CHAPTER 1
. JONAH'S
COMMISSION TO NINEVEH,
FLIGHT, PUNISHMENT,
AND PRESERVATION BY
MIRACLE.
1. Jonah—meaning in Hebrew,
"dove." Compare Genesis 8:8;
Genesis 8:9, where the dove in vain
seeks rest after flying from Noah and the ark: so Jonah. GROTIUS
not so well explains it, "one sprung from Greece" or Ionia,
where there were prophets called Amythaonidæ.
Amittai—Hebrew
for "truth," "truth-telling"; appropriate to a
prophet.
2. to Nineveh—east of the
Tigris, opposite the modern Mosul. The only case of a prophet being
sent to the heathen. Jonah, however, is sent to Nineveh, not solely
for Nineveh's good, but also to shame Israel, by the fact of a
heathen city repenting at the first preaching of a single stranger,
Jonah, whereas God's people will not repent, though preached to by
their many national prophets, late and early. Nineveh means "the
residence of Ninus," that is, Nimrod. , where the translation ought to be, "He
(Nimrod) went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh."
Modern research into the cuneiform inscriptions confirms the
Scripture account that Babylon was founded earlier than Nineveh, and
that both cities were built by descendants of Ham, encroaching on the
territory assigned to Shem (Genesis 10:5;
Genesis 10:6; Genesis 10:8;
Genesis 10:10; Genesis 10:25).
great city—four hundred
eighty stadia in circumference, one hundred fifty in length, and
ninety in breadth [DIODORUS
SICULUS, 2.3]. Taken by
Arbaces the Mede, in the reign of Sardanapalus, about the seventh
year of Uzziah; and a second time by Nabopolassar of Babylon and
Cyaxares the Mede in 625 B.C.
See on Jonah 3:3.
cry— (Isaiah 40:6;
Isaiah 58:1).
come up before me—
(Genesis 4:10; Genesis 6:13;
Genesis 18:21; Ezra 9:6;
Revelation 18:5); that is, their
wickedness is so great as to require My open interposition for
punishment.
3. flee—Jonah's motive for
flight is hinted at in Jonah 4:2:
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 Genesis 4:16).
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 Genesis 4:16, but virtually ignored it (compare Genesis 3:8-10;
Jeremiah 23:24).
went down—appropriate
in going from land to the sea (Jeremiah 23:24).
Joppa—now Jaffa, in the
region of Dan; a harbor as early as Solomon's time (Jeremiah 23:24).
Tarshish—Tartessus in
Spain; in the farthest west at the greatest distance from Nineveh in
the east.
4. sent out—literally, caused
a wind to burst forth. COVERDALE
translates, "hurled a greate wynde into the see."
5. mariners were afraid—though
used to storms; the danger therefore must have been extreme.
cried every man unto his
god—The idols proved unable to save them, though each,
according to Phoelignician custom, called on his tutelary god. But
Jehovah proved able: and the heathen sailors owned it in the end by
sacrificing to Him (Jonah 1:16).
into the sides—that is,
the interior recesses (compare 1 Samuel 24:3;
Isaiah 14:13; Isaiah 14:15).
Those conscious of guilt shrink from the presence of their fellow man
into concealment.
fast asleep—Sleep is no
necessary proof of innocence; it may be the fruit of carnal security
and a seared conscience. How different was Jesus' sleep on the Sea of
Galilee! (Mark 4:37-39).
Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts with the unoffending
mariners' alarm. The original therefore is in the nominative
absolute: "But as for Jonah, he," &c. Compare
spiritually, Ephesians 5:14.
6. call upon thy God—The
ancient heathen in dangers called on foreign gods, besides their
national ones (compare ). MAURER
translates the preceding clause, "What is the reason that thou
sleepest?"
think upon us—for good
(compare Genesis 8:1; Exodus 2:25;
Exodus 3:7; Exodus 3:9;
Psalms 40:17).
7. cast lots—God sometimes
sanctioned this mode of deciding in difficult cases. Compare the
similar instance of Achan, whose guilt involved Israel in suffering,
until God revealed the offender, probably by the casting of lots
(Proverbs 16:33; Acts 1:26).
Primitive tradition and natural conscience led even the heathen to
believe that one guilty man involves all his associates, though
innocent, in punishment. So CICERO
[The Nature of the Gods, 3.37] mentions that the mariners
sailing with Diagoras, an atheist, attributed a storm that overtook
them to his presence in the ship (compare HORACE'S
Odes, 3.2.26).
8. The guilty individual being
discovered is interrogated so as to make full confession with his own
mouth. So in Achan's case ().
9. I am an Hebrew—He does not
say "an Israelite." For this was the name used among
themselves; "Hebrew," among foreigners (Genesis 40:15;
Exodus 3:18).
I fear the Lord—in
profession: his practice belied his profession: his profession
aggravated his guilt.
God . . . which . . . made
the sea—appropriately expressed, as accounting for the tempest
sent on the sea. The heathen had distinct gods for the
"heaven," the "sea," and the "land."
Jehovah is the one and only true God of all alike. Jonah at last is
awakened by the violent remedy from his lethargy. Jonah was but the
reflection of Israel's backsliding from God, and so must bear the
righteous punishment. The guilt of the minister is the result of that
of the people, as in Moses' case (Exodus 3:18). This is what makes Jonah a suitable type of Messiah, who
bore the imputed sin of the people.
10. "The men were
exceedingly afraid," when made aware of the wrath of so powerful
a God at the flight of Jonah.
Why hast thou done this?—If
professors of religion do wrong, they will hear of it from those who
make no such profession.
11. What shall we do unto thee?—They
ask this, as Jonah himself must best know how his God is to be
appeased. "We would gladly save thee, if we can do so, and yet
be saved ourselves" (Jonah 1:13;
Jonah 1:14).
12. cast me . . . into the
sea—Herein Jonah is a type of Messiah, the one man who offered
Himself to die, in order to allay the stormy flood of God's wrath
(compare Psalms 69:1; Psalms 69:2,
as to Messiah), which otherwise must have engulfed all other men. So
Caiaphas by the Spirit declared it expedient that one man should die,
and that the whole nation should not perish (Psalms 69:2). Jonah also herein is a specimen of true repentance, which
leads the penitent to "accept the punishment of his iniquity"
(Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43),
and to be more indignant at his sin than at his suffering.
13. they could not— (). Wind and tide—God's displeasure and God's counsel—were
against them.
14. for this man's life—that
is, for taking this man's life.
innocent blood—Do not
punish us as Thou wouldst punish the shedders of innocent blood
(compare Deuteronomy 21:8). In the case
of the Antitype, Pontius Pilate washed his hands and confessed
Christ's innocence, "I am innocent of the blood of this
just person." But whereas Jonah the victim was guilty and
the sailors innocent, Christ our sacrificial victim was innocent and
Pontius Pilate and nil of us men were guilty. But by imputation
of our guilt to Him and His righteousness to us, the spotless
Antitype exactly corresponds to the guilty type.
thou . . . Lord, hast done as
it pleased thee—That Jonah has embarked in this ship, that a
tempest has arisen, that he has been detected by casting of lots,
that he has passed sentence on himself, is all Thy doing. We
reluctantly put him to death, but it is Thy pleasure it should be so.
15. sea ceased . . . raging—so
at Jesus' word (Luke 8:24). God
spares the prayerful penitent, a truth illustrated now in the case of
the sailors, presently in that of Jonah, and thirdly, in that of
Nineveh.
16. offered a sacrifice—They
offered some sacrifice of thanksgiving at once, and vowed more when
they should land. GLASSIUS
thinks it means only, "They promised to offer a
sacrifice."
17. prepared a great fish—not
created specially for this purpose, but appointed in His
providence, to which all creatures are subservient. The fish, through
a mistranslation of Matthew 12:40,
was formerly supposed to be a whale; there, as here, the original
means "a great fish." The whale's neck is too narrow to
receive a man. BOCHART
thinks, the dog-fish, the stomach of which is so large that
the body of a man in armor was once found in it [Hierozoicon,
2.5.12]. Others, the shark [JEBB].
The cavity in the whale's throat, large enough, according to
CAPTAIN SCORESBY,
to hold a ship's jolly boat full of men. A miracle in any view
is needed, and we have no data to speculate further. A "sign"
or miracle it is expressly called by our Lord in Matthew 12:40. Respiration in such a position could only be by miracle.
The miraculous interposition was not without a sufficient reason; it
was calculated to affect not only Jonah, but also Nineveh and Israel.
The life of a prophet was often marked by experiences which made him,
through sympathy, best suited for discharging the prophetical
function to his hearers and his people. The infinite resources of God
in mercy as well as judgment are prefigured in the devourer being
transformed into Jonah's preserver. Jonah's condition under
punishment, shut out from the outer world, was rendered as much as
possible the emblem of death, a present type to Nineveh and Israel,
of the death in sin, as his deliverance was of the spiritual
resurrection on repentance; as also, a future type of Jesus' literal
death for sin, and resurrection by the Spirit of God.
three days and three
nights—probably, like the Antitype, Christ, Jonah was cast
forth on the land on the third day (Matthew 12:40); the Hebrew counting the first and third parts of days as
whole twenty-four hour days.
CHAPTER 1
. JONAH'S COMMISSION TO NINEVEH, FLIGHT, PUNISHMENT, AND PRESERVATION BY MIRACLE.
1. Jonah—meaning in Hebrew, "dove." Compare Genesis 8:8; Genesis 8:9, where the dove in vain seeks rest after flying from Noah and the ark: so Jonah. GROTIUS not so well explains it, "one sprung from Greece" or Ionia, where there were prophets called Amythaonidæ.
Amittai—Hebrew for "truth," "truth-telling"; appropriate to a prophet.
2. to Nineveh—east of the Tigris, opposite the modern Mosul. The only case of a prophet being sent to the heathen. Jonah, however, is sent to Nineveh, not solely for Nineveh's good, but also to shame Israel, by the fact of a heathen city repenting at the first preaching of a single stranger, Jonah, whereas God's people will not repent, though preached to by their many national prophets, late and early. Nineveh means "the residence of Ninus," that is, Nimrod. , where the translation ought to be, "He (Nimrod) went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh." Modern research into the cuneiform inscriptions confirms the Scripture account that Babylon was founded earlier than Nineveh, and that both cities were built by descendants of Ham, encroaching on the territory assigned to Shem (Genesis 10:5; Genesis 10:6; Genesis 10:8; Genesis 10:10; Genesis 10:25).
great city—four hundred eighty stadia in circumference, one hundred fifty in length, and ninety in breadth [DIODORUS SICULUS, 2.3]. Taken by Arbaces the Mede, in the reign of Sardanapalus, about the seventh year of Uzziah; and a second time by Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxares the Mede in 625 B.C. See on Jonah 3:3.
cry— (Isaiah 40:6; Isaiah 58:1).
come up before me— (Genesis 4:10; Genesis 6:13; Genesis 18:21; Ezra 9:6; Revelation 18:5); that is, their wickedness is so great as to require My open interposition for punishment.
3. flee—Jonah's motive for flight is hinted at in Jonah 4:2: 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 Genesis 4:16). 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 Genesis 4:16, but virtually ignored it (compare Genesis 3:8-10; Jeremiah 23:24).
went down—appropriate in going from land to the sea (Jeremiah 23:24).
Joppa—now Jaffa, in the region of Dan; a harbor as early as Solomon's time (Jeremiah 23:24).
Tarshish—Tartessus in Spain; in the farthest west at the greatest distance from Nineveh in the east.
4. sent out—literally, caused a wind to burst forth. COVERDALE translates, "hurled a greate wynde into the see."
5. mariners were afraid—though used to storms; the danger therefore must have been extreme.
cried every man unto his god—The idols proved unable to save them, though each, according to Phoelignician custom, called on his tutelary god. But Jehovah proved able: and the heathen sailors owned it in the end by sacrificing to Him (Jonah 1:16).
into the sides—that is, the interior recesses (compare 1 Samuel 24:3; Isaiah 14:13; Isaiah 14:15). Those conscious of guilt shrink from the presence of their fellow man into concealment.
fast asleep—Sleep is no necessary proof of innocence; it may be the fruit of carnal security and a seared conscience. How different was Jesus' sleep on the Sea of Galilee! (Mark 4:37-39). Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts with the unoffending mariners' alarm. The original therefore is in the nominative absolute: "But as for Jonah, he," &c. Compare spiritually, Ephesians 5:14.
6. call upon thy God—The ancient heathen in dangers called on foreign gods, besides their national ones (compare ). MAURER translates the preceding clause, "What is the reason that thou sleepest?"
think upon us—for good (compare Genesis 8:1; Exodus 2:25; Exodus 3:7; Exodus 3:9; Psalms 40:17).
7. cast lots—God sometimes sanctioned this mode of deciding in difficult cases. Compare the similar instance of Achan, whose guilt involved Israel in suffering, until God revealed the offender, probably by the casting of lots (Proverbs 16:33; Acts 1:26). Primitive tradition and natural conscience led even the heathen to believe that one guilty man involves all his associates, though innocent, in punishment. So CICERO [The Nature of the Gods, 3.37] mentions that the mariners sailing with Diagoras, an atheist, attributed a storm that overtook them to his presence in the ship (compare HORACE'S Odes, 3.2.26).
8. The guilty individual being discovered is interrogated so as to make full confession with his own mouth. So in Achan's case ().
9. I am an Hebrew—He does not say "an Israelite." For this was the name used among themselves; "Hebrew," among foreigners (Genesis 40:15; Exodus 3:18).
I fear the Lord—in profession: his practice belied his profession: his profession aggravated his guilt.
God . . . which . . . made the sea—appropriately expressed, as accounting for the tempest sent on the sea. The heathen had distinct gods for the "heaven," the "sea," and the "land." Jehovah is the one and only true God of all alike. Jonah at last is awakened by the violent remedy from his lethargy. Jonah was but the reflection of Israel's backsliding from God, and so must bear the righteous punishment. The guilt of the minister is the result of that of the people, as in Moses' case (Exodus 3:18). This is what makes Jonah a suitable type of Messiah, who bore the imputed sin of the people.
10. "The men were exceedingly afraid," when made aware of the wrath of so powerful a God at the flight of Jonah.
Why hast thou done this?—If professors of religion do wrong, they will hear of it from those who make no such profession.
11. What shall we do unto thee?—They ask this, as Jonah himself must best know how his God is to be appeased. "We would gladly save thee, if we can do so, and yet be saved ourselves" (Jonah 1:13; Jonah 1:14).
12. cast me . . . into the sea—Herein Jonah is a type of Messiah, the one man who offered Himself to die, in order to allay the stormy flood of God's wrath (compare Psalms 69:1; Psalms 69:2, as to Messiah), which otherwise must have engulfed all other men. So Caiaphas by the Spirit declared it expedient that one man should die, and that the whole nation should not perish (Psalms 69:2). Jonah also herein is a specimen of true repentance, which leads the penitent to "accept the punishment of his iniquity" (Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43), and to be more indignant at his sin than at his suffering.
13. they could not— (). Wind and tide—God's displeasure and God's counsel—were against them.
14. for this man's life—that is, for taking this man's life.
innocent blood—Do not punish us as Thou wouldst punish the shedders of innocent blood (compare Deuteronomy 21:8). In the case of the Antitype, Pontius Pilate washed his hands and confessed Christ's innocence, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person." But whereas Jonah the victim was guilty and the sailors innocent, Christ our sacrificial victim was innocent and Pontius Pilate and nil of us men were guilty. But by imputation of our guilt to Him and His righteousness to us, the spotless Antitype exactly corresponds to the guilty type.
thou . . . Lord, hast done as it pleased thee—That Jonah has embarked in this ship, that a tempest has arisen, that he has been detected by casting of lots, that he has passed sentence on himself, is all Thy doing. We reluctantly put him to death, but it is Thy pleasure it should be so.
15. sea ceased . . . raging—so at Jesus' word (Luke 8:24). God spares the prayerful penitent, a truth illustrated now in the case of the sailors, presently in that of Jonah, and thirdly, in that of Nineveh.
16. offered a sacrifice—They offered some sacrifice of thanksgiving at once, and vowed more when they should land. GLASSIUS thinks it means only, "They promised to offer a sacrifice."
17. prepared a great fish—not created specially for this purpose, but appointed in His providence, to which all creatures are subservient. The fish, through a mistranslation of Matthew 12:40, was formerly supposed to be a whale; there, as here, the original means "a great fish." The whale's neck is too narrow to receive a man. BOCHART thinks, the dog-fish, the stomach of which is so large that the body of a man in armor was once found in it [Hierozoicon, 2.5.12]. Others, the shark [JEBB]. The cavity in the whale's throat, large enough, according to CAPTAIN SCORESBY, to hold a ship's jolly boat full of men. A miracle in any view is needed, and we have no data to speculate further. A "sign" or miracle it is expressly called by our Lord in Matthew 12:40. Respiration in such a position could only be by miracle. The miraculous interposition was not without a sufficient reason; it was calculated to affect not only Jonah, but also Nineveh and Israel. The life of a prophet was often marked by experiences which made him, through sympathy, best suited for discharging the prophetical function to his hearers and his people. The infinite resources of God in mercy as well as judgment are prefigured in the devourer being transformed into Jonah's preserver. Jonah's condition under punishment, shut out from the outer world, was rendered as much as possible the emblem of death, a present type to Nineveh and Israel, of the death in sin, as his deliverance was of the spiritual resurrection on repentance; as also, a future type of Jesus' literal death for sin, and resurrection by the Spirit of God.
three days and three nights—probably, like the Antitype, Christ, Jonah was cast forth on the land on the third day (Matthew 12:40); the Hebrew counting the first and third parts of days as whole twenty-four hour days.