Jonah 1:14-16

The openness of these heathens to religious impressions; the readiness with which they acknowledged Jehovah (hitherto to them an unknown God), and addressed no longer to their own gods (Jonah 1:5), but to Him their most earnest and humble prayers; their submission to His will (Jonah 1:14), and the worship which they subsequently paid and promised Him (Jonah 1:15), are all brought out in bold relief, and in strong and (in pursuance of the object of this Book) intended contrast with the conduct of His own people Israel in turning from Him to idols. These heathens, too, reverence and would fain save from death a prophet of Jehovah who has come to them unbidden, and has well-nigh compassed their destruction; Jerusalem "killed the prophets and stoned them that were sent unto her" for her salvation. They shew the utmost tenderness for a single life; Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, is worse than regardless of "more than sixscore thousand" human souls.