Jonah 1:17 NIV

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah ,.... Not from the creation of the world, as say the Jews F16 Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 2. ; for this is to be understood, not of the formation or making of it; but of the ordering and disposition of it by the providence of God to be near the ship, and its mouth open to receive Jonah, as soon as he was cast forth from thence: and a great one it must be, to take him at once into its mouth, and swallow him down its throat,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish - גדול דג dag gadol . This could not have been a whale, for the throat of that animal can scarcely admit a man's leg; but it might have been a shark, which abounds in the Mediterranean, and whose mouth and stomach are exceedingly capacious. In several cases they have been known to swallow a man when thrown overboard. See the note on Matthew 12:40 ; (note), where the whole subject of this verse is considered at large. That days and nights do not,... read more

John Calvin

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

Verse 17 What the Prophet here briefly relates ought to be carefully weighed by us. It is easily passed over, when we read in a few words that Jonah was swallowed up by a fish, and that he was there three days and three nights: but though Jonah neither amplified or illustrated in a rhetorical manner what is overlooked by us, nor adopted any display of words, but spoke of the event as though it were an ordinary thing, we yet see what the event itself really was: Jonah was cast into the sea. He... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:1-17

Part I. THE MISSION OF JONAH . HIS DISOBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:11-17

The offender sacrificed "Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous," etc. A new stage of spiritual progress has been reached—yet the sea not calm. There had been prayer—but no calm followed; now there is frank confession of sin, and doubtless repentance, and acknowledgment of God even by the men, but the sea still wrought, and was tempestuous. Was it "no use" to pray and repent? No; but God's plan was a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:17

§ 4. Cast into the sea, Jonah is swallowed alive by a great fish, is whose belly he remains unharmed three days and three nights. Had prepared; Septuagint, προσέταξε , "appointed;" so in Jonah 4:6 , Jonah 4:7 , Jonah 4:8 (comp. Job 7:3 ; Daniel 1:10 , Daniel 1:11 ). The fish was not created then and there, but God so ordered it that it should be at the place and should swallow Jonah. The prophet seems, from some expressions in his psalm ( Jonah 2:5 ), to have sunk to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:17

The sign of the Prophet Jonas. God sees the end from the beginning. He means it from the beginning. He is moving towards it from the beginning. There are no isolated events. Each is connected with a series leading up to it. The series is so long that we cannot see its earlier steps, much less observe their direction. But nothing is surer than that from the first they have a trend toward that one which is their ultimate effect. In proof of this we have only to select a series on which we... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had (literally “And the Lord”) prepared - Jonah (as appears from his thanksgiving) was not swallowed at once, but sank to the bottom of the sea, God preserving him in life there by miracle, as he did in the fish’s belly. Then, when the seaweed was twined around his head, and he seemed to be already buried until the sea should give up her dead, “God prepared the fish to swallow Jonah” . “God could as easily have kept Jonah alive in the sea as in the fish’s belly, but, in order to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1:17. Now the Lord prepared a great fish, &c. We have but an imperfect acquaintance with the natural history of fishes. However, it is a well-attested fact, that there are fishes, sharks, for instance, that grow to a size capable of swallowing and containing a man. The Scripture calls this a great fish in the general, and therefore there is no need to confine it to a whale; in which view, much of the wit thrown out by persons disposed to be merry on the Scripture is quite foreign... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jonah 1:11-17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 1:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 1:17

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

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:1-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:11-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 1:17

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jonah 1:17

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jonah 1:17

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