¹tn Heb “The word of YHWH.” The genitive noun in the construction hw`hy+-rb^D+ (d<sup>e</sup>var-y<sup>e</sup>hvah, “word of the Lord”) could function as a possessive genitive (“the Lord’s word”; see IBHS 145 §9.5.1g), but more likely it functions as a subjective genitive (“the Lord said”; see IBHS 143 §9.5.1a). The Aramaic translation of Jonah 1:1 (Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible are known as Targums) interprets the Hebrew as “There was a word of prophecy from the Lord” (cf. Tg. Hos 1:1)
<sup>2</sup>tn Heb “The word of YHWH was to Jonah…saying….” The infinitive rm)al@ (le’mor, “saying”) introduces direct discourse and is untranslated in English.
<sup>3</sup>tn Heb “Arise, go.” The two imperatives without an intervening vav (El@ <Wq, qum lekh; “Arise, go!”), form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal force: “Go immediately.” This construction emphasizes the urgency of the command. The translations “Go at once” (NRSV, NJPS) or simply “Go!” (NIV) are better than the traditional “Arise, go” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, RSV) or “Get up and go” (NLT). For similar constructions with <Wq, see Gen 19:14-15; Judg 4:14; 8:20-21; 1 Sam 9:3.
<sup>4</sup>sn Nineveh was the last capital city of ancient Assyria. Occupying about 1800 acres, it was located on the east bank of the Tigris River across from the modern city of Mosul, Iraq. The site includes two tels, Nebi Yunus and Kouyunjik, which have been excavated on several occasions. See A. H. Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains; R. C. Thompson and R. W. Hutchinson, A Century of Exploration at Nineveh; G. Waterfield, Layard of Nineveh. Preliminary reports of limited excavations in 1987 and 1989 appear in Mar Šipri 1:2 (1988): 1-2; 2:2 (1989): 1-2; 4:1 (1991): 1-3. Also see D. J. Wiseman, “Jonah’s Nineveh,” TynBul 30 (1979): 29-51.
<sup>5</sup>tn Heb “the.” The article draws attention to a well-known fact and may function as a demonstrative pronoun: “that great city” (see IBHS 242 §13.5.1e).
<sup>6</sup>tn Heb “great city.” The adjective lodG* (gadol, “great”) can refer to a wide variety of qualities: (1) size: “large,” (2) height: “tall,” (3) magnitude: “great,” (4) number: “populous,” (5) power: “mighty,” (6) influence: “powerful,” (8) significance: “important,” (7) finance: “wealthy,” (8) intensity: “fierce,” (9) sound: “loud,” (10) age: “oldest,” (11) importance: “distinguished,” (12) position: “chief, leading, head” (HALOT 177-78 s.v. lodG*; BDB 152-53 s.v. lodG*). The phrase hl*odG+-ryu! (’ir-g<sup>e</sup>dolah, “city”) may designate a city that is (1) large in size (Josh 10:2; Neh 4:7) or (2) great in power: (a) important city-state (Gen 10:12) or (b) prominent capital city (Jer 22:8). The phrase hl*odG+-ryu! (both with and without the article) is used four times in Jonah (1:2; 3:2, 3; 4:11). This phrase is twice qualified by a statement about its immense dimensions or large population , so lodG* might denote size. However, size is not the issue in 1:2. At this time in history, Nineveh was the most powerful city in the ancient Near East as the capital of the mighty Neo-Assyrian Empire. It is likely that hl*odG=-ryu! here is the Hebrew equivalent of the Assyrian lu rabu (“the important city” = capital city of the empire), just as br~ yK!l=m^ (malki rav, “great king”; Hos 5:13; 10:6) is the equivalent of the Assyrian malku rabu (“great king” = ruler of the empire; D. Stuart, Hosea-Jonah [WBC], 448). Perhaps the closest West Semitic parallel to hl*odG+h* ryu!h* (ha’ir hagg<sup>e</sup>dolah) is in an Amarna letter from King Abimilki of Tyre to Amenhotep IV: “Behold, I protect Tyre, the capital city (<sup>uru</sup>Surri uru rabitu) for the king my lord” (EA 147:61-63). Hebrew constructions in which a determined noun is modified by the determined adjective hl*odG+h* (“the great…”) often denote singular, unique greatness, e.g., ld)G*h* rh*N`h^ (hannahar haggadol, “the great river”) = the Euphrates (Deut 1:7); lodG`h^ <Y`h^ (hayyam haggadol, “the great sea”) = the Mediterranean (Josh 1:4); lodG`h^ /h@K)h^ (hakkohen haggadol, “the great priest”) = the chief priest (Lev 21:10); and taZ)h^ hl*odG+h^ ryu!l* (la’ir hagg<sup>e</sup>dolah hazzo’t, “[to] this great city”) = this capital city (Jer 22:8). So hl*odG+h* ryu!h* may well connote “the capital city” here.
<sup>7</sup>tn Heb “Nineveh, the great city.” The description “the great city” stands in apposition to “Nineveh.”
<sup>8</sup>tn Heb “cry out against it.” The basic meaning of ar`q* (qara’) is “to call out; to cry out; to shout out,” but here it is a technical term referring to what a prophet has to say: “to announce” (e.g., 1 Kgs 13:32; Isa 40:2, 6; Jer 3:12; see HALOT 1129 s.v. arq 8). When used with the preposition lu^ (’al, “against” [in a hostile sense]; 826 s.v. lu^ 5.a), it refers to an oracle announcing or threatening judgment (e.g., 1 Kgs 13:2, 4, 32; BDB 895 s.v. lu^ 3.a). This nuance is reflected in several translations: “proclaim My judgment against it” (NLT) and “proclaim judgment upon it” (JPS, NJPS). Other translations are less precise: “cry out against it” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, RSV, NRSV), “denounce it” (NEB, REB). Some are even misleading: “preach against it” (NIV, NAB, NBV) and “preach in it” (DRA). Tg. Jonah 1:2 nuances this interpretively as “prophesy against.”
⁹tn Heb “it.” The pronoun functions as a synecdoche of container for contents, referring to the people of Nineveh.
¹⁰sn The term wickedness is personified here; it is pictured as ascending heavenward into the very presence of God. This figuratively depicts how God became aware of their evil—it had ascended into heaven right into his presence.
¹¹tn Heb “has come up before me.” The term yn`p*l= (l<sup>e</sup>fanay, “before me”) often connotes “in the full cognitive knowledge of” or “in the full mental view” of someone (BDB 817 s.v. [hn#P*] II.4.a.(c); e.g., Gen 6:13; Isa 65:6; Jer 2:22; Lam 1:22). The use of the verb hl*u* (’alah, “to ascend”) complements this idea; it is sometimes used to describe actions or situations on earth that have “come up” into heaven to God’s attention, so to speak (e.g., Exod 2:23; 1 Sam 5:12; 2 Kgs 19:28; Ps 74:23; Isa 37:29; Jer 14:2; see BDB 749 s.v. hl*u* 8). The point is that God was fully aware of the evil of the Ninevites.
<sup>12</sup>tn Heb “he arose to flee.” The phrase j^r)b=l! <q*Y`w~ (vayyaqam livroakh, “he arose to flee”) is a wordplay on the Lord’s command (El@ <Wq, qum lekh; “Arise! Go!”) in v. 2. By repeating the first verb <Wq the narrator sets up the reader to expect that Jonah was intending to obey God. But Jonah did not “arise to go” to Nineveh; he “arose to flee” to Tarshish. Jonah looks as though he was about to obey, but he does not. This unexpected turn of events creates strong irony. The narrator does not reveal Jonah’s motivation to the reader at this point. He delays this revelation for rhetorical effect until 4:2-3.
¹³tn Heb “Tarshish.” The place-name vyv!r+T^ (tarshish, “Tarshish”) refers to a distant port city or region (Isa 23:6; Jer 10:9; Ezek 27:12; 38:13; 2 Chr 9:21; 20:36, 37) located on the coastlands in the Mediterranean west of Palestine (Ps 72:10; Isa 23:6, 10; 66:19; Jonah 1:3; see BDB 1076 s.v. vyv!r+T^; HALOT 1798 s.v. vyv!r+T^ E.a). Scholars have not established its actual location (HALOT 1797 s.v. B). It has been variously identified with Tartessos in southwest Spain (Herodotus, Histories 1.163; 4.152; cf. Gen 10:4), Carthage (LXX of Isa 23:1, 14 and Ezek 27:25), and Sardinia (F. M. Cross, “An Interpretation of the Nora Stone,” BASOR 208 [1972]: 13-19). The versions handle it variously. The LXX identifies vyv!r+T^ with Carthage/Karchdwvn (karchdwn; Isa 23:1, 6, 10, 14; Ezek 27:12; 38:13). The place name vyv!r+T^ is rendered “Africa” in the Targums in some passages (Tg. 1 Kgs 10:22; 22:49; Tg. Jer 10:9) and elsewhere as “sea” (Isa 2:16; 23:1, 14; 50:9; 66:19; Ezek 27:12, 25; 38:13; Jonah 4:2). The Jewish midrash Canticles Rabbah 5:14.2 cites Jonah 1:3 as support for the view that Tarshish = “the Great Sea” (the Mediterranean). It is possible that vyv!r+T^ does not refer to one specific port but is a general term for the distant Mediterranean coastlands in general (Ps 72:10; Isa 23:6, 10; 66:19). In some cases it seems to mean simply “the open sea”: (1) the Tg. Jonah 1:3 translates vyv!r+T^ as “[he arose to flee] to the sea”; (2) Jerome’s commentary on Isa 2:16 states that Hebrew scholars in his age defined vyv!r+T^ as “sea”; and (3) the gem called II vyv!r+T^, “topaz” (BDB 1076 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.) in Exod 28:20 and 39:13 is rendered “the color of the sea” in Tg. Onq. (see D. Stuart, Hosea-Jonah [WBC], 451). The designation vyv!r+T^ toYn]a( (’oniyyot tarshish, “Tarshish-ships”) referred to large sea-going vessels equipped for the high seas (2 Chr 9:21; Ps 48:8; Isa 2:16; 23:1, 14; 60:9; Ezek 27:25) or large merchant ships designed for international trade (1 Kgs 10:22; 22:49; 2 Chr 9:21; 20:36; Isa 23:10; HALOT 1798 s.v. E.b). The term vyv!r+T^ is derived from the Iberian tart[uli] with the Anatolian suffix -issos/essos, resulting in Tartessos (BRL2 332a); however, the etymological meaning of vyv!r+T^ is uncertain (see W. F. Albright, “New Light on the Early History of Phoenician Colonization,” BASOR 83 [1941]: 21-22 and note 29; HALOT 1797 s.v. I vyv!r+T^ A). The name vyv!r+T^ appears in sources outside the Hebrew Bible in Neo-Assyrian ^KURTar-si-si (R. Borger, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons [AfO], 86, §57 line 10) and Greek Tarthsso" (tarthssos; HALOT 1797 s.v. C). Most translations render vyv!r+T^ as “Tarshish” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, NEB, NJB, JPS, NJPS), but CEV renders it more generally as “to Spain.” One translation emphasizes the rhetorical point: “in the opposite direction” (NLT).
¹⁴tn Heb “Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish away from the Lord.”
¹⁵tn Heb “away from the presence of the Lord.” The term yn}p=L!m! (millifne, “away from the presence of”) is composed of the preposition yn`p*l= (l<sup>e</sup>fanay, “in front of, before the presence of”) and /m! (min, “away from”). The term yn}p=L!m! is used with jr~B* (barakh, “to flee”) only here in biblical Hebrew so it is difficult to determine its exact meaning (HALOT 942 s.v. hn\P* 4.h.ii; see E. Jenni, “‘Fliehen’ im akkadischen und im hebräischen Sprachgebrauch,” Or 47 [1978]: 357). The most likely options are: (1) Jonah simply fled from the Lord’s presence manifested in the temple (for mention of the temple elsewhere in Jonah, see 2:5,8). This is reflected in Jerome’s rendering fugeret in Tharsis a facie Domini (“he fled to Tarshish away from the face/presence of the Lord”). The term yn}p=L!m! is used in this sense with ax*y` (yatsa’, “to go out”) to depict someone or something physically leaving the manifested presence of the Lord (Lev 9:24; Num 17:11, 24; cf. Gen 4:16). This is reflected in several translations: “from the presence of the Lord” (KJV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASV, NBV) and “out of the reach of the Lord” (REB). (2) Jonah was fleeing to a distant place outside the land of Israel (D. Stuart, Hosea-Jonah [WBC], 450). The term yn`p*l= is used in various constructions with /m! to describe locations outside the land of Israel where YHWH was not worshiped (1 Sam 26:19-20; 2 Kgs 13:23; 17:20, 23; Jer 23:39). This would be the equivalent of a self-imposed exile. (3) The term yn}p=L!m! can mean “out of sight” (Gen 23:4,8), so perhaps Jonah was trying to escape from the Lord’s active awareness—out of the Lord’s sight. The idea would either be an anthropomorphism (standing for a distance out of the sight of God) or it would reflect an inadequate theology of the limited omniscience and presence of God. This is reflected in some translations: “ran away from the Lord” (NIV), “running away from Yahweh” (NJB), “to get away from the Lord” (NLT), “to escape from the Lord” (NEB) and “to escape” (CEV). (4) The term yn`p*l= can mean “in front of someone in power” (Gen 43:33; HALOT 942 s.v. c.i) and “at the disposal of” a king (Gen 13:9; 24:51; 34:10; 2 Chr 14:6; Jer 40:4; HALOT 942 s.v. 4.f). The expression would be a metonymy: Jonah was trying to escape from his commission (effect) ordered by God (cause). This is reflected in several translations: “to flee from the Lord’s service” (JPS, NJPS). Jonah confesses in 4:2-3 that he fled to avoid carrying out his commission—lest God relent from judging Nineveh if its populace might repent. But it is also clear in chs. 1-2 that Jonah could not escape from the Lord himself.
sn Three times in chap. 1 (in vv. 3 and 10) Jonah’s boat ride is described as an attempt to escape away from the Lord—from the Lord’s presence (and therefore his active awareness; compare v. 2). On one level, Jonah was attempting to avoid a disagreeable task, but the narrator’s description personalizes Jonah’s rejection of the task. Jonah’s issue is with the Lord himself, not just his commission. The narrator’s description is also highly ironic, as the rest of the book shows. Jonah tries to sail to Tarshish, in the opposite direction from Nineveh, as if by doing that he could escape from the Lord, when the Lord is the one who knows all about Nineveh’s wickedness and is involved in all that happens to Jonah throughout the book. Compare Jonah’s explanation when talking with the Lord (see 4:2).
¹⁶tn Heb “he went down.” The verb dr~y` (yarad, “to go down”) can refer to a journey that is physically downhill. This suggests that Jonah had started out from Jerusalem, which is at a higher elevation. He probably received his commission in the temple (see 2:4, 7 for mention of the temple).
sn The verb dr~y` (yarad, “to go down”) is repeated four times in chs. 1-2 for rhetorical effect (1:3a, 3b, 5; 2:7). Jonah’s “downward” journey from Jerusalem down to Joppa (1:3a) down into the ship (1:3b) down into the cargo hold and ultimately down into the bottom of the sea, pictured as down to the very gates of the netherworld , does not end until he turns back to God who brings him “up” from the brink of death (2:6-7).
¹⁷sn Joppa was a small harbor town on the Palestinian coast known as Yepu in the Amarna Letters (14^th century b.c.) and Yapu in Neo-Assyrian inscriptions (9th-8th centuries b.c.). It was a port through which imported goods could flow into the Levant (Josh 19:46; 2 Chr 2:15 [16]; Ezra 3:7). It was never annexed by Israel until the Maccabean period (ca. 148 b.c.; 1 Macc 10:76). Jonah chose a port where the people he would meet and the ships he could take were not likely to be Israelite. Once in Joppa he was already partly “away from the Lord” as he conceived it.
¹⁸tn Heb “going to.”
¹⁹tn Heb “to Tarshish.” See note on the phrase “distant seaport” at the beginning of the verse.
²⁰tn Heb “its fare.” The 3fs suffix on the noun probably functions as a genitive of worth or value: “the fare due it.” However, it is translated here simply as “the fare” for the sake of readability. The NLT’s “bought a ticket” is somewhat overtranslated, since the expression “paid the fare” is still understandable to most English readers.
²¹tn Heb “he went down into it.” The verb dr~y` (yarad, “to go down”) is repeated for rhetorical effect in v. 3a, 3b, 5. See note on the word “traveled” in v. 3a.
<sup>22</sup>tn “Them” refers to the other passengers and sailors in the ship.
<sup>23</sup>tn Heb “to Tarshish.” See note on the phrase “distant seaport” at the beginning of the verse.
<sup>24</sup>tn Heb “away from the presence of the Lord.” See note on the phrase “from the commission of the Lord” in v. 3a.
<sup>25</sup>tn The disjunctive construction of vav + nonverb followed by a nonpreterite marks a strong contrast in the narrative action (lyf!h@ hw`hyw~, vayhvah hetil; “But the Lord hurled…”).
²⁶tn The Hiphil of lWf (tul, “to hurl”) is used here and several times in this episode for rhetorical emphasis (see vv. 5 and 15).
²⁷tn Heb “great.”
²⁸tn Heb “great.”
²⁹tn The nonconsecutive construction of vav + nonverb followed by nonpreterite is used to emphasize this result clause (rb@v*h!l= hb*V=j! hY`n]a(h*w+, v<sup>e</sup>ha’oniyyah khishvah l<sup>e</sup>hishaver; “that the ship threatened to break up”).
<sup>30</sup>tn Heb “the ship seriously considered breaking apart.” The use of bv^j* (khashav, “think”) in the Piel (“to think about; to seriously consider”) personifies the ship to emphasize the ferocity of the storm. The lexicons render the clause idiomatically: “the ship was about to be broken up” (BDB 363 s.v. bv^j* 2; HALOT 360 s.v. bvj).
<sup>31</sup>tn Heb “they cried out, each one.” The shift from the plural verb Wqu&z+Y]w~ (vayyiz’aqu, “they cried out to”) to the singular subject vya! (’ish, “each one”) is a rhetorical device used to emphasize that each one of the sailors individually cried out. In contrast, Jonah slept.
<sup>32</sup>tn Or “gods.” The plural noun <yh!Oa$ (’elohim) might be functioning either as a plural of number (“gods”) or a plural of majesty (“god”)—the form would allow for either. As members of a polytheistic culture, each sailor might appeal to several gods. However, individuals could also look to a particular god for help in trouble. Tg. Jonah 1:5 interpretively renders the line, “Each man prayed to his idols, but they saw that they were useless.”
<sup>33</sup>tn Heb “hurled.” The Hiphil of lWf (tul, “to hurl”) is again used, repeated from v. 4.
<sup>34</sup>tn The plural word rendered “cargo” (<yl!K@, kelim) is variously translated “articles, vessels, objects, baggage, instruments” (see 1 Sam 17:22; 1 Kgs 10:21; 1 Chr 15:16; Isa 18:2; Jer 22:7). As a general term, it fits here to describe the sailors throwing overboard whatever they could. The English word “cargo” should be taken generally to include the ship’s payload and whatever else could be dispensed with.
<sup>35</sup>tn Heb “into the sea.”
<sup>36</sup>tn Heb “to lighten it from them.”
<sup>37</sup>tn Heb “but Jonah.” The disjunctive construction of vav + nonverb followed by nonpreterite (dr^y` hn`oyw+, v<sup>e</sup>yonah yarad; “but Jonah had gone down…”) introduces a parenthetical description of Jonah’s earlier actions before the onset of the storm.
<sup>38</sup>tn Following a vav-disjunctive introducing parenthetical material, the suffixed-conjugation verb dr~y` (yarad) functions as a past perfect here: “he had gone down” (see IBHS 490-91 §30.5.2). This describes Jonah’s previous actions before the onset of the storm.
³⁹tn Or “stern.” There is some question whether the term hk*r+y~ (yarkhah) refers to the ship’s hold below deck (R. S. Hess, NIDOTTE 3:282) or to the stern in the back of the ship (HALOT 439 s.v. *hk*r@y+ 2.b). This is the only use of this term in reference to a ship in biblical Hebrew. When used elsewhere, this term has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “rear,” such as rear of a building (Exod 26:22, 27; 36:27, 32; Ezek 46:19), back room of a house (1 Kgs 6:16; Ps 128:3; Amos 6:10), flank of a person’s body (figurative for rear border; Gen 49:13); and (2) “far part” that is remote, such as the back of a cave (1 Sam 24:4), the bottom of a cistern (Isa 14:15), the lower recesses of Sheol (Ezek 32:23), the remotest part of a mountain range (Judg 19:1, 18; 2 Kgs 19:23; Isa 37:24), the highest summit of a mountain (Ps 48:3), and the north—viewed as the remotest part of the earth (Isa 14:13; Ezek 38:6, 15; 39:2). So the term could refer to the “back” (stern) or “remote part” (lower cargo hold) of the ship. The related Akkadian expression arkat eleppi, “stern of a ship” (HALOT 439 s.v. 2.b) seems to suggest that hk*r+y~ means “stern” (HALOT 439 s.v. 2.b). However, the preceding la# dr~y` (yarad ’el, “he went down into”) suggests a point below deck. Also the genitive noun hn`yp!s= (s^efinah) refers to a “ship” with a deck (BDB 706 s.v. hn`yp!s=; HALOT 764 s.v. hn`yp!s=; R. S. Hess, NIDOTTE 3:282).
⁴⁰tn Or “of the ship.” The noun hn`yp!s= (s<sup>e</sup>finah) refers to a “ship” with a deck (HALOT 764 s.v. hn`yp!s=). The term is a hapax legomenon in Hebrew and is probably an Aramaic loanword. The term is used frequently in the related Semitic languages to refer to ships with multiple decks. Here the term probably functions as a synecdoche of whole for the part, referring to the “lower deck” rather than to the ship as a whole (R. S. Hess, NIDOTTE 3:282). An outdated approach related the noun to the verb /p^s* (safan, “to cover”) and suggested that hn`yp!s= describes a ship covered with sheathing (BDB 706 s.v. hn`yp!s=).
⁴¹tn The a-class theme vowel of <d~r`Y}w~ (vayyeradam) indicates that this is a stative verb, describing the resultant condition of falling asleep: “was sound asleep.”
<sup>42</sup>tn Heb “What to you sleeping!” The Niphal participle <D`r+n] (nirdam) from <d~r` (radam, “to sleep”) functions here not as a vocative use of the noun (so KJV, NKJV, ASV: “O sleeper,” RSV, NBV: “you sleeper”) but as a verbal use to depict uninterrupted sleep up to this point. The expression ;L=-hm^ (mah-l<sup>e</sup>kha, “what to you?”) can express surprise (BDB 552 s.v. hm* 1.a; e.g., Job 9:12; 22:12; Eccl 8:4; Isa 45:9,10) or indignation and contempt (BDB 552 s.v. hm* 1.c; e.g., 1 Kgs 19:9, 13). Accordingly, the captain is either surprised that Jonah is able to sleep so soundly through the storm (NIV: “How can you sleep?”; JPS/NJPS: “How can you be sleeping so soundly?”; NEB/REB: “What, sound asleep?”) or indignant that Jonah would sleep in a life-threatening situation when he should be praying (CEV: “How can you sleep at a time like this?”; NRSV/NAB: “What are you doing asleep/sound asleep?”; NBV: “What’s the matter with you?”; NJB: “What do you mean by sleeping?”).
<sup>43</sup>tn Heb “cry out” or “call upon.” The verb ar`q* (qara’, “to call out, to cry out”) + the preposition la# (’el, “to”) often depicts a loud, audible cry of prayer to God for help in the midst of trouble: “to call on, to shout to” (HALOT 1129 s.v. arq 9.b; BDB 895 s.v. ar`q* 2.a; e.g., Judg 15:18; 1 Sam 12:17, 18; 2 Sam 22:7; Hos 7:7; Pss 3:4 [5 HT]; 4:3 [4 HT]). Jonker notes: “The basic meaning of qr’ is to draw attention to oneself by the audible use of one’s voice in order to establish contact with someone else. The reaction of the called person is normally expressed by the verbs…‘answer’ and…‘hear’” (L. Jonker, NIDOTTE 3:971).
sn The imperatives “arise!” and “cry out!” are repeated from v. 2 for ironic effect. The captain’s words would have rung in Jonah’s ears as a stinging reminder that the Lord had uttered them once before. Jonah was hearing them again because he had disobeyed them before.
<sup>44</sup>tn Heb “the god.” The article on <yh!Oa$h* (ha’elohim) denotes previous reference to ;yh#Oa$ (’elohekha, “your god”; see IBHS 242-43 §13.5.1d). The captain refers here to the “god” just mentioned, that is, whatever god Jonah might pray to (“your god”).
<sup>45</sup>tn Or “give thought to us.” The verb is found only here in the OT. Related nouns are in Job 12:5 and Ps 146:5. The captain hopes for some favorable attention from a god who might act on behalf of his endangered crewmen.
<sup>46</sup>tn Heb “And they said, a man to his companion.” The plural verb is individualized by “a man.”
<sup>47</sup>sn The English word lots is a generic term. In some cultures the procedure for “casting lots” is to “draw straws” so that the person who receives the short straw is chosen. In other situations a colored stone or a designated playing card might be picked at random. In Jonah’s case, small stones were probably used.
<sup>48</sup>sn In the ancient Near East, casting lots was a custom used to try to receive a revelation from the gods about a particular situation. The Phoenician sailors here cried out to their gods and cast lots in the hope that one of their gods might reveal the identity of the person with whom he was angry. The CEV has well captured the sentiment of v.7b: “‘Let’s ask our gods to show us who caused all this trouble.’ It turned out to be Jonah.”
<sup>49</sup>tn Heb “On whose account this calamity is upon us.”
<sup>50</sup>tn Heb “the lot fell on Jonah.” From their questions posed to Jonah, it does not appear that the sailors immediately realize that Jonah was the one responsible for the storm. Instead, they seem to think that he is the one chosen by their gods to reveal to them the one responsible for their plight. It is only after he admits that he was fleeing from the God whom he served in vv. 9-10 that they realize that Jonah was in fact the cause of their trouble.
<sup>51</sup>tn Heb “On whose account is this calamity upon us?”
<sup>52</sup>tn Heb “And from what people are you?”
sn Whose fault…What’s…Where…What’s… The questions delivered in rapid succession in this verse indicate the sailors’ urgency to learn quickly the reason for the unusual storm.
<sup>53</sup>tn Or “fear.” The verb ar}y` (yare’) has a broad range of meanings, including “to fear, to worship, to revere, to respect” (BDB 431 s.v. ar}y`). When God is the object, it normally means “to fear” (leading to obedience; BDB 431 s.v. 1) or “to worship” (= to stand in awe of; BDB 431 s.v. 2). Because the fear of God leads to wisdom and obedience, that is probably not the sense here. Instead Jonah professes to be a loyal Yahwist—in contrast to the pagan Phoenician sailors who worshiped false gods, he worshiped the one true God. Unfortunately his worship of YHWH lacked the necessary moral prerequisite.
<sup>54</sup>tn Heb “The Lord, the God of heaven, I fear.” The Hebrew word order is unusual. Normally the verb appears first, but here the direct object “the Lord, the God of heaven” precedes the verb. Jonah emphasizes the object of his worship. In contrast to the Phoenician sailors who worship pagan polytheistic gods, Jonah took pride in his theological orthodoxy. Ironically, his “fear” of YHWH in this case was limited to this profession of theological orthodoxy because his actions betrayed his refusal to truly “fear” God by obeying him.
sn The word fear appears in v. 5, here in v. 9, and later in vv. 10 and 16. Except for this use in v. 9, every other use describes the sailors’ response (emotional fear prompting physical actions) to the storm or to YHWH. By contrast, Jonah claims to fear God but his attitude and actions do not reflect this. It is clear that Jonah does not “fear” in the same way that they do.
<sup>55</sup>tn Heb “the God of the heavens.” The noun <y]m^v* (shamayim, “heavens”) always appears in the dual form. Although the dual form sometimes refers to things that exist in pairs, the dual is often used to refer to geographical locations, e.g., <y]l^v*Wry+ (y<sup>e</sup>rushalayim, “Jerusalem”), <y]r~p=a# (’efrayim, “Ephraim”), and <y]r~x=m! (mitsrayim, “Egypt,” but see IBHS 118 §7.3d). The dual form of <y]m^v* does not refer to two different kinds of heavens or to two levels of heaven; it simply refers to “heaven” as a location—the dwelling place of God. Jonah’s point is that he worships the High God of heaven—the one enthroned over all creation.
<sup>56</sup>tn Heb “Then the men feared…” The vav-consecutive describes the consequence of Jonah’s statement. The phrase “Hearing this” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
<sup>57</sup>tn Heb “The men feared a great fear.” The cognate accusative construction using the verb ar}y` (yare’, “to fear”) and the noun ha*r+y] (yir’ah, “fear”) from the same root (ary, yr’) emphasizes the sailors’ escalating fright: “they became very afraid” (see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g).
⁵⁸tn Heb “fleeing.”
⁵⁹sn The first two times that Jonah is said to be running away from the Lord , Hebrew word order puts this phrase last. Now in the third occurrence , it comes emphatically before the verb that describes Jonah’s action. The sailors were even more afraid once they had heard who it was that Jonah had offended.
⁶⁰tn Heb “because he had told them.” The verb dyG!h! (higgid, “he had told”) functions as a past perfect, referring to a previous event.
⁶¹tn Heb “the sea was walking and storming.” The two participles ru@s)w+ El@oh (holekh v^eso’er, “walking and storming”) form an idiom that means “the storm was growing worse and worse.” When the participle El@oh precedes another participle with vav, it often denotes the idea of “growing, increasing” (BDB 233 s.v. El^h* 4.d; e.g., Exod 19:19; 1 Sam 2:26; 2 Sam 3:1; 15:12; 2 Chr 17:12; Esth 9:4; Prov 4:18; Eccl 1:6). For example, “the power of David grew stronger and stronger (qz@j*w+ El@h), holek v^ekhazeq; “was walking and becoming strong”), while the dynasty of Saul grew weaker and weaker (<yL!d^w+ <yk!l=h), hol^ekhim v^edallim; “was walking and becoming weak”)” (2 Sam 3:1; see IBHS 625-26 §37.6d).
⁶²tn The vav-consecutive prefixed to the imperfect/prefixed conjugation verb qT)v=y]w+ (v^eyishtoq, “to quiet”) denotes purpose/result (see IBHS 638-40 §38.3).
⁶³tn Heb “become quiet for us.”
⁶⁴tn Heb “quiet for you.”
⁶⁵sn The word translated row is used in Ezekiel to describe digging through a wall (Ezek 8:8; 12:5, 7, 12). Its use in Jonah pictures the sailors digging into the water as hard as they could.
⁶⁶sn The word for land here is associated with a Hebrew verb meaning “to be dry” and is the same noun used in v. 9 of dry ground in contrast with the sea, both made by the Lord (see also Gen 1:9-10; Exod 4:9; 14:16, 22, 29; Jonah 2:10).
⁶⁷tn Heb “but they were not able.” The phrase “to do it” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
⁶⁸tn Heb “the sea was walking and storming.” See the note on the same idiom in v. 11.
⁶⁹tn Heb “Do not put against us innocent blood,” that is, “Do not assign innocent blood to our account.” It seems that the sailors were afraid that they would die if they kept Jonah in the ship and also that they might be punished with death if they threw him overboard.
⁷⁰tn Pss 115:3 and 135:6 likewise use these verbs (Jp@j* and hc*u*, khafets and ’asah; “to delight” and “to do, make”) in speaking of the Lord as characteristically doing what he wishes to do.
⁷¹tn Heb “they feared the Lord with a great fear.” The root ary (yr’, “fear”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming a cognate accusative construction which is used for emphasis (see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g). The idea is that they greatly feared the Lord or were terrified of him.
⁷²tc The editors of BHS suggest that the direct object hw`hy+-ta# (’et-y<sup>e</sup>hvah, “the Lord”) might be a scribal addition, and that the original text simply read, “The men became greatly afraid…” However, there is no shred of external evidence to support this conjectural emendation. Admittedly, the apparent “conversion” of these Phoenician sailors to Yahwism is a surprising development. But two literary features support the Hebrew text as it stands. First, it is not altogether clear whether or not the sailors actually converted to faith in YHWH. They might have simply incorporated him into their polytheistic religion. Second, the narrator has taken pains to portray the pagan sailors as a literary foil to Jonah by contrasting Jonah’s hypocritical profession to fear YHWH (v. 9) with the sailors’ actions that reveal an authentic fear of God (v. 10, 14, 16).
<sup>73</sup>tn Heb “they vowed vows.” The root rdn (ndr, “vow”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming an emphatic effected accusative construction in which the verbal action produces the object specified by the accusative (see IBHS 166-67 §10.2.1f). Their act of vowing produced the vows. This construction is used to emphasize their earnestness and zeal in making vows to worship the God who had just spared their lives from certain death.
<sup>74</sup>tn Heb “they sacrificed sacrifices.” The root jbz (zbkh, “sacrifice”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming an emphatic effected accusative construction in which the verbal action produces the object (see IBHS 166-67 §10.2.1f). Their act of sacrificing would produce the sacrifices. It is likely that the two sets of effected accusative constructions here (“they vowed vows and sacrificed sacrifices”) form a hendiadys; the two phrases connote one idea: “they earnestly vowed to sacrifice lavishly.” It is unlikely that they offered animal sacrifices at this exact moment on the boat—they had already thrown their cargo overboard, presumably leaving no animals to sacrifice. Instead, they probably vowed that they would sacrifice to the Lord when—and if—they reached dry ground. Tg. Jonah 1:16 also takes this as a vow to sacrifice but for a different reason. According to Jewish tradition, the heathen are not allowed to make sacrifice to the God of Israel outside Jerusalem, so the Targum modified the text by making it a promise to sacrifice: “they promised to offer a sacrifice before the Lord and they made vows” (see B. Levine, The Aramaic Version of Jonah, 70; K. Cathcart and R. Gordon, The Targum of the Minor Prophets [ArBib], 14:106 n. 29).
<sup>75</sup>tn Heb “The men feared the Lord [with] a great fear, they sacrificed sacrifices, and they vowed vows” (cf. v. 10). By pairing verbs with related nouns as direct objects, the account draws attention to the sailors’ response and its thoroughness.
<sup>76</sup>sn Beginning with 1:17, the verse numbers through 2:10 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:17 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:10 ET = 2:11 HT.
<sup>77</sup>tn Or “appointed.” The Piel verb hN`m! (minnah) means “to send, to appoint” (Ps 61:8; Jonah 2:1; 4:6-8; Dan 1:5, 10-11; HALOT 599 s.v. hnm 2; BDB 584 s.v. hn`m*). Joyce Baldwin notes, “Here, with YHWH as the subject, the verb stresses God’s sovereign rule over events for the accomplishment of his purpose (as in 4:6-8, where the verb recurs in each verse). The ‘great fish’ is in exactly the right place at the right time by God’s command, in order to swallow Jonah and enclose him safely” (Joyce Baldwin, “Jonah,” The Minor Prophets, 2:566).
⁷⁸tn Heb “great.”