Jonah 1:7-10: Translation and Comments

Jonah 1:7-10

 

7 And they said, each man to his neighbour, “Come and let us cast lots and let us know on account of whom this disaster has come on us.” And they cast lots and the lot fell to Jonah. 

8 And they said to him, “Please tell to us on whose account for whom this disaster has come on us? What is your occupation and from where do you come? What is your land and from where are your people?”

9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew and YHWH God of the heavens I fear, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 And the men were afraid with a great fear and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from before YHWH for he had told it to them.

Comments

 

With the storm raging all around them, the sailors set about trying to discover the cause of the disaster. Praying to their various gods does not appear to have worked, so they set about trying to solve the problem themselves. Casting lots was a common practice in the ancient world and happens numerous times throughout the Bible (e.g. Lev 16:8-10; Num 26:55-56; 1 Sam 10:20-21). It was believed that casting lots would show the will of the gods (or God) due to its inherent randomness and the lack of control any person could have over the outcome. In this case they are hoping their deities will show them who has caused their present plight. Sailors are generally a very superstitious group, even today, due to the unforgiving nature of the sea. Therefore it should not be surprising that their response to the storm is to try and find out who caused it. If any god has been offended in some way, they need to know so they can placate them and thereby save the ship and themselves.

Similar scenarios are seen in Greek mythology. In one such story, the Greek fleet is preparing to depart for Troy to start the Trojan War. A strong wind blows in the wrong directing preventing them from leaving and risking damage to the ships. The king in charge, Agamemnon, has to sacrifice one of his daughters, Iphigenia, in order to placate the goddess Artemis, whom he has offended (various reasons are given depending on the source of the story). His wife never forgives him for this and ends up killing him when he returns, more than ten years later.

Similarly, in Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus offends Poseidon, the god of the sea, when he blinds his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, in order to save his men. Poseidon curses Odysseus to wander the seas for 10 years, during which he will lose all of his men. During his attempts to return home to Ithaca, he loses all ten ships, all his men and is ship wreaked several times. 

Anyway, back to Jonah. The soldiers cast lots and the lot falls to Jonah, who has come up from the bowels of the ship (where he was in 1:5). The sailors then set about interrogating him. The questions the sailors ask seem a little irrelevant considering the situation. Is it really necessary to talk about his occupation, where he comes from, his homeland and people in the middle of a storm threatening to sink the boat? In fact they are using these questions to determine the exact details of the offence Jonah has caused, which is tied to who he is and what he spends his time doing. They can then discover what they have to do in order to calm the storm. The more information they have about Jonah the better able they are to do this.

Verse 9 marks the first time that Jonah has spoken in the book so far, despite being very active in the story up until now. He responds to their questions in an unusual way, but one that also answers them. He tells them he is a Hebrew, identifying where he comes from, his land and his people all in one go. Considering that the ship left from Joppa, on the coast of Israel, the sailors would have known something about the Hebrews, so he doesn’t really need to say more. He fears YHWH, who he identifies as God of the heavens, linking YHWH with the source of the storm. God’s name, “YHWH,” and his title “God of the heavens” come before “I fear” in this sentence. Normally in Hebrew it would be place after “I fear,” but here Jonah is highlighting and emphasising who his God is. His identity is very important for understanding what is going on. For the first time elohim (god) is used of YHWH, unlike in 1:1-6 where it was used of the sailors gods. YHWH is also identified as the creator of the sea and dry land. Jonah is presenting YHWH as the all-powerful creator who has caused the storm, all in this short answer. He is also placing YHWH above all the gods that the sailors have prayed to for help, further explaining why the storm still rages despite their prayers.

The sailors realise the full extent of the situation they are in, because in verse 10 they are “afraid with a great fear.” In Hebrew repeating words can intensify their meaning. Both “afraid” and “fear” come from the same root (yrʾ) and indicate that the sailors are utterly terrified. Not only have their fears been confirmed that the storm is divinely ordained against Jonah, but it has been caused by the all-powerful creator God, YHWH. The final thing they need to know is exactly what Jonah has done to anger YHWH. Surprisingly it appears that Jonah has already told them that he is fleeing from God. They may have known that he was running from his god, but it would appear that he did not give them much more information concerning who this god was or how powerful he was; otherwise they would not be so afraid at this discovery.

In these four verses, Jonah has been identified as the cause of the storm by the ancient practice of casting lots. He has told the sailors he is a Hebrew who serves YHWH in response to their questioning him to find out what he has done to cause the storm. The sailors are terrified to learn that it is the creator of the world who is against them, which was something he has not told them before, even though he did tell them he was on the run from his god. The sailors now need to figure out what to do in order to calm the storm and appease YHWH.

The next section is Jonah 1:11-16.