Jonah 1:11-16: Translation and Comments

Jonah 1:11-16

 

11 And they said to him, “What shall we do to you so that the sea will quieten down from on us?” For the sea was growing and storming.

12 And he said to them, “Lift me up and throw me into the sea and the sea will quieten down from on you because I know that on account of me this great storm is upon you.”

13 And the men rowed to bring back to the dry land and they were not able to because the sea was growing and storming upon them. 14 And they called to YHWH and they said, “Please YHWH please do not let us perish by the life of this man and you must not put on us innocent blood, for you YHWH, as you pleased you have done.” 15 And they lifted Jonah up and threw him into the sea and the sea stood still from its rage. 16 And the men feared YHWH with a great fear and they sacrificed a sacrifice to YHWH and they vowed vows.

Comments

 

Having identified Jonah as the cause of the storm in 1:7 and learning that he caused it by fleeing from YHWH (1:9-10), the sailors ask Jonah what they should do in order to calm the storm. The description of the sea as “growing and storming” emphasises that the storm is getting worse and worse as time passes. Things are getting desperate for the sailors. 

So far all the insight into the situation has come from Jonah, so it is unsurprising that the sailors also expect him to know the solution. Also it is likely that they didn’t know what this god would require of them, whereas Jonah has identified himself as a follower of YHWH and should know what he will need to be placated. 

Verse 12 is the first occasion where Jonah admits that all of this is happening because of him. Previously he has only responded to the sailor’s questions. His solution is for them to throw him overboard. How he knew this would solve the problem is anyone’s guess. 

On the one hand, perhaps he knew it was best for the sailors if he wasn’t on the boat, and there was really nowhere else for him to go to be away from them other than the sea. He puts a lot of faith in God to save him when he makes this suggestion, as once overboard, he would be able to do nothing to save himself. The boat is probably a good way out from the nearest shore, perhaps much further than it should be because of the storm. And it is highly likely that Jonah could not swim. The Jews were notoriously afraid of water, as it symbolised chaos. They didn’t have a navy throughout most of their history, despite having a good stretch of coastline. 

On the other hand, it is also possible that he was simply resigning himself to his fate as he has been unable to escape from God. He wasn’t too keen to help the sailors by praying to his god in 1:6, so it is unlikely that his solution came out of compassion for the sailors. 

I am torn between these two possibilities. I would like this to be a demonstration of a sudden burst of faith and compassion from Jonah. But compassion is not something he demonstrates in the rest of the book. Also, in resigning himself to his fate he could have chosen to take the boat with him. So even if that is the case, he is saving the sailors by going overboard. Maybe it is a mix of the two. He is resigned to his fate and has to put his trust in God as his only chance of surviving the sea.

I can’t help but wonder why Jonah couldn’t leap overboard himself and why he needed the sailors to throw him. But then again, it would have taken a lot of courage to make that leap into the raging sea, and the sailors could just as easily be the instrument of God’s punishment in Jonah’s eyes.

The sailors, however, aren’t too keen on this idea. They don’t want to run the risk that YHWH, the powerful creator God who caused the storm, will blame them for drowning Jonah and make their situation worse. So instead of immediately chucking Jonah overboard, they try to row the back to dry land. But the rough sea makes this impossible. The Hebrew word for “row” (htr) literally translates as “to dig through,” really describing the effort the sailors put in to try and get back to land. 

When they realise this, they pray to YHWH that he will not hold them responsible for Jonah’s death when they throw him into the sea. Previously (1:5) they prayed to their various gods to save them, but since then they have come to realise the awesome power of God and now they address their prayers only to him. In the final statement of their prayer, “as you pleased you have done,” they establish God as having some of the guilt in this matter rather than them, as it was he who brought up the storm and put them in this situation. As they were not present when Jonah decided to disobey God and flee, they see themselves as unwitting players in a situation much larger than them, and on which they would have no influence. Their situation is now truly desperate.

After their prayer, the sailors do throw Jonah overboard and instantly the sea is calmed and the storm is over. Once again the sailors are terribly afraid due to the storm suddenly dying down. Throughout the story so far the sailors have been constantly afraid (1:5, 10) and who can blame them. Whereas previously they were simply “afraid with great fear” (1:10), here YHWH is the reason for their fear. They have been given a terrifying demonstration of God’s powers, as much in calming the storm as creating it. 

As a result they sacrifice sacrifices and vow vows in order to protect themselves from him. Whether they do this on the boat or when they return to land is not said. As they have already thrown the cargo overboard (1:5), it is unlikely that the sacrifice took place on the boat, as the probably had nothing left to sacrifice. What is likely is that from this point in their lives they had a great deal more respect for the power of YHWH than they did previously (which was very little as they hadn’t really heard of him). Whether any of them took this any further and became God-fearers is impossible to know. 

Jonah’s attempt to flee from God has ended in disaster for him and near disaster for the sailors. Jonah has now been cast into the Mediterranean and the boat has returned to land. Jonah is now alone in the sea with his God.

The sailors now vanish from the story, and the focus turns to Jonah in chapter 2. 

The next section is Jonah 2:1-5.