Jonah 1:4

4 Forsooth the Lord sent a great wind into the sea, and a great tempest was made in the sea, and the ship was in peril for to be all-broken.

Jonah 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jonah 1:4

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 F23 signifies, into the sea: "into that sea" F24; 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: this here was sent in pursuit of Jonah, to stop him in his voyage, when he thought he had got clear off, and was safe enough. The Jews say F25 this was done when he had been one day's voyage: and there was a great tempest in the sea;
which caused the waves to rise and roar, and become very tumultuous: this wind was an extraordinary one, like that "laelaps" or storm of wind which came down into the sea when the disciples of Christ were on it in a ship; or like the "Euroclydon", in which the Apostle Paul was, ( Acts 27:14 ) ; so that the ship was like to be broken;
it was in danger of it; it seemed as if it would, the waves of the sea were so strong, and beat so hard upon it. It is in the original text, "the ship thought [it should be] broken" F26; that is, the men in it; they that had the management of it thought nothing less but that it would be dashed to pieces, and all their goods and lives lost; so great was the hurricane occasioned by the wind the Lord sent. It may be rendered, "that ship F1 was like" The Jews F2 have a notion that other ships passed to and fro in great tranquillity, and this only was in distress.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (lyjh) "projecit", Mercerus, Drusius; "conjecit", Cocceius.
F24 (Myb) "in mare illud", Mercerus.
F25 Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 1.
F26 (hbvx) "putabat", Montanus; "cogitavit", Vatablus, Burkius; "cogitabat", Drusius, Cocceius.
F1 (hynah) "navem iliam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F2 Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 1. So Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana in loc.

Jonah 1:4 In-Context

2 Rise thou, and go into Nineveh, the great city, and preach thou therein, for the malice thereof goeth up before me. (Rise thou up, and go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach thou there, for the malice of the people there goeth up before me.)
3 And Jonah rose for to flee into Tarshish, from the face of the Lord. And he came down to Joppa, and found a ship going into Tarshish, and he gave ship-hire to them; and he went down into it, for to go with them into Tarshish, from the face of the Lord. (But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish, away from the Lord. And he came down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish, and he bought passage with them; and he went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.)
4 Forsooth the Lord sent a great wind into the sea, and a great tempest was made in the sea, and the ship was in peril for to be all-broken.
5 And shipmen dreaded, and men cried to their god; and sent vessels, that were in the ship, into the sea, that it were made lighter of them. And Jonah went down into the inner things of the ship, and slept by a grievous sleep. (And the shipmen feared, and the men cried out to their god; and they sent vessels, or equipment, and other things, that were on the ship, into the sea, so that it was made lighter. And Jonah was down in the hold of the ship, and slept a troubled sleep.)
6 And the governor came to him, and said to him, Why art thou cast down in sleep? rise thou, call thy God to help, if peradventure God again-think of us, and we perish not. (And the captain came down to him, and said, Why art thou sleeping? rise thou up, call thy God to help us, and perhaps your God shall remember us, and then we shall not perish.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.