Jonah 1:1

Jonah 1:1-3. Jonah's Disobedience

1. Now the word, &c. Lit., "And the word," &c. There is no reason to conclude from this that the Book of Jonah is only a fragment of a larger work. Many books of the Old Testament begin with "And." In some cases (e. g. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 2 Samuel) they do so, because the writer wishes to mark the fact that the book so commencing is a continuation, a second or third volume so to speak, of what he has written before. In other cases, as here and in Ezekiel 1:1, the author begins his work with the words, "And it was," "And it came to pass," because, though he may have written nothing before himself, yet there is a reference in his own mindto the national records that had gone before, and he consciously takes up the thread of past history. See Maurer on Ezekiel 1:1.