34 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Jonah 1 This chapter gives an account of the call and mission of Jonah to go to Nineveh, and prophesy there, and the reason of it, Jonah 1:1; his disobedience to it, Jonah 1:3. God's resentment of it, by sending a storm into the sea, where he was, which terrified the mariners, and put the ship in danger of being lost, Jonah 1:4;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai,.... Or, "and the word of the Lord was" (l); not that this is to be considered as connected with something the prophet had on his mind and in his thoughts when he began to write this book; or as a part detached from a prophecy not now extant; for it is no unusual thing with the Hebrews to...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
A Commission against Nineveh; The Prophet's Disobedience. (b. c. 840.) 1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord , and went down to Joppa; and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,.... That is, arise from the place where he was, and leave the business he was about, and prepare for a long journey to the place mentioned, and be as expeditious in it as possible. Nineveh was the metropolis of the Assyrian empire at this time; it was an ancient city built by Ashur, not by Nimrod; though he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,.... He was not obedient to the heavenly vision; he rose up, but not to go to Nineveh, but to Tarshish, the reverse of it; to the sea, as the Targum, the Mediterranean sea, which lay west, as Nineveh was to the east. Tarshish sometimes is used for the sea; see Psalms 48:7; he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea,.... He took a wind out of his treasures, and hurled it, as the word (w) signifies, into the sea: "into that sea" (x); that part of it where the ship was Jonah was in. Winds are at the command of God, which he raises at his pleasure, and fulfil his will, and are servants of his that obey his orders:...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Learn, hence, that “Omnipotence has servants everywhere.” The Lord is never short of sheriff’s officers to arrest his fugitives, and on that occasion he “sent out a great wind into the sea.” “The wind bloweth where it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the mariners were afraid,.... Perceiving that the storm was not an ordinary, but a supernatural one; and that the ship and all in it were in extreme danger, and no probability of being saved. This shows that the storm must be very violent, to frighten such men who were used to the sea, and to storms, and were naturally bold and intrepid. The...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, — If there is ever a special time for prayer, it is a time of need. Nature seems then to compel men to utter prayer of such a sort as it is, for it is but nature’s prayer at the best: “The mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god,” — Jon_1:5. And cast forth the wares...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So the shipmaster came to him,.... The master of the vessel, who had the command of it; or the governor of it, as Jarchi; though Josephus (d) distinguishes between the governor and the shipmaster: "the master of the ropers" (e), as it may be rendered; of the sailors, whose business it was to draw the ropes, to loose or gather the sails, at his...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. It is hard when sinners have to rebuke saints, and when an uncircumcised Gentile can address a prophet of God in language like this.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said everyone to his fellow,.... That Jonah awoke and rose up, upon the shipmaster's calling to him, is certain; but whether or no he called upon his God is not; perhaps he did: and when his prayer was over, and the storm still continuing, the sailors said one to another, come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they said every one to his fellow, Come and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. We commend not the action of these men in casting lots, but we admire the providence by which is the lot fell upon Jonah. Solomon says, “The lot is cast into the lap,” but he did...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then they said unto him, tell us, we pray thee,.... They did not fall upon him at once in an outrageous manner, and throw him overboard; as it might be thought such men would have done, considering what they had suffered and lost by means of him; but they use him with great respect, tenderness, and lenity: and entreat him to tell them for whose...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then they said 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 thou? I do not know whether these men had traded with those who then lived in these islands, but they had a very English custom of not judging a man before they had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto them, I [am] an Hebrew,.... He does not say a Jew, as the Targum wrongly renders it; for that would have been false, since he was of the tribe of Zebulun, which was in the kingdom of Israel, and not of Judah; nor does he say an Israelite, lest he should be thought to be in the idolatry of that people; but a Hebrew, which was...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew: That let them know whence he came, and what his country was. Jon_1:9. And I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. That, I suppose, must be regarded as his occupation; and what a blessed occupation it is, — to be occupied with the fear of the Lord! So, you see that, though...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then were the men exceedingly afraid,.... When they found he was a Hebrew, and that it was the God of the Hebrews that was angry; of whom they had heard much, and what great and wonderful things had been done by him, and now had an experience of his power and providence, and that it was for fleeing from his presence that all this was; and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? Jonah had to go through this catechism, question after question, and this was the hardest of them all: “Why hast thou done this?” Could you, dear friend, submit every action of your life to this test? “Why hast thou done this?” I am afraid that there are some...