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.

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 (Ps. cxxxix. ). It is said of Cain (Gen. iv. 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.

The reason of Jonah's disobedience is given by himself, ch. iv. 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, Hosea, ix. 3, xi. 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 Storm and its

4-16. Jonah's Punishment.

consequences.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there 4 was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every 5 man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the

4-16. JONAH'S PUNISHMENT. THE STORM AND ITS

CONSEQUENCES.

No sooner does Jonah decide upon his course of action and think himself now secure of its accomplishment, than God arrests him by the judgment of the storm.

4.

sent out] Lit., as in margin, cast forth, indicating the suddenness and violence of the storm. The same word occurs and is rendered 86 cast forth" in E. V. in vv. 5, 12, 15.

Josephus speaks of a violent wind called "the black North wind," which he says sometimes visited the sea off the coast of Joppa. And we read of "a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon" in another part of the same sea, which rushing down the highlands of Crete suddenly caught the ship in which St Paul was sailing, and brought on a tempest scarcely less severe than that to which Jonah was exposed (Acts xxvii. 14). The modern name Levanter is a witness to the prevalence of such winds in those seas.

was like to be broken] Lit., thought to be broken, as in the margin. A vivid image or personification in keeping with the graphic style of this book. The same word "broken," i.e. "broken up," or 66 broken in pieces," is used of a ship that is wrecked in 1 Kings xxii. 48. Comp. Acts xxvii. 41.

5, 6. The conduct of the heathen mariners stands in striking and favourable contrast with that of the Jewish prophet. They call upon their gods and use every effort to save the ship. He, moody, miserable, and weary with mental conflict and bodily fatigue, is sunk in deep sleep, and has to be roused to consciousness and prayer by the reproaches of the heathen captain.

5. the mariners] The Hebrew word is formed from the word for salt, and denotes those occupied with the salt sea. So we sometimes speak of a sailor as a "salt.

See note on next verse, and for the whole description of their terror and their prayer comp. Ps. cvii. 23-30; Matt. viii. 23-27.

every man unto his god] They were probably Phoenicians, who had the carrying trade between Joppa and Tarshish. This would account for their multiplicity of gods. The crew, however, may have been composed of men of different nations. Comp.

"All lost! to prayers, to prayers! All lost!"

Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1. Sc. v.

the wares] It is doubtful whether this includes the cargo. It may

ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast 6 asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him,

only mean the furniture of the ship, moveables, spare tackling, etc. In St Paul's shipwreck a similar course was taken (Acts xxvii. 19), but the cargo was not thrown overboard till a later period (ver. 38). Jonah's ship may have been, like St Paul's, a corn ship. The export of corn from Joppa was very considerable. See 1 Kings v. 9; Ezek. xxvii. 17; Acts xii. 20.

to lighten it of them] Rather, to lighten (the burden) from upon them (the mariners), i. e. to make matters easier for them. Comp. Exod. xviii. 22, where the same Hebrew phrase is rendered "it shall be easier for thyself."

the sides of the ship] The Hebrew word is not the same as that rendered "ship" earlier in the verse. It occurs nowhere else in the O. T., but the verb from which it is derived signifies to 'cover' or 'board over' (1 Kings vii. 3, 7), so that it is probably used to denote that it was a decked vessel in which Jonah sailed, and that he had, as we should say, gone down below. The "sides of the ship" are what we should call the bottom of the ship, the part in which the two sides meet. The same expression is used of the innermost recess of a cave, the point of meeting of the two sides (1 Sam. xxiv. 3).

was fast asleep] Jonah had probably fallen asleep before the storm commenced, and slumbered too deeply to be roused by it, or by the commotion on board. Our Lord's sleep amidst the storm on the lake (Mark iv. 38) furnishes at once a comparison and a contrast. Kalisch quotes in illustration of the heavy sleep of sorrow the case of the disciples in the Garden; "He found them sleeping for sorrow," Luke xxii. 45; and the words of Sallust, "primo cura, dein, uti ægrum animum solet, somnus cepit," Bell. Jug. c. 71.

6. the shipmaster] Lit., the chief of the sailors, i. e. the captain. The word here for sailors (which is singular and used collectively) is not the same word as that rendered mariners in v. 5. It is formed from the Hebrew word for a rope, and means properly those who handle the ropes. Both words occur again (and it is the only other place in the O.T. where either of them is found) in the description of the maritime greatness of Tyre in Ezekiel xxvii. The word used in this verse is. there rendered in vv. 8, 27, 29, pilots, and the mention of their wisdom. in v. 8 has been thought to justify this distinction. It should be

observed, however, that the contrast there is between mere rowers (for so, and not mariners, the other word in that verse should be rendered) who were hired from Sidon and Arvad, and skilled sailors, who were the product of Tyre herself. The word rendered mariners in v. 5 of this chapter and in Ezek. xxvii. 9, 27, 29, appears to be a more general word, including all seafaring persons. The Hebrews, not being a maritime nation, make but little use of nautical terms. We have in addition to the words just mentioned the expressions, "shipmen that had knowledge of the sea" (lit.," men of ships, knowing the

What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us 7 cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon

sea"), 1 Kings ix. 27 (comp. 2 Chron. viii. 18); "They that go down to the sea in ships," Psalm cvii. 23, or simply, "They that go down to the sea," Isaiah xlii. 10.

What meanest thou, O sleeper?] Lit., What (is there) to thee, sleeping? i. e. What reason hast thou for sleeping? The E. V. apparently takes the participle "sleeping" as a vocative, "O sleeper?" What meanest thou by sleeping! would perhaps be the best translation.

It is

an exclamation of indignant surprise at the unreasonableness of Jonah's conduct. The word for sleep here and in v. 5 means heavy or deep sleep, such as Adam's (Gen. îi. 21), or Sisera's (Judg. iv. 21). LXX. 7i σὺ ῥέγχεις;

66

God] This abstract use of the word (lit., "the God") immediately after thy God" in this verse, and the mention in v. 6 that the mariners "cried every man unto his god," is remarkable. It would seem to imply, as Calvin argues, that behind and above the many gods whom the heathen invented for themselves, they retained the idea, vague perhaps and indistinct for the most part, but starting into prominence in times of danger and distress such as this, of one supreme God by whose providence the world is governed, and in whose hand are the life and safety of all men.

will think upon us] Some would render, "will brighten, or shine upon us," i. e. will be propitious or favourable to us; but there seems no reason to depart from the E.V.

7. Finding their prayers as unavailing as their efforts, the sailors conclude that the storm is sent upon them by the gods as a judgment for some crime committed by one of their number; and they proceed to cast lots to discover who the culprit is. Instances of a similar belief on the part of the heathen have been adduced from classical authors (see Rosenmüller and Maurer in loc.). A story is told by Cicero (de Nat. Deor. III. 37) of Diagoras, how that when he was on a voyage, and the sailors, terrified by a storm which had befallen them, charged him with being the cause of it, he pointed to other vessels in the same plight with themselves, and asked them whether they thought that they too carried Diagoras. Horace, in a well-known passage, affirms that he would not suffer a man, who had provoked the anger of the gods, to put to sea in the same boat with him, because the innocent in such cases were not unfrequently involved in a common punishment with the guilty (Hor. Od. lib. III. c. 2. 26—30). The truth, which underlay this wide spread conviction, is taught us in its pure form in such histories as those of Achan (Josh. vii.) and Jonathan (1 Sam. xiv. 36-46).

for whose cause] Lit., on account of (that) which (refers) to whom, i.e. on whose account. The same expression occurs in v. 12 ("for my sake"), and, though in the Hebrew in an uncontracted form, in v. 8.

Then

8 us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art 9 thou? And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and

the lot fell upon Jonah] An illustration of Prov. xvi. 33; comp. Josh. vii. 18; 1 Sam. xiv. 42. It is worthy of note that the use of the lot, though frequently mentioned and sanctioned in the O.T., and employed even after the Ascension in the choice of an Apostle to fill the place of Judas, never occurs in the Bible after the day of Pentecost. It would seem to have been superseded and rendered needless by the gift which conferred": 'a right judgment in all things."

8. for whose cause] The lot has detected Jonah, but they will not condemn him unheard. They will give him an opportunity of clearing himself, or like Achan (Josh. vii. 19), of making confession with his own lips. The judicial fairness and calmness of these heathen men, their abstinence from anger and reproach for the wrong done them, their sense of the sanctity of human life, their fear of punishing the innocent, are very strikingly brought out in the whole of this exciting

scene.

"Even in their supreme danger the mariners were anxious not only to avoid all violence, but all haste. While the fury of the waves and the tempest constantly increased, and every instant was precious to those who prized their lives, they patiently instituted an investigation with almost judicial calmness. Though fully trusting to the reality of the decision by lot, they were resolved neither to execute the judgment without the offender's confession, nor to execute it in an arbitrary manner." Kalisch, who quotes the words of Philo: "One might see in the scene a terrible tribunal: for the ship was the court of justice, the judges were the sailors, the executioners were the winds, the prisoner at the bar was the prophet, the house of correction and prison of safe keeping was the whale, and the accuser was the angry sea.

All the better part

What is thine occupation, &c.] This crowding together of questions in their excitement is very true to nature. It has been compared with the well-known passage in Virgil, Æn. VIII. 112-114. 9. The emergency recals Jonah to his true self. of his character now comes out. His conduct throughout the remainder of the chapter is dignified and manly, worthy of a servant and prophet of Jehovah.

a Hebrew] This is the name by which the Jews were known to foreigners (comp. the use of it by Juvenal and other classical writers). It is quite in keeping with Biblical usage that Jonah employs it in describing himself to the heathen sailors. Had he been addressing one of his own countrymen, he would have spoken of himself as an Israelite.

I fear the Lord] Rather, I fear Jehovah. They knew already