Jonah 1 reveals a commentary that subverts our expectations. We see a prophet who runs from God and objects to God’s mercy. Pagan sailors who turn to God and cry out for His mercy. The main character is dwarfed by the size of everything around him in the text.
But, ultimately, we see the power of God’s mercy on display.
Jonah 1 Commentary – The Linguistic Elements
Any Jonah 1 commentary must observe the linguistic elements that vividly characterize the story. The first part of the book establishes two repetitive elements in the Hebrew.
‘Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord . He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.’ Jonah 1:1-3,16
- Yarad ירד means to “descend” or “go down”. The first chapter of Jonah shows a prophet who is in a free fall. He goes down three separate times. First, to Joppa (v3). Then, into the ship (v3). Then, into the inner part of the ship (v5).
- Gadol גדול means “great” or “large”. The author of this chapter repeatedly uses this adjective to describe the outsized elements that appear in the story. The page is filled with a great city, a great wind, a great storm (2x), great fear (2x), and a great fish. By comparison, Jonah seems quite small indeed.
Subverted Expectations
In the beginning of the story, our expectations for how things should go get flipped upside down. We’re barely a few verses in, and the prophet disobeys God. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Many of those chosen by God for a great purpose struggled: Moses didn’t feel up to leading, Elijah became depressed, Jeremiah wept under his burden of prophecy. But, Jonah wins a special prize as the only one to outright refuse to obey. Jonah ran from God and took the next boat to Tarshish.
‘But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”’ Jonah 1:4-6 ESV
God used a storm to stop Jonah. And again, we have subverted expectations. Instead of the prophet leading those around him to seek deliverance from the Lord, it is actually the pagan sailors who demonstrate their faith, and tell the prophet to pray. Plus, another repetition of gadol and yarad.
Casting Lots
The Israelites used the practice of casting lots to discern God’s will. This practice continued in the New Testament with the fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, and then the choosing of Matthias in Acts 1:26.
Pentecost seems to have put an end the practice among early believers, as believers were thereafter guided by the Holy Spirit. No one cast lots in Acts 6 to choose the seven. And, John Chrysostom’s 3rd Homily on the Acts of the Apostles seems to support this conclusion.
But, in Jonah the sailors cast lots to discern who was at fault for the storm:
‘And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.’ Jonah 1:7-10 ESV
Jonah explained that he fears the Lord. The verb he uses is yare ירא. It means to fear or revere, and is often used when people interact properly with God. Proverbs 9:10 uses this word where it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Jonah’s fear in the text is immediately dwarfed by the gadol fear of the gentiles around him.
Notorious Nineveh
Let’s be clear: Jonah was right to say that Nineveh didn’t deserve grace. But, neither do you. Neither do I. Grace is a gift which God has extended to us, even though we don’t deserve it. I’d like to pause for a moment and examine the city that God intended to spare.
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, notorious for its especially cruel treatment of conquered peoples. This anecdotal claim by Ahurnipal II is backed up by many extant relief carvings depicting similar practices by the empire. And, look at how the scriptures describe Nineveh:
‘Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder— no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over the bodies! And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.’ Nahum 3:1-4 ESV
So, Nineveh was especially unrighteous. Internal to the text of Jonah, we know that the wickedness of the city had reached the breaking point with God (Jonah 1:2). But, the prophet didn’t want the city to be spared. At least, not enough to put himself inside the city and proclaim the word of the Lord.
I can give Jonah’s hypocrisy some grace, especially given the covenant he lived under. I live under the gift of grace from Jesus Christ, which is explicitly extended to all people. But, just like Jonah, I struggle to accept that grace is extended to certain people.
Just read the headlines today, and you will see them in bold print. How can God welcome the pedophiles and murderers into his glory? And, what of tyrannical despots who imprison, torture, and brutalize their people?
When I give in to self-righteousness, my heart becomes a very ugly place. I am filled with the angry desire for justice. What a hypocrite. If we have received abundant grace, we must lose our entitled attitude to demand justice. We must forgive as Christ forgave us. No matter the sin. Without reservation.
We struggle because their sins are great. But, God’s grace is greater.
Pagan Mercy
Continuing in Jonah 1, we continue to have our expectations subverted. The prophet fears less than the sailors. And, now, when Jonah gives them instructions for how to calm the raging sea, they do not immediately sacrifice the prophet. The godless pagans try everything within their power to show mercy.
‘Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.’ Jonah 1:11-13 ESV
When they could fight the storm no longer, the sailors agreed to throw Jonah overboard. But, first, they prayed! How incredible to see pagans show mercy to the guilty, obey God’s will, and pray for mercy, demonstrating the reverence which should have characterized Jonah’s behavior.
Both experienced the power of God in Jonah 1. But, where Jonah resisted, the sailors repented.
‘Therefore they called out to the Lord , “O Lord , let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord , have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.’ Jonah 1:14-16 ESV
I will have to write another post comparing and contrasting the stories of Jonah and Jesus, to do it justice. But, I am struck by the way that both of their deaths, prompted the immediate conversion of those who did not previously believe in Jehovah (Mark 15:39).
Jonah 1:17 Meaning
We must now turn our Jonah 1 commentary to the final verse. We get the final gadol of the chapter, and with it we transcend the figurative. The prophet is literally swallowed by a great fish.
‘Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.’ Jonah 1:17 ESV
There is no word in the scriptures for whale. Verse 17 uses the common word dag דג, which means fish. So, that gadol is doing some heavy lifting in the text. There is another word, tannin תנין, that could have been used here. That’s the word for great sea creatures (Genesis 1:21, Job 7:12) among other things.
So, how did Jonah and the Big Fish become Jonah and the Whale? In a word: Translation.
- Tanakh: the original Hebrew was dag gadol דג גדול (big fish)
- Septuagint: translated that into Greek as ketos mega κῆτος μέγα (huge sea creature).
- Vulgate: translated that into Latin as cetus (large sea animal)
- The earliest English Bibles translated the Latin, by which time cetus just meant whale.
The Fish was God’s Mercy
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the taxonomy of the creature matters. Fish or mammal is irrelevant to the story. But, there are two questions that do need to be answered when interpreting this final verse: Could this really have happened? What if the fish was God’s mercy?
First, we must answer the question of whether or not we really believe this part of the story happened. To be honest, I started my exploration of Jonah leaning toward an interpretation which made this more of a fable than a history. The remains of Tarshish has not been found, though there are several theories. And, it’s a tall order to believe Jonah survived being swallowed for three days.
But, my mind was changed by examining the interplay between Jonah and Jesus. I think the miracles of Jonah are necessary to prepare God’s people to accept His Son. Jesus himself cites the sign of Jonah as a foreshadowing of his own death and resurrection (Matthew 12:38-41).
I believe that the resurrection happened. And, so I believe Jonah to be a miraculous, authentic account which planted the seed of faith and familiarity within their cultural consciousness, that God could indeed do such a thing.
Second, we must examine the fish in its proper context. We might look at being swallowed by a fish as God’s judgement. And, I suppose if Jonah had died and been digested, it would have been. But, that’s not what happened.
The prophet disobeyed God and ran from his calling. The Lord created a storm which would stop him. And, then God saved Jonah from drowning by appointing a fish to carry him back to dry land. We focus on the swallowing and recoil. But, the chapter ends with a note of miraculous providence. Jonah survived.
