Jonah 1:5

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 1:5

(5) And cried every man unto his god.—If Phœnicians, the sailors would have their favourite deities in the national Pantheon; but they may have been a motley crew composed of various nationalities. For the panic comp. Psalms 107:23-30, and Shakespeare’s Tempest,“All lost! to prayers! to prayers, all lost!”Wares.—The Hebrew word is of general import for furniture of any kind, and so including all the movables in the ship. The cargo would probably, as in the case of St. Paul’s shipwreck, be... 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

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jonah 1:5

1:5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that [were] in the ship into the sea, to lighten [it] of them. But Jonah was gone down {g} into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.(g) As one that would have cast off this care and concern by seeking rest and quietness. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:1-17

A MISGUIDED PATRIOT LEARNS OBEDIENCE There is only one instance of Jonah’s prophesying to his own people of Israel, 2 Kings 14:25 . There he made a prediction concerning the restoration of the coasts of Israel, which was fulfilled in the reign of Jeroboam 2 about 800 B.C., showing that he lived earlier than that date. Of his personal history nothing further is known than what is found in this book. Jonah 1:0 Nineveh (Jonah 1:2 ) was the capital of Assyria, and the reason Jonah sought to... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Jonah 1:1-17

The Flight of Jonah Jonah 1:0 "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai" ( Jon 1:1 ). We are apt to think that this coming of the word of the Lord to men in ancient time was so special a circumstance that it has no application to ourselves. We think of the prophet as a solitary being; we have no doubt that Almighty God did speak to him in some special and peculiar manner; but how rarely it occurs to us that he who spoke to the prophets in times past is now speaking unto us... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Jonah 1:5

What a striking instance doth Jonah here afford, how men's minds are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. He, for whom this storm was raised, was the only one insensible of danger. Sinners asleep in a storm of national judgments, are the Jonah's of the present day. read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:5

God. They were idolaters, ver. 6. --- Wares, which is commonly done in storms. (Calmet) --- This loss was in punishment of their sins; though they seem not devoid of some fear of God and man. (Haydock) --- Sleep. This is a lively image of the insensibility of sinners, fleeing from God, and threatened on every side with his judgments; and yet sleeping as if they were secure. (Challoner) --- Yet Jonas was sleeping through grief. (St. Jerome) (Matthew xxvi. 40.) (Calmet) read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 1:4-7

4-7 God sent a pursuer after Jonah, even a mighty tempest. Sin brings storms and tempests into the soul, into the family, into churches and nations; it is a disquieting, disturbing thing. Having called upon their gods for help, the sailors did what they could to help themselves. 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... read more

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