Jonah 1:8

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? THEN SAID THEY UNTO HIM, TELL US, WE PRAY THEE, FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL IS UPON US? ... OF WHAT PEOPLE ART THOU? - "For whose cause?" literally, 'For what to whom?' - i:e., For what evil? and done to whom? Their questions must have stung Jonah to the quick: "What is thine occupation?" A prophet, yet a runaway! 'Whence comest thou? what is thy people?' A fugitive from the country of God's people, to take my portion among pagan, not in order to convert them, but to avail myself of their help to flee from God. The guilty individual being discovered, is interrogated so as to make full confession with his own mouth. So in Achan's case ()....

After the lot fell on Jonah, they doubted not but that he was the guilty person, any more than if he had been a hundred times proved to be so: for why did they cast lots, except that they were persuaded that all doubt could thus be removed, and that what was hid could thus be brought to the light? As then this persuasion was fixed in their minds, that the truth was elicited, and was in a manner drawn out of darkness by the lot, they now inquire of Jonah what he had done: for they took this as allowed, that they had to endure the tempest on his account, and also, that he, by some detestable crime, had merited such a vengeance at Gods hand. We hence see that they cast lots, because they fully believed that they could not otherwise find out the crime on account of which they suffered, and also, that lots were directed by the hidden purpose of God: for how could a certain judgment be found b...

8-12 Jonah gave an account of his religion, for that was his business. We may hope that he told with sorrow and shame, justifying God, condemning himself, and explaining to the mariners what a great God Jehovah is. They said to him, Why hast thou done this? If thou fearest the God that made the sea and the dry land, why wast thou such a fool as to think thou couldst flee from his presence? If the professors of religion do wrong, they will hear it from those who make no such profession. When sin has raised a storm, and laid us under the tokens of God's displeasure, we must consider what is to be done to the sin that raised the storm. Jonah uses the language of true penitents, who desire that none but themselves may fare the worse for their sins and follies. Jonah sees this to be the punishment of his iniquity, he accepts it, and justifies God in it. When conscience is awakened, and a sto...

Verse 8. _TELL US - FOR WHOSE CAUSE_] A very gentle method of bringing the charge home to himself, and the several questions here asked gave the utmost latitude to make the best of his own case....

TELL US, FOR WHOSE CAUSE - Literally “for what to whom.” It may be that they thought that Jonah had been guilty toward some other. The lot had pointed him out. The mariners, still fearing to do wrong, ask him thronged questions, to know why the anger of God followed him; “what” hast thou done “to whom?” “what thine occupation?” i. e., either his ordinary occupation, whether it was displeasing to God? or this particular business in which he was engaged, and for which he had come on board. Questions so thronged have been admired in human poetry, Jerome says. For it is true to nature. They think that some one of them will draw forth the answer which they wish. It may be that they thought that his country, or people, or parents, were under the displeasure of God. But perhaps, more naturally, they wished to “know all about him,” as people say. These questions must have gone home to Jonah’s co...

EXPOSITION JONAH 1:1 Part I. THE MISSION OF JONAH. HIS DISOBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT. JONAH 1:1 § 1. _Jonah is sent to Nineveh to cry against it; but he tries to avoid the mission, and to this end takes ship to Tarshish._ JONAH 1:1 NOW; or, _and_. Some have argued from this commencement that the Book of Jonah is a fragment, the continuation of a larger work; but it is a common formulary, linking together revelations and histories, and is continually used in the Old Testament at the b

THEN THEY SAID UNTO HIM, TELL US, WE PRAY THEE,.... They did not fall upon him at once in an outrageous manner, and throw him overboard; as it might be thought such men would have done, considering what they had suffered and lost by means of him; but they use him with great respect, tenderness, and lenity: and entreat him to tell them FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL [WAS] UPON THEM: or rather, as the Targum, "for what this evil is upon us;'' and so Noldius f renders the words; for their inquiry was not about the person for whose cause it was; that was determined by the lot; but on what account it was; what sin it was he had been guilty of, which was the cause of it; for they supposed some great sin must be committed, that had brought down the vengeance of God in such a manner: WHAT [IS] THINE OCCUPATION? trade or business? this question they put, to know whether he had any, or was an idle...

Jonah 1:1. _Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD._ Observe the misconduct of the prophet Jonah. He had a plain command from the Lord, and he knew it to be a command; but he felt that the commission given to him would not be pleasant and honouring to himself, and therefore he declined to comply with it. We see, from his action, how some, who really know God, may act as if they knew him not. Jonah knew that God was everywhere, yet he «rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.» What strange inconsi

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 1 The Commission of the Prophet ,His Disobedience, and the Consequences _ 1. The commission (John 1:1) _ 2. The disobedience (John 1:3) 3. The consequences (John 1:4) John 1:1. The record begins with the same word with which all historical books in the Bible begin, like Joshua, judges, Ruth, Samuel, etc. The commission given to Jonah was to go to Nineveh, that great city, and to cry against it on account of its wickedness. Nineveh was the great capital of the Assyrian nation; it is mentioned for the first time in...

JONAH 1:1 TO JONAH 2:1; JONAH 2:10. JONAH VAINLY SEEKS TO EVADE THE MISSION TO WHICH GOD APPOINTS HIM. Jonah is bidden by Yahweh to proclaim judgment on Nineveh for its sin, but he hurries in the opposite direction, to Tarshish (p. 381). Why he refused to proclaim such congenial tidings appears only in the sequel (Jonah 4:2). In a very striking way the author indicates the intellectual limitation of Jonah's conception of Yahweh. He rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Three times the phrase occurs, and where every word is meant to tell, the repetition is significant. It is true that Jonah believes that Yahweh can destroy or save Nineveh, and h