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In this chapter we have, I. A command given to Jonah to preach at Nineveh (Jon 1:1, Jon 1:2). II. Jonah's disobedience to that command (Jon 1:3). III. The pursuit and arrest of him for that disobedience by a storm, in which he was asleep (Jon 1:4-6). IV. The discovery of him, and his disobedience, to be the cause of the storm (Jon 1:7-10). V. The casting of him into the sea, for the stilling of the storm (Jon 1:11-16). VI. The miraculous preservation of his life there in the belly of a fish (Jon 1:17), which was his reservation for further services.

This chapter gives an account of the call and mission of Jonah to go to Nineveh, and prophesy there, and the reason of it, Jon 1:1; his disobedience to it, Jon 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, Jon 1:4; The discovery of Jonah and his disobedience as the cause of the tempest, and how it was made, Jon 1:6; The casting of him into the sea at his own motion, and with his own consent, though with great reluctance in the mariners, Jon 1:11. The preparation of a fish for him, which swallowed him up, and in which he lived three days and three nights, Jon 1:17.

Wherefore they cried unto the Lord,.... Not unto their gods, but unto the true Jehovah, the God of Jonah, and of the Hebrews; whom they now, by this providence, and Jonah's discourse, had some convictions and knowledge of as the true God; and therefore direct their prayer to him, before they cast the prophet into the sea: and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee; which repetition shows the ardent, vehemence, and earnestness of their minds in prayer: let us not perish for this man's life; they were in the utmost perplexity of mind, not knowing well what to do; they saw they must perish by the storm, if they saved his life; and they were afraid their should perish, if they took it away; and which yet they were obliged to do; and therefore had no other way left but to pray to the Lord they might not perish for it; or it be reckoned as their crime, and imputed to them, as follows: and lay not upon us innocent blood; for so it was to them; he had done no hurt to them since he had been with them, except in being the cause of the storm, whereby they had suffered the loss of their goods; however, had not been guilty of anything worthy of death, as they could observe; and as for his offence against God, they were not sufficient judges of, and must leave it with him: the light of nature teaches men to be tender of the lives of fellow creatures, and to avoid shedding of innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee; it appeared to them to be the wilt of God that he should be cast into the sea; from the storm that was raised on his account; from the determination of the lot; from the confession of Jonah, and his declaration of the will of God in this matter, as a prophet of his: they did not pretend to account for it; it was a secret to them why it should be; but it was no other than what he would have done; and therefore they hoped no blame would be laid on them.

The ship’s pilot … understood from his experience that the storm was not a usual one, but that the blow was God-sent, and that the billowy ocean was vastly superior to human skill, and that the hands of the helmsman were of no advantage. In this situation a greater pilot was required, the One who governs the whole world, and the assistance from above was critical. For this reason, they abandoned the oars, the sails, the ropes, and everything else; they drew their hands back to themselves and raised them to heaven and entreated God.

"Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech you, O LORD, we beseech you, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you." LXX: 'and they cried to the Lord and said, but no, Lord, let us not die to let this man live. Lay not innocent blood upon us. For O Lord you have done as you wished.' The sailors' faith is strong: they are all in danger of losing their lives, and yet pray for the lives of another. They know well that spiritual death is worse than natural death of the body. Do not lay innocent blood upon us, they say. They take the Lord as witness not to visit them for what they are about to do, and say something like this: 'we do not want to kill your prophet, but he himself has proclaimed your wrath, and the storm shows us that you have done what you wished, O Lord. Your wish is accomplished by our doing'. This seems to be the confession of Pilate, as he washes his hands and says, "I am clean of the blood of this man" [Mt. 27:24]. The gentiles do not want Christ to die, and affirm that it is innocent blood. And the Jew say, "let his blood fall upon us again and on our son" [Mt. 27:25]. This is why when they raise their hands to the sky, they will not be heard, for they are full of blood. For your will has been done, Lord. We welcomed the passenger, and the whirlwind began, the winds blew and the sea swelled in waves. The fugitive was brought by fate, and tells what we must do: all of this, Lord, is the effect of your will. Yes, Lord, your will has been done. In this way the Saviour speaks in the Psalm, "Lord, I wanted to do your will" [Ps. 39:9].

The sailors and the passengers in the book of Jonah say, “We beseech you, O Lord, do not destroy us on account of this man and lay not upon us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” They do not know the reasons why the prophet, a fugitive servant, deserved to be punished. And yet they justify God and acknowledge the blood of him whose deeds they do not know to be innocent. And in conclusion, they say, “You, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” They do not question the justice of the judgment of God but acknowledge the veracity of the just Judge.

Jonah, sent to Nineveh, flees to Tarshish, Jon 1:1-3. He is overtaken by a great tempest, Jon 1:4-14; thrown into the sea, Jon 1:15, Jon 1:16; and swallowed by a fish, in the belly of which he is miraculously preserved alive three days and three nights, Jon 1:17.

They cried unto the Lord - Under a conviction that he was the self-existing Being, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, and the author of the present storm, they put up their prayers to him. Let us not perish for this man's life - They were now about to cast him overboard; but seemed to call God to witness that it was with the utmost reluctance, and only in obedience to his command. There is a parallel passage in the Argonautics, which has been quoted to illustrate this: - Πολλα δε μερμηριζον ενι φρεσι πευκαλιμησι, Η μεν αποφθισωσι, και ιχθυσι κυρμα βαλωσιν Αινολεχη Μμηδειαν, αποτρεψωσι δ' Εριννυν. Ver. 1171. "And much they doubted, in their prudent minds, Whether to kill and cast a prey to fishes Wretched Medea, and avert their fate." See Newcome.

JONAH'S COMMISSION TO NINEVEH, FLIGHT, PUNISHMENT, AND PRESERVATION BY MIRACLE. (Jon. 1:1-17) Jonah--meaning in Hebrew, "dove." Compare , where the dove in vain seeks rest after flying from Noah and the ark: so Jonah. GROTIUS not so well explains it, "one sprung from Greece" or Ionia, where there were prophets called AmythaonidÃ&brvbr. Amittai--Hebrew for "truth," "truth-telling"; appropriate to a prophet.

for this man's life--that is, for taking this man's life. innocent blood--Do not punish us as Thou wouldst punish the shedders of innocent blood (compare ). In the case of the Antitype, Pontius Pilate washed his hands and confessed Christ's innocence, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person." But whereas Jonah the victim was guilty and the sailors innocent, Christ our sacrificial victim was innocent and Pontius Pilate and nil of us men were guilty. But by imputation of our guilt to Him and His righteousness to us, the spotless Antitype exactly corresponds to the guilty type. thou . . . Lord, hast done as it pleased thee--That Jonah has embarked in this ship, that a tempest has arisen, that he has been detected by casting of lots, that he has passed sentence on himself, is all Thy doing. We reluctantly put him to death, but it is Thy pleasure it should be so.

Mission of Jonah to Nineveh His Flight and Punishment - Jonah 1 Jonah tries to avoid fulfilling the command of God, to preach repentance to the great city Nineveh, by a rapid flight to the sea, for the purpose of sailing to Tarshish (Jon 1:1-3); but a terrible storm, which threatens to destroy the ship, brings his sin to light (Jon 1:4-10); and when the lot singles him out as the culprit, he confesses that he is guilty; and in accordance with the sentence which he pronounces upon himself, is cast into the sea (Jon 1:11-16).