go to Tarshish. We too may flee from the presence of God. Our calling may require effort and hardness, and we shrink from it. Jonah is the image of every man who, knowing the command of God, gives up the path of duty, choosing in preference something more congenial to his tastes and disposition, or some passing feeling, some desire or fear. The call of duty will constantly involve giving up some interest or pleasure. Some trouble one meets in daily life may try the soul and test its faithfulness. It is always true that only he who doeth the will of the Father can enter the kingdom. (T. T. Carter.)
The runaway prophet
I. What was the reason for this flight? The cause of disobedience is to be found in the significance of Gods message to the prophet. It was a message of judgment, and yet, underlying it, as Jonah easily perceived, was a message of mercy. It taught Jonah, and through him the Jews generally, that God had a grand purpose of love and mercy to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Such a thought as that was utterly opposed to Jewish ideas. Jonahs conduct is but the representation of the whole national feeling. Jonah wanted the Ninevites and all other Gentiles to fall under the judgment of God, and to be destroyed from the face of the earth. This was the reason for his flight. Let us beware lest we should find his sin lying at our door. God taught the same lesson to Peter when the times of the Gentiles had fully come. We are now learning the lesson that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Gods message of love to no one nation, or select few, but to every member of the human family.
II. What was the object of Jonahs flight? Not to flee from the omniscience of God. The object of Jonah was to escape from standing before God as His prophet. He regarded the revelation and voice of God as in some way confined to Jewish territory. Though we, too, know that we cannot escape from the presence of God, we often fancy we can fly where the voice of God shall not be heard by us. When God calls men to go in one direction, and they like it not, immediately they set out to go in directly the opposite.
III. The successive steps of Jonahs flight.
1. He went down to Joppa. His journey was downward in more senses than one.
2. He found a ship, and paid his fare to Tarshish. Is there not quite a parable in that paying the fare? It was the last barrier that kept him a prisoner to his native land. Now he thinks he is secure.
3. He falls asleep. He is tired out. No obstacles have been placed in his way. It seems as if everything had been providentially arranged. Yes, Jonah, thou sleepest, but God sleeps not. Now God will have a beginning. (James Menzies.)
The natural disposition of Jonah
It has often been remarked that religion and a good temper are by no means always allied. Though it cannot, perhaps, at all times be said that a religious profession is adorned by the meek and the quiet spirit so precious in the sight of the Lord, it must be always remembered that true religion has the most happy influence on all who in reality receive it. So far from producing the evil with which it has often been associated, it is associated with it for its correction, and does actually produce in due time its destruction. This sweet subduing spirit can tame the roughest passions; it can humble the proudest heart, and open the most avaricious, in a manner and to a degree that no other principle can. The natural dispositions of Jonah seem to have been uncommonly adverse. His supreme regard to the dignity of his own character, without respect to what concerned either Divine manifestation or human comfort, was selfish and arrogant; while his language with regard to the gourd, and to his own personal sufferings, seems altogether to represent him as a person of a proud, passionate, jealous, and intemperate mind. Indeed, so numerous and so striking are the instances of his misconduct, that they afford occasion to inquire whether he really was a saint at all? His wicked refusal of obedience, with the subsequent attempt to escape when under a special appointment of heaven, are circumstances in no respect favourable. His stupid security, too, during the tempest, and his sullen silence during the subsequent investigation, bespeak a state of mind very foreign from that which the lively exercise of religion would dictate. His angry complainings, also, at the dispensations of providence, seem in no common degree to indicate the workings of an unmortified mind. Still grounds are not awanting on which charity may found a better hope. See what may be pleaded in his favour. (James Simpson.)
The unfaithful prophet
In those days the prophet was the organ of a Divine revelation. He was the representative of that Holy Spirit who had been speaking through many ages to the fathers. If a word came to him which went beyond the ordinary scope of prophetic ministry it would be all the more solemn; it would be very clearly not the prophets own, but the Word of Jehovah which had come to him. To disobey that Word, to hide it within his own thoughts, to take from it, or add to it would be a grievous sin, to be conspicuously punished. It was disobedience to the heavenly vision. It was renouncing the position and vocation of the Divine messenger. It was doing despite unto the Spirit of grace. The whole book is a commentary on the expression, Presence of the Lord. By the presence of the Lord is manifestly intended the organic centre of Divine revelation. The radical conception of Judaism is the foundation on which such an expression must rest;--it was that of a ministry gathered about Jehovah, who is seated on a throne of majesty and grace in the midst of His people. The presence of the Lord, regarded as a place, is the chamber where the ministering priest, or prophet, is face to face with God. Forth from that chamber he goes to fulfil his mission, whatever it be, whether as a priest to bless, or as a prophet to speak the message, to proclaim the Word of the Lord. Jonah rose up to flee from that centre of his spiritual responsibility, to turn his back upon One who was telling him what to say and what to do. At that special crisis in the history of His people such unfaithfulness was specially sinful. (R. A. Bedford, M. A.)
The fugitive from duty
In estimating the character of Jonah we have no desire to palliate or to exaggerate. His prominent sin was disobedience to God. It cannot be said that he misunderstood the command of God. Could it be fear that induced Jonah to become a fugitive from duty? It was the character of God which made Jonah shrink from His service. Some of the fruits of Jonahs flight from duty.
1. He rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord.
2. The fugitive from duty was degraded before his inferiors. Jonahs flight subjected him to the reproofs, examinations, and cross-examinations of heathen sailors.
3. Jonah, no doubt, suffered much at the near prospect of death.
4. His misery was prolonged in a living tomb.
5. The fugitive from duty had to do at length the work he first refused. When man contends with his Maker we may be certain who will be the victor. That Jonah needed much refining in the furnace of affliction is evident from the dross which remained after correction. Perhaps the Word of the Lord was never entrusted to a frailer earthen vessel. After Jonah had passed through the painful and humiliating punishments of disobedience, we find him still in a deplorable state of mind, and using most unbecoming language to God. Jonah should have known that when punishments are denounced as coming upon a nation, it is with the understanding that they continued in their sin. If both Jew and Gentile were acquainted with mercy as one of the glorious attributes of Jehovah, where was the room for Jonahs displeasure? But what Jonah did, we are all capable of doing, if not prevented by Divine grace. There are those who fly from duty, because pride hinders them from pursuing their most suitable calling, those who intrude into sacred places for which they were never designed; and generally, the unconverted. (W. Holderness.)
The disobedient act
Jonah rose up. So far then he was obedient. No. He only rose up to flee to Tarshish. His mind was made up, before he arose, to disobey. We sin in thought, resolution, will, before we take a single wrong step. Had Jonah sufficient grounds for his disobedient act? Was not his ministry in Israel a great failure? And if a great failure among his privileged kindred, might he not reasonably infer it would be a greater failure among untutored and degraded heathen? Moreover, it was a new expedition- there was no precedent for him to follow. And did not he fear that God might turn from His purpose? In the face of these considerations it may he asserted that he had no honest reasons for shirking duty, for running away from God. Our failures may be our greatest successes.
I. His disobedient act was wilful. It was not done without deliberation. It was not done without breaking through moral restraints. Jonah had a stern battle to fight with the checks of conscience and the promptings of his better nature. Through a whole bodyguard of moral influences, monitions, voices, hindrances, Jonah had to cut his way to Joppa for Tarshish. This made his act of disobedience all the more criminally wilful. The harder the path to ruin the greater the guilt and punishment.
II. The act was foolish. He attempted--
1. The impossible. The Presence like an all-encompassing atmosphere hemmed him in--beyond it he could not get. God meets man inevitably at every turn of life.
2. He abandoned the indispensable. He thought he could do without God, and so ventured on the mad experiment. God is a necessity.
3. He undertook the unmanageable. In fleeing from God, he flew in the face of God. In trying to escape Him, he came into collision with Him. No man is sufficient for such an engagement. How foolish is all sin! Disobedience is moral mania.
III. His act was encouraged by opportune circumstances. He found a ship going to Tarshish. The accidental favoured the intentional. It so happened that the ship was freighted for Tarshish, and Jonah came on the quay just in time to pay his fare and get on board. Dont blame the ship, but blame the prophet. Dont censure the opportunities, but censure the disposition which seized and made them auxiliaries of evil intentions. Occasion for sin is no Divine warrant to sin.
1. Circumstances are rendered moral or immoral in their bearing on human actions, only as they further goodness or facilitate disobedience.
2. Opportunities in the way of transgression are accidental and not Divinely appointed, which if availed of to accelerate rebellious flight will entail heavier penal consequences.
3. The ready way is not always the right way.
IV. The act was expensive. He might have gone down to Nineveh for less than it cost him to go to Tarshish. He paid his fare in a very expensive sense. It cost him his peace of mind, his conscience approval, his official honour, mortification of spirit, risk of life, and peril of soul. As a mere matter of economy it is wiser and better to be good than sinful. Sins pleasures, sins fashions, sins companions, sins vanities are all prodigiously expensive. (J. O. Keen, D. D.)
Neglect of Christian duty
Sleep is one of the great essentials to human existence. Sleep in itself is right, but there is a time to sleep. Jonahs sleep was sinful, it was at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Look at this religious deserter asleep.
I. It is a very easy thing to neglect Christian duty. All that Jonah did was easily done. So are neglect of prayer, Bible study, services, work, etc., easy now.
II. Neglect of Christian duty is a most dangerous practice. Jonah went to Tarshish at the peril of his temporal and spiritual life. Every Christian who allows himself to be led away into bypaths of spiritual indolence, lethargy, and neglect, will suffer great loss, will imperil his soul.
III. It is not for us to choose our field of Christian work. God sent Jonah to preach a short soul-stirring sermon to the Ninevites. How much more would be done if all Christians would just take the field God assigns them, and work with all their hearts for God and Souls.
IV. The infinite folly of attempting to get away from the presence of God. Whither shall I go from Thy presence? The monarch who threw chains into the sea to bind it; the boys who undertook to count the stars; these were wise adventures compared with the folly of attempting to get away from God. Then let us not sleep, as do others, but let us who are of the day be sober. (W. Rodwell.)
Sorrow follows disobedience
You are seeking your own will. You are seeking some other good than the law you are bound to obey. But how will you find good? It is not a thing of choice; it is a river that flows from the foot of the invisible throne and flows by the path of obedience. I say again, man cannot choose his duties. You may choose to forsake your duties, and choose not to have the sorrows they bring. But you will go forth, and what will you find? Sorrow without duty--bitter herbs and no bread with them. (George Eliot.)
He found a ship going to Tarshish.
Fatal success
I. Attend to the whole of the circumstances concerned. By partial and distorted views the most magnificent objects may be rendered contemptible, and the most perfect propriety ridiculous.
1. In this world the wicked often succeed, while the righteous are involved in distress. If any man be exempted from trouble in the present state, we should expect it to be a wicked man. The present is, with respect to the wicked, the only season of forbearance, the only time of indulgence. If any labour under a peculiar series of sufferings, we should expect him to be a saint. Because the present is, to the believer, a state of discipline. We cannot, however, conclude either that all the afflicted are righteous, or that it is only the tabernacle of the robber that prospers.
2. All the success of the wicked is confined to external objects. It would be affectation to say that man is independent of these.
3. The success of the wicked is but momentary. Duration is an important measure of value.
4. The worst moral effects are produced by success on the conduct of the wicked. But consequences cannot always be considered as a Standard for regulating judgment.
5. The successful sinner would tremble did he look forward to the sufferings which must eventually overtake his crimes.
II. The grounds on which Divine wisdom proceeds in such dispensations.
1. Previous to such trials the sinner is already warned of his danger in the Word. It is to this men are to look for a regulating law.
2. Such trials are seldom permitted until conscience has been grossly violated.
3. No external obstacle can stop the career of the sinner.
4. Abused grace is properly and justly withdrawn.
5. These scenes of trial discover to others the dispositions that were previously in power.
III. The marks by which judicial may be distinguished from sanctified success. If sanctified it follows you in a course of obedience to the Word. It is not a partial or incidental circumstance. It recognises God as its origin. The effects will show whence the prosperity proceeds. (James Simpson.)
Jonahs flight
In the case of Jonah we have a striking instance of Divinely located work and responsibility. How are we to know that the Word of the Lord really comes to us? What more can any man desire than to be fully convinced that his duty lies in a certain direction? We are so made that, if true to ourselves, we shall have clear, sharply defined religious convictions; and in so far as we are faithful in following them, we are in direct communion with the Spirit of God.
I. Life has its great occasions, and woe to the man who fails to successfully grapple with them. God signally honoured Jonah by selecting him as the first preacher to the heathen world. Human life does not always remain on the same key. Sometime, some where, God arrests the old monotonous tune, and strikes the keynote to a loftier anthem. Everything depends on how we catch the new tone, follow the leader, and master the music. How possible it is to be unequal to our opportunity, to let it pass unimproved, and to be doing a little paltry work,--to be mistaking fuss for energy, and an idle industry for that holy consecration which absorbs every power, and ennobles the man by the sublimity of its motives and aims. There are hours in the lives of most men, compared with which all after hours are poor and commonplace,--great critical hours, pregnant with the possibilities of manhood and destiny. To fall below such crises is a calamity which the future can never repair. Society is full of poor men, both temporally and spiritually, because they did not manfully grapple with the great occasions of life.
2. Opportune circumstances do not of necessity imply divine approval. Here we see that a man may be strangely favoured by circumstances, who is in open rebellion against God. Rightly to interpret circumstances is one of the most difficult things in life. And a man who has become loose at the conscience may so interpret them as to embolden and fortify himself in a life of sin. There are people who make circumstances into a kind of Bible, and argue that, after all, it is impossible they can be so very bad, or Providence would not thus conspire to further their purposes. When a man gets himself mixed up with iniquity, it is not much wonder that he tries to set up a kind of supernatural wisdom of his own, as a sort of self-vindication. It is quite possible for a man so to put circumstances before his mind as to be fearfully misled by them. Much charity should be exercised towards those whose very circumstances invite their further continuance in sin. Many a man has had reason to thank God that the ship left before he got to Joppa; that was the only thing that saved him from disaster and perhaps destruction.
III. A man may ignore the claims of God and yet be scrupulous in his observance of the laws of social justice and equity. Jonah paid his fare. Honest with the owner of the ship, but dishonest with the Owner of the universe. God has claims upon us as well as man: and any mans integrity is partial and ruinously defective that does not honour both claims..
IV. The wicked man is a public calamity, a social curse. No matter how much the sinner may have things his own way, God can head him off, frustrate his purposes, and convert the very elements that were most friendly to his progress into instruments of punishment and death. Learn that there is a right and a wrong way of settling things. We must have a settlement with God on a basis of mediation and righteousness, or the sea will always be rough. (T. Kelly.)
The unwisdom of disobedience
God said to Jonah, Go to Nineveh. I wont go; Ill go to Tarshish. He started for Tarshish. Did he get there? The seas raged, the winds blew, the ship rocked. Come, ye whales, and take this passenger for Tarshish. No man ever got to Tarshish if the Lord told him to go to Nineveh. The seas would not bear him; they are Gods seas. The winds would not waft him; they are Gods winds. If a man deliberately sets out to do that which God declares he must not do, the natural world as well as God is against him and the lightnings are ready to strike him, and the fires are ready to consume him, and the sun is ready to smite him, and the waters are ready to drown him, and the earth is ready to devour him. (Christian Age.)
He paid the fare thereof.--
Paying the fare
There had been many hindrances in Jonahs way to prevent him from consummating the act of disobedience, but he overcame them all. And yet this fact that he had paid his fare might have startled him. It was the last hindrance to his headstrong will, Had he gone to Nineveh he would not have needed to pay his own fare. But deliberately selecting his own way, Jonah was left to pay his own fare.
1. Accept this feature of the case as a starting-point. Obedience is economy; disobedience is expensive.
2. This was only a small part of the fare that Jonah paid. Only the first instalment. In the second place, he paid his fare in the thwarting of his purposes. He made more haste than speed. The ready way was not the right way. If you will be disobedient, you must pay your fare in the thwarting of your purposes.
3. As part of the fare the prophet had to pay for his disobedience. I mention his moodiness and peevishness.
4. Part of the fare was the withdrawal of Jehovahs presence.
5. He paid part of his fare in the loss of reputation. Regard to reputation was the only defence he made. Reputation may be overestimated, If the means is exalted into an end; if reputation becomes the be-all and end-all of the ministry, there is no limit to the harm that may accrue. For the sake of reputation Jonah declined tim call of God. And his disobedience was its own punishment. (John A. Macfadyen.)
Sinful pleasures dear bought
The sacrifices required by religion are infinitely more reasonable and light than those which sinful courses demand.
I. The sacrifices required of the sinner. The boasted pleasure of the sinner is obtained at a very disproportioned expense of time--of labeler--and of substance: and moreover to it is freely sacrificed not only health, reason, conscience, but also the precious soul.
II. The sacrifices required of those who are the friends of religion.
1. Religion does not require the renunciation of any lawful enjoyment.
2. Religion does require of its followers certain worldly sacrifices. Such as a seventh portion of time. Jehovah demands of all His worshippers--
3. The total surrender of their persons. Your talents, with all their energies; your will, with all its propensities; your affections, with all their fervour, are exclusively and supremely His. The members of the body too are become instruments of righteousness unto righteousness.
4. When sinners come to the Saviour they present Him with their most cheerful services.
5. The severest sacrifice that religion requires is that of our unholy desires. The service is severe, but the command is absolute.
III. Compare these systems. Each has something to enjoy. The Christian needs not fear to grant to the sensualist his luxuries; or to acknowledge the general depression of the faithful. To ascertain the several claims of these systems observe--
1. That, while all the demands of religion are just, those of iniquity are the vexatious claims of a tryant.
2. The demands of religion are most gracious, whereas those of a tyrant are insatiable.
3. The services of religion are beneficial; those of the world destructive.
4. The sacrifices of religion shall be richly repaid. Sin also has its wages, and to the uttermost farthing they shall be paid. Choose then what master you will serve.
Listen not--
1. To the seductions of pleasure.
2. Be not afraid of the reproaches cast upon religion.
3. Be truly wise. Listen to the cautions of Divine wisdom. (James Simpson.)
One virtue cannot atone for a wicked course
Jonahs attempt to run away was a foolish and wicked act, all must admit; but there is one thing told of him that is very much to his credit: he paid his fare on board the ship that was to bear him away to Tarshish. He fulfilled his obligations to the shipowners in the matter of the passage money He was none of your mean sneaks who, in running to destruction, try to go as dead-heads. Jonah went on his way like a man. How often, by some such reasoning as this, men make out a good case for themselves, or for others, in the face of flagrant and atrocious acts. Men use some single virtue to cover much wrong or vice. I know a young man who refused to obey the call of God, as clearly given as was ever that to Jonah, and is satisfying conscience by the assurance of honesty in a very different and self-appointed sphere. There is much of this Jonah business on every hand. Men are sharp in their dealings, even to rank dishonesty, but they talk well, and profess better. They cheat and shave right and left, but they found a scholarship or a seminary, endow a college, or build a church. They are helping to undermine every good institution in a community, but they are kind and obliging neighbours. Because the men that cheat, swindle, and murder us are possessed of some single excellent virtue, we are asked to set it over against their many nefarious acts and terrible failures in character and life, and call it even. Not that we would undervalue or despise the admirable traits that sometimes appear in wicked and debased lives. We only utter our protest against the attempt, so often made, to make them atone for the sin and failure by which they are surrounded. We are all liable to be satisfied with one little pet virtue, that blooms, perhaps, like a flower adorning a corpse. The way we help one another to this same self-complacency over small virtues cherished in the midst of flagrant wrong, is, perhaps, the worst part of the story. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Lifes fare
Men get passes of railroads--all must pay the fare who go through life. Bible tells us there are two ways. You must pay the fare in either case.
I. Broad way to destruction. Fare?
1. Loss of conscience.
2. Loss of character. Character is built up by thoughts, words, deeds, little by little.
3. Loss of Divine image.
4. Loss of soul. No escape. The wages of sin is death.
II. Narrow way to life. Fare? Yes, we must pay the fare. The results are--
1. Noble character. Gods building.
2. Uplifting influence. People respect.
3. Satisfaction. Duty done; clear conscience.
4. Gain Heaven. Two ways are before you; which one will you take? (Homiletic Review.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 Jon_1:3. Tarshish] Tartessus in Spain; others, Carthage; probably Tarsus…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Jon_1:3. Tarshish] Tartessus in Spain; others, Carthage; probably Tarsus in Cilicia. Presence] Lit. from being in the presence, i.e. from standing in the presence of the Lord as His servant and minister (cf. Gen_4:16; Deu_10:8). Joppa] Now Jaffa.
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HOMILETICS
THE DISGRACEFUL FLIGHT.—Jon_1:3
Jonah arose but to depart from duty. He might be influenced by fear, indolence, and unbelief. But the chief reason for his flight seems to be intense love for his own, and deep hatred to a heathen country. He was reluctant to offer mercy to Nineveh, and desired its destruction as an enemy. Whatever leads to prejudice blinds the mind, sours the temper, and degrades the man of God.
I. Flight from duty is not departure from God’s control. Jonah believed in the Divine omnipresence (Psa_139:7; Psa_139:12), did not cast off all regard for God, but sought to relieve himself of duty by quitting the land of light and religious ordinances. He did not expect to go where God was not, but where God would let him alone. His creed was better than his conduct. He left the field of action for the place of retirement. Many are of Jonah’s temper, try his experiment, and feel the presence of God too painful for them. A scholar leaves the Sabbath school to avoid the contact of truth with conscience. A young man brought up under religious influence quits home and native country. An ungodly man feels miserable, shuns godly company, and stifles impressions by fleeing into business, worldly society, and amusements. The believer knows his duty, but will not do it. Such efforts often succeed in spite of the restraints of providence and the voice of conscience. But fear gets hold of men at length, God meets them in the way, and it is impossible to escape. “Lo, they that be far from thee shall perish.”
II. Favourable circumstances in departing from God do not always lead to a successful issue. Circumstances favoured Jonah’s design, and gave him an opportunity of escape. “He found a ship going to Tarshish.” The vessel quickly sailed. Jonah thought he was leaving his trouble by leaving his native shore, but vain hope (Amo_9:2-4; Isa_2:19-22; Jer_16:16-21). “The ready way is not always the right way,” says an old author. The greatest hurry the least speed in a path of disobedience. The worst plans may prosper for a time, but such prosperity ends in storms and darkness. Talk not of Providence in an evil course—say not when tempted that you are tempted of God. God might miraculously interfere with men’s conduct, but this would change the government of the world, render our probation useless, and afford no opportunity for human action and Divine justice. If he thwart the ways of selfish men, you hear no more of Providence. Departure from God is departure from his love and protection—from Divine dignity and unbounded bliss. Follow the directions of the word, and you will enjoy the leadings of Providence. “The Lord meeteth him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness.”
III. Departure from God is more expensive than obedience to God. Jonah paid the fare, like many who scruple not to spend their money on selfish projects, but withhold from the cause of God. Sin is always expensive, and draws upon our purse and time. Sinners pay their fare,
1. In bitter experience. There is peace in pleasing God, but conscious opposition to him brings an uneasy mind. Jonah could not stay at home. Everything reminded him of God and duty, and such thoughts are painful. Men seek a new country, try fresh experiments, to drown the warnings of conscience, but do not succeed.
2. In moral loss. The loss of Divine favour and a servant’s dignity. The Sabbath-breaker, the pleasure-seeker, and the drunkard, pay their fare. Blasted prospects, shattered constitutions, and ruined families indicate the awful price of sin. The pleasures of sin are dearly bought, never last, and always bring disappointment.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Jonah’s disobedience.
1. It was life into his own hands.
2. It was foolish; for he took the difficulties of wilful. He deliberately paid his money.
3. It was ungrateful; for he refused the honour of the commission.
4. It was continuous.
5. It was criminal [Adapted from Exell].
There is in the conduct of Jonah a twofold sin,—disobedience to God and flight from God. What God appoints thee to do, do without gainsaying. He who gives the burden, gives the shoulders to bear it. He who flees increases the burden and commits folly [Lange].
Take the task he gives you gladly,
Let his work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when he calleth,
“Here am I, send me, send me!”
Step by step the disobedient prophet takes in consummation of his purpose, and each following fast on the back of its predecessor, without repentance and, as it would almost seem, without reflection.
(1) He “rose up to flee.”
(2) He “went to Joppa.”
(3) He “found a ship.”
(4) He “paid the fare.”
(5) He “went down into it.” The words are like relentless, consecutive, fast-falling blows, under which his whole character as an obedient man of God is beaten to death and trampled under-foot of Satan [Hugh Martin].
Man’s own wisdom is a worthless guide. He is often more diligent in working his ruin than in seeking his salvation.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Jon_1:3. To leave the presence of God is to “go down;” and the history of many a day might, in the evening, be written too faithfully in the sad record, “I have been going down.” Down from communion, from a conscious faith, from quietness, and firm, steady obedience. Down into strife without victory, into toil without fruit; into mere money-making, mere pleasure-seeking, mere time-wasting. The success and glory of true life can only be found in keeping the upward road—in hearing and following the voice which perpetually says, “Come up hither” [Raleigh]!
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv9, 16, 17 (See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 Jonah and The Sea Monster
Jonah and The Sea Monster
v. 11. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us? What would Jonah himself suggest or advise in order to turn away the wrath of God from those who were not implicated in his guilt?. For the sea wrought, continued to rage, and was tempestuous, still rising in angry billows.
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v. 12. And he said unto them, showing the right spirit in offering himself up as a sacrifice in their behalf, Take me up and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you, be quieted down; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
v. 13. Nevertheless the men, not desiring to carry out the prophet’s suggestion, rowed hard to bring it to the land, that is, they tried everything they knew in the line of seamanship in order to break through the billows which hemmed in the ship; but they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them, so that they could make no headway against the surging waves.
v. 14. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, in this case addressing Jehovah, the true God, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, be held accountable for the fact that they would now deliver him to what appeared to them a certain death, and lay not upon us innocent blood, by imputing it to them, since Jonah had not harmed them in any manner; for Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee, He had determined it, the lot, as directed by Him, made the execution necessary.
v. 15. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her raging, it stood still and no longer rose in such tremendous billows.
v. 16. Then the men, seeing in this sudden change of the weather the almighty hand of God, feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows, as men will under the stress of such a sudden fear and emotion, although there is no real change of heart in them.
v. 17. Now, the Lord had prepared a great fish, not a whale, but a special sea-monster, to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, being alive and conscious through the power of the Lord, whose plans called for a further use of this prophet. In the entire story there are many elements of the miraculous, but not a line which makes the narrative appear unreasonable. It is for us to believe what the Lord has here recorded.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 Soon it appeared
Soon it appeared
It can be made explicit who thought the ship would be broken up. AT: "The men thought" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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to be broken up
This can be stated in active form. AT: "to break apart" (See: Active or Passive)
the sailors
the men who worked on the ship
his own god
Here "god" refers to false gods and idols that people worship.
They threw the ship's cargo
"The men threw the heavy things off the ship." This was done to keep the ship from sinking.
to lighten it
Making the ship lighter would make if float better. AT: "to help the ship float better"
But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship
Jonah did this before the storm started.
down into the innermost parts of the ship
"inside the ship"
was lying there deeply asleep
"was lying there fast asleep" or "was lying there and sleeping deeply." For this reason, the storm did not wake him up.
translationWords
Yahweh
false god
Jonah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17 1:3 Jonah’s attempt to get away from the Lord…
1:3 Jonah’s attempt to get away from the Lord was futile. One cannot escape God (Ps 139:7-10) or disobey his will without consequence (Deut 8:5). Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh is understandable, however. Assyria was an enemy of Israel known for its violence (Jon 3:8; see also Nah 3:1-4). Jonah did not want these non-Israelites to have the opportunity to repent and be saved (Jon 4:2). • Joppa was a key port city on the Mediterranean coast (2 Chr 2:16; Ezra 3:7); it is now a suburb of modern Tel-Aviv. • Tarshish was possibly the port city of Tartessos in Spain, in which case Jonah was attempting to flee as far as imaginable in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Tarsus in Asia Minor is another possibility. Some think Tarshish is a general reference to the sea or to any destination accessible by sea.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.