JONAH 1:1 Jonah’s Commissioning and Flight. This episode records Jonah’s call to prophesy and his flight from that call. Two questions drive the plot: (1) What will happen to the Ninevites? and (2) What will happen to Jonah? ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len... [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:2 NINEVEH was on the east bank of the Tigris River, more than 500 miles (805 km) northeast of Israel. GREAT is used 14 times in Jonah. Nineveh was an important CITY (see Jonah 3:3). EVIL. The Ninevites were evil, and they were headed for disaster (see esv footnote). ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:3 TARSHISH was somewhere in the western Mediterranean—the opposite direction from Nineveh. FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD is repeated to emphasize Jonah’s reason for going to Tarshish. WENT DOWN is also a euphemism for death (e.g., Genesis 37:35). Each step away from the presenc... [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:4 Jonah and the Pagan Sailors. These verses tell of Jonah’s encounter with pagan sailors. It raises the question, Who truly fears the Lord—Jonah, or the pagans? At the beginning and end the sailors “fear” (vv. Jonah 1:5, Jonah 1:16); in the middle Jonah _claims_ to “fear” the L... [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:6 ARISE, CALL OUT echoes God’s command in v. Jonah 1:2. NOT PERISH. A pagan, not Jonah, is concerned that people not die. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:9 MADE THE SEA. God created the very seas Jonah tries to use to flee. Jonah knows now that he cannot escape God’s presence (v. Jonah 1:3). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:15 The sailors’ actions are in harmony with God’s. As God had HURLED the wind onto the SEA (vv. Jonah 1:4) to start the storm, the sailors now hurl JONAH 1:1 into the sea to stop the storm (v. Jonah 1:12). ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:16 FEARED THE LORD EXCEEDINGLY. What started as a general fear (v. Jonah 1:5) grew into an intense fear (v. Jonah 1:10) and matured into the fear—that is, the reverent worship—of the Lord (v. Jonah 1:16). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ [ Continue Reading ]
JONAH—NOTE ON JONAH 1:17 Jonah’s Grateful Prayer. Jonah’s prayer (Jonah 2:2) is framed by an introduction (Jonah 1:17) and a conclusion (Jonah 2:10). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.le [ Continue Reading ]