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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jonah 1

Jonah 1: a flight to Tarshish, a tempest and the lot that falls on Jonah

General context

"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai," telling him to go to Nineveh "and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." Jonah instead rises "to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord," goes down to Joppa, pays the fare and goes down into a ship. The Lord sends a great wind and the ship "was like to be broken." The mariners are afraid, each cries to his god and they throw the wares overboard, while Jonah lies "fast asleep" in the sides of the ship. The shipmaster wakes him: "What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God." They cast lots "that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us," and the lot falls on Jonah. They ask his occupation, country and people, and he answers, "I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land." The men are exceedingly afraid, because he had told them he fled from the Lord's presence. Asked what to do, he says, "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea." They row hard for land and cannot make it, then pray, "lay not upon us innocent blood," and throw him in; the sea stops raging. The men fear the Lord, sacrifice and make vows. The Lord prepares "a great fish" that swallows Jonah, and he is in its belly "three days and three nights."

Cited passages: Jonah 1:1, Jonah 1:2, Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:4, Jonah 1:5, Jonah 1:6, Jonah 1:7, Jonah 1:8, Jonah 1:9, Jonah 1:10, Jonah 1:12, Jonah 1:13, Jonah 1:14, Jonah 1:15, Jonah 1:16, Jonah 1:17

Jonah 1 (KJV)

1Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3But 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 into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

4But 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.

5Then 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 into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6So 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.

7And 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.

8Then said they 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?

9And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

10Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

11Then 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.

12And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

14Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.

15So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

16Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

17Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

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Historical context

The first verse gives a name and a father, "Jonah the son of Amittai," and nothing more: no king, no year, no home town. The same name and father appear at 2 Kings 14:25, which adds "the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher," wording this book does not use. Nineveh, Tarshish and Joppa are named as destinations and left unlocated; the text says only that Nineveh is "that great city." The mariners are unnamed, their gods are unnamed, and the shipmaster is identified by his job alone. The creature at verse 17 is "a great fish" prepared by the Lord, and no other description is given; Matthew 12:40 refers to the same three days and nights as time in "the whale’s belly." Jonah's own words are the only account of who he is, "I am an Hebrew," and the narrator reports that he had already told the crew he was fleeing, though that telling is not printed as speech. What Jonah objected to in the errand is not stated in this chapter.

Cited passages: Jonah 1:1, 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah 1:2, Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:5, Jonah 1:6, Jonah 1:17, Matthew 12:40, Jonah 1:9, Jonah 1:10

Literary context

The chapter moves downward and says so: Jonah "went down to Joppa," "went down into it," and "was gone down into the sides of the ship," and the descent continues into the fish. Fear is tracked in stages. The mariners are "afraid" at the storm, "exceedingly afraid" at his answer, and at the end they "feared the Lord exceedingly" and sacrifice. Against that, Jonah is asleep while they pray, and it is the shipmaster, not the prophet, who says "arise, call upon thy God". His confession names the Lord as the maker of "the sea and the dry land," the two things the chapter is using against him. A demand and four questions come in one breath at verse 8, and the crew's reluctance is spelled out: they row hard before they throw him over, and they pray about innocent blood first. The chapter ends with the men worshipping on a calm sea and Jonah inside a fish, and the narrator withholds any word from him until chapter 2.

Cited passages: Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:5, Jonah 1:10, Jonah 1:16, Jonah 1:6, Jonah 1:9, Jonah 1:8, Jonah 1:13, Jonah 1:14, Jonah 1:15

Key moments

  1. Go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2). The word of the Lord sends Jonah to cry against Nineveh for its wickedness.
  2. Flight to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). Jonah goes down to Joppa, pays the fare and boards a ship going the other way.
  3. Fast asleep in the storm (Jonah 1:5). The mariners pray and throw cargo overboard while Jonah sleeps below.
  4. The lot falls on Jonah (Jonah 1:7). The crew cast lots to find whose fault the storm is, and the lot names Jonah.
  5. I am an Hebrew (Jonah 1:9). Jonah names the Lord who made the sea and the dry land as the God he fears.
  6. Cast into the sea (Jonah 1:15). The men throw Jonah overboard and the sea stops raging.
  7. Three days in the fish (Jonah 1:17). The Lord prepares a great fish that swallows Jonah for three days and three nights.

For reflection

The sailors pray to their own gods, cast lots, question him, row hard for land and pray again before they throw him overboard, while Jonah's only instruction is "cast me forth into the sea." What is the chapter doing by giving the strangers all that hesitation?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here:

  • Amittai