John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:13
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring it to the land , but they could not ,.... Or, "they digged" F12 ויחתרו "et fodiebant", Montanus, Calvin, Piscator, Tarnovius; "foderunt", Vatablus, Liveleus. ; that is, the waters of the sea with their oars; not by casting anchor, as Abendana; they used all their skill and exerted all their strength; they laboured with all their might and main, as a man digs in a pit; they ploughed the ocean, and furrowed the sea, as the Latins speak,... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jonah 1:11-17
It is plain that Jonah is the man for whose sake this evil is upon them, but the discovery of him to be so was not sufficient to answer the demands of this tempest; they had found him out, but something more was to be done, for still the sea wrought and was tempestuous (Jonah 1:11), and again (Jonah 1:13), it grew more and more tempestuous (so the margin reads it); for if we discover sin to be the cause of our troubles, and do not forsake it, we do but make bad worse. Therefore they went on... read more