Jonah 1:17-2:2

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:1-17

1:1-17 JONAH’S DISOBEDIENCE AND ITS RESULTSWhen God commanded Jonah to go and warn the sinful people of Nineveh of coming judgment, Jonah not only refused but fled in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship and headed for the distant Mediterranean port of Tarshish, somewhere in the region of Spain (1:1-3). But God determined to bring Jonah back. His first action was to send a fierce storm that threatened to sink the ship. The seamen, who were not Hebrews, prayed to their gods to save them,... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Jonah 1:17

prepared = appointed, or assigned. From Hebrew. mdndh, to number. Hence, to appoint, as in Job 7:3 .Daniel 1:5 ; Daniel 1:10-11 ; and Chaldee. mynah (Daniel 5:25 , Daniel 5:26 ). Compare Jonah 4:6-8 . Never means to create. great fish. Large enough to swallow him. in Matthew 12:40 , Greek. kilos - any large marine monster; whence Cetacece -the mammalian order of fish. No need for any name. Compare Matthew 12:20 ; Matthew 16:4 .Luke 11:30 . swallow up . . . belly. Not therefore kept alive... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Jonah 1:17

"And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."The word "prepared" as used here actually means "commissioned" or appointed, or "ordered."[36] It may be assumed that the great fish was ready at the instant God needed it, just as the tree had been growing by the bitter waters of Marah for a long time prior to the moment when Moses was commanded to cast it into the waters for the purpose of making the bitter waters sweet... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1:17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish— That there are fishes large enough to swallow a man, there can be no question; the Scripture calls this a great fish, in the general, and therefore there is no need to confine it to a whale. But we shall speak more on this subject, when we come to Matthew 12:40. See also Calmet's dissertation on the subject, and Scheuchzer. We may just observe farther, that the Hebrew language has no one word to express what we call a natural day: so that what... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Jonah 1:17

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... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Jonah 1:17

The identity of the great fish remains a mystery since the only record of what it was is in this story, and that description is general. The Hebrew word dag, translated "fish," describes a variety of aquatic creatures. The text does not say that God created this fish out of nothing (ex nihilo) nor does what the fish did require such an explanation. There are many types of fish capable of swallowing a human being whole. [Note: See Wilson, pp. 631-32.] Two examples are the sperm whale and the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 1:1-17

The Disobedience of Jonah2. Nineveh] the world-famous capital of Assyria, on the Tigris. For its wickedness cp. Nahum 3. 3. Jonah seeks to escape from the unwelcome task, both because he hates the Ninevites, and because he fears that, after all, God may spare them. Tarshish] Tartessus, in SW. Spain, probably an old Phoenician colony. It would be in the opposite direction to Nineveh. Joppa] Jaffa, the only port of any size on the Palestinian coast. 5. The ship’s crew is composed of a blend of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Jonah 1:17

(17) Now the Lord.—In the Hebrew, Jonah 2:0 commences with this verse.Had prepared.—The pluperfect is misleading. Render appointed, and comp. Jonah 4:6-8, where the same word is used of the gourd, the worm, and the east wind. The Authorised version renders the word accurately in Job 7:3; Daniel 1:5-10. Previous special preparation is not implied, still less creation for the particular purpose. God employs existing agents to do His bidding.A great fish.—The Hebrew dag is derived from the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:1-17

THE GREAT REFUSALJonah 1:1-17WE have now laid clear the lines upon which the Book of Jonah was composed. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s grace to the heathen in face of His people’s refusal to fulfill their mission to them. The author was led to achieve this purpose by a parable, through which the prophet Jonah moves as the symbol of his recusant, exiled, redeemed, and still hardened people. It is the Drama of Israel’s career, as the Servant of God, in the most pathetic moments of that... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Jonah 1:1-17

Analysis and Annotations CHAPTER 1 The Commission of the Prophet ,His Disobedience, and the Consequences 1. The commission (John 1:1-2 ) 2. The disobedience (John 1:3 ) 3. The consequences (John 1:4-17 ) John 1:1-2 . The record begins with the same word with which all historical books in the Bible begin, like Joshua, judges, Ruth, Samuel, etc. The commission given to Jonah was to go to Nineveh, that great city, and to cry against it on account of its wickedness. Nineveh was the great... read more

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