Jonah’s flight (chaper one)

EXEGESIS VERSES 15 – 16:

JONAH TOSSING

~Y"ßh; dmoï[]Y:w: ~Y"+h;-la, WhluÞjiy>w: hn"ëAy-ta, ‘Waf.YIw: ^WTT Jonah 1:15

`AP*[.Z:mi

^NAS Jonah 1:15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. w + afn (waw - consec. + nasa- - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/pl; "So they lifted up") tae + hn"Ay (et - sign of d.o. + yonah - prop.n; "Jonah") w + lwj (waw - consec. + tul - v/Hiph/IPF/3/m/pl w/3/m/s/suff.; "and caused to cast him/hurl him") la, + h; + ~y" (el - prep. + d.a. + yam - n/comm/m/s/abso; "into the sea") w + dm[ (waw - consec. + -amad - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/s; "and it stood still/stopped") h; + ~y" (d.a. + yam - n/comm/m/s/abso; "the sea") !mi + @[z (min - prep. + za-aph - v/Qal/inf/constr. w/3/m/s/suff.; "from its storming/raging")
THE CREW’S SACRIFICE AND PROMISES

hw"+hy>-ta, hl'ÞAdg> ha'îr>yI ~yvi²n"a]h' Waôr>yYI)w: ^WTT Jonah 1:16

`~yrI)d"n> WrßD>YIw:) hw"ëhyl;( ‘xb;z<’-WxB.z>YI)w:
^NAS Jonah 1:16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. w + ary + h; + vyai + ha'r>yI + lAdG" + tae + hwhy (waw - cosec.. + yare- - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/pl; "then they feared" + d.a. + ish - n/com/m/pl/abso.; "the men" + yare- n/comm/f/s/abso. + gadol - adj/f/s/abso; "with great fear" + et - sign of d.o. + yahweh - prop.n; "the Lord"; hence; "then the men feared the Lord greatly") w + xbz + xb;z< (waw - consec. + zabach - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/pl; "and they sacrificed/slaughtered" + zebach - n/com/m/s/abso; "a sacrifice") l + hwhy (lamed - prep. + yahweh - prop./n; "to the Lord") w + rdn + rd,n< (waw - consec. + nadar - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/pl; "and made oaths/promises/vows" + neder - n/comm/m/pl/abso.; "of votive offerings"; the idea here is making vows of willful promises; to fulfill their promises)

ANALYSIS VERSES 15 – 16:

1. 
   The crew finally applies Jonah’s directive, “So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging”.
   
2. 
   The terms “picked up – nasa-” and “threw - tul” are the same as in Jonah’s orders in vs.12.
   
3. 
   The crew now illustrates in application that necessary to serve God.
   
4. 
   Our service to Him is to be directed towards His Person in submission/sacrifice to His will.
   
5. 
   Principle: BD without application is worthless. Cp.Jam.2:14,17,20
   
6. 
   Further, that Jonah is now offered up to God and sent to his grave typologically illustrates Christ placed on the cross at the hands of godless men. Cp.Act.2:23; 5:30; 10:39
   
7. 
   This answers as to why Jonah did not jump overboard himself and why the crew was so obligated per our notes in vss.11-12 (“to avoid suicide?).
   
8. 
   God is using Jonah to teach a greater spiritual lesson.
   
9. 
   That Jonah willingly submitted to the ordeal also typologically illustrates Christ’s conviction that sacrifice was the will of God for Him. Cp.Mat.26:39; Luk.22:42; Joh.6:38
   
10. 
    The verb “nasa/picked up” has the nuance “to bear” illustrating Christ bearing our sins on the cross. Cp.Isa.53:4
    
11. 
    He (both Jonah and Christ) were prepared to die in the interests of God’s plan.
    
12. 
    True to Jonah’s word, once he was tossed overboard, the sea became calm (vs.12).
    
13. 
    The Hebrew graphically pictures the sea “standing still”.
    
14. 
    The root of the verb “stopped - -amad” means “to remain stationary”. Cf.Jos.3:13,16: 10:13
    
15. 
    So suddenly did the wind and waves stop that it was obvious that the power of Jonah’s God, the Lord of the Hebrew race, had effected it.
    
16. 
    The waw consecutive attached to the verb “stopped” further grammatically implies a rapid event in the continuous sequence of the sentence structure.
    
17. 
    This miracle was comparable to Jesus’ calming of the wind and sea. Mat.8:24-27
    
18. 
    As the result of all that had transpired, “Then the men feared the Lord greatly”.
    
19. 
    Again the Hebrew is graphic as to their fear and would be rendered, “Then the men feared with great fear, Yahweh”.
    
20. 
    For the first time, this rough crew of sailors went from sin fear to a righteous fear.
    
21. 
    To “fear the Lord greatly” indicates that now they revered Yahweh as the Sovereign over creation.
    
22. 
    They worshipped (acknowledged in truth) Him as such.
    
23. 
    To fear God may indicate a believer (cp. vs.9; 1Kgs.18:3,12 [Obadiah]); etc.) or may simply refer to paying homage to God in a form of worship (cp.2Kgs.17:32,33,41 [pagan nations]).
    
24. 
    There is no direct proof that these men became believers at this time.
    
25. 
    However, fear of God is the beginning for understanding the truth (Pro.1:7) and opens the doors for application to the adjustments of God (cp.Act.10:34-35).
    
26. 
    Only eternity will tell whom on that ship followed through by believing in the Lord for salvation.
    
27. 
    They had incontrovertible proof of the God of Gods and Lord of lords.
    
28. 
    They were greatly favored, but now extremely culpable.
    
29. 
    At least for the time, they had become God-fearers.
    
30. 
    Their volition has been ignited to produce the insight to direct them as potential seekers.
    
31. 
    This is further evidenced in the final clause of vs.16, “and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows”.
    
32. 
    The offering of sacrifice literally in the Hebrew indicates they “slaughtered an animal for sacrifice (xb;z" xb;z< - zabach [verb]– zebach [noun]). Cp.Gen.46:1 (same construct)
    
33. 
    While the crew had thrown over their precious cargo (vs.5), they obviously retained that necessary for food.
    
34. 
    While sacrifice was a common ritual even among pagan religions, here it is directed to Yahweh.
    
35. 
    While it obviously indicates their thankfulness to God (cp.Psa.50:23), it infers they now recognize that sacrifice is of importance to God for deliverance from His wrath.
    
36. 
    As their throwing of Jonah overboard so evidenced.
    
37. 
    The final phrase “made vows” is literally in the Hebrew “ rd;n" rd,n< - nadar [verb] neder [noun]” meaning making promises (vows) to freely keep the things vowed.
    
38. 
    The noun “neder” looks to votive or freewill offerings. Lev.7:16; 22:18; 23:38; etc.
    
39. 
    In other words, the sailors pledged to God to continue to pursue of their own choice that which would be acceptable to Him.
    
40. 
    Their vows were the giving of their word that they would continue to seek out this God of the Hebrews for future enlightenment as to His Person and plan.
    
41. 
    This is the very least they could do for the God who spared their lives.
    
42. 
    Obviously, Jonah was not present when the crew did these things.
    
43. 
    It’s a safe bet that he was already in the belly of the great fish totally oblivious to what was going on above the surface of the Med.
    
44. 
    He simply fills in this fact under the inspiration of the H.S. while penning the book.
    
45. 
    Review Doctrine of Fear.
    

JONAH’S ORDEAL WITH THE GREAT FISH

1:17 – 2:10
JONAH SWALLOWED WHOLE

EXEGESIS VERSE 17:

‘hn"Ay yhiÛy>w: hn"+Ay-ta, [:l{ßb.li lAdêG" gD"ä ‘hw"hy> !m:Üy>w: ^WTT Jonah 2:1

`tAl)yle hv'îl{v.W ~ymiÞy" hv'îl{v. gD"êh; y[eäm.Bi

^NAS Jonah 1:17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. w + hnm + hwhy (waw - consec. + manah - v/Piel/IPF/3/m/s; "and He counted/appointed"; see Dan.1:5; Jon4:6,7,8 for use of the same form; + Yahweh - n/proper) gD' + lAdG" (dag - n/comm/m/s/abso.; "a fish" + gadol - adj./m/s/abso.; "a great") l + [lb + tae + hn"Ay (lamed - prep. + bala- v/Qal/inf./constr.; "to swallow" + et - sign of d.o. + yonah - n/proper) w + hyh + hn"Ay (waw - consec. + hayah - v/Qal/IPF/3/m/s; "and he was/became/existed" + yonah - n/proper) B + h[,me/ + h; + gD' (bet - prep. + me-eh - n/comm/m/pl/constr.; "in the inward parts of/stomach of" + d.a. + dag - n/comm/m/s/abso.; "the fish") vl{v' + ~Ay + w + vl{v' + hl'y>l; (shalosh - adj./m/s/abso.; "three" + yom - n/comm/m/pl/abso.; "days" + waw - conj. + shalosh - adj./m/s/abso.; + layelah - n/comm/m/pl/abso.; "three nights")

ANALYSIS VERSES 17:

1. 
   As noted in the introduction, Jon.1:17 begins a new paragraph in the Biblia Hebraica (Masoretic) text (^WTT Jonah 2:1).
   
2. 
   The paragraph concludes in Jon.2:10 (NAS) consolidating in thought Jonah’s entire experience with the great fish as a unit.
   
3. 
   It is the “book end” verses of 1:17 and 2:10 that Christ connects with in the Gospels. Mat.12:39-41; 16:4; Luk.11:29-30
   
4. 
   While Christ references vs.17 in Mat.12:40, Jon.2:10 is further implied pointing to His deliverance and subsequent ministry to Nineveh (cp.Mat.12:41 cf.Luk.11:30).
   
5. 
   In other words, Christ not only parallels Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish, but his subsequent deliverance.
   
6. 
   Jesus assumes His Jewish audience being familiar with Jonah’s complete experience as the book was read every year on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
   
7. 
   Christ draws upon Jonah’s experience as a type and sign to Israel.
   
8. 
   Typology is the interpretation of OT events, people or things serving as a copy or shadow of NT or future reality. Cp.Col.2:16-17; Heb.8:4-5; 10:1
   
9. 
   The type is cast not as an exact duplicate, but for prophetic similarities without regard to their history.
   
10. 
    A sign (Grk – shmei/on/semeion) indicates a marker pointing to something of greater significance. Cf.Mat.12:41c
    
11. 
    As noted in the notes of vss.13-14, Jonah sets the stage as a type of Christ when he freely offers himself for sacrifice by the crew.
    
12. 
    Vs.17 now provides the premise (experience) for which Jonah fulfills the typology of which Christ draws upon as a sign to Israel in the Gospels.
    
13. 
    In other words, Jonah is a type of Christ and his full experience parallels the sign that Christ’s personal experience represents.
    
14. 
    While a judgment of death was expected from all aboard, God intercedes once again, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah”.
    
15. 
    The verb “appointed” is the Hebrew “manah” literally meaning “to count”.
    
16. 
    However, in the piel stem as used here, it is used 4 other times all translated to “appoint” as synonymous to “assign, choose or designate”. Dan.1:5; Jon.4:6,7,8
    
17. 
    Dan.1:5 provides the clearest sense of “appointed” that indicates choosing from an existing pool of resources.
    
18. 
    What the Lord appointed on behalf of Jonah was a great fish from the resources of aquatic creatures available in the Med.
    
19. 
    This in lieu of God supernaturally creating this fish for the occasion.
    
20. 
    There is no indication as to what species of fish was used although much speculation exists (whale, whale or white shark, giant grouper, etc.).
    
21. 
    In Mat.12:40 it is called a “sea monster” (Grk – kh/toj/ketos; “huge fish”).
    
22. 
    What we can discern is that whatever fish God used consumed its prey whole rather than crushing or chewing.
    
23. 
    Otherwise, it is useless to speculate further.
    
24. 
    Jonah survives the ingestion, “and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights”.
    
25. 
    That Jonah was able to stay alive in the fish’s stomach indicates the availability of oxygen necessary to facilitate Jonah’s need to breath.
    
26. 
    This would lend support of aquatic life that continually surfaces, such as a whale, though another species is still possible.
    
27. 
    Modern parallels to Jonah’s experience are recorded.
    
28. 
    One individual, Marshall Jenkins, was swallowed by a Sperm Whale in the South Seas while on a whaling vessel that struck the whale and after biting one of the boats in two, it took Jenkins in its mouth and went under water with him. After returning to the surface the whale vomited him on to the wreckage of the broken boat, “much bruised but not seriously injured”. ¹www.grmi.org/renewal/Richard_Riss/evidences/8jonah.html
    
29. 
    Sperm whales can swallow lumps of food eight feet in diameter. Entire skeletons of sharks up to sixteen feet in length have been found in them. In February of 1891, James Bartley, a sailor aboard the whaling ship "Star of the East," was swallowed by a whale in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. He was within the whale for more than forty-eight hours, and after he was found inside the whale, which had been harpooned and brought aboard the whaling ship, it took him two weeks to recover from the ordeal. Sir Francis Fox wrote as follows about this:
    

“Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not from lack of air. He remembers the sensation of being thrown out of the boat into the sea. . . . He was then encompassed by a great darkness and he felt he was slipping along a smooth passage of some sort that seemed to move and carry him forward. The sensation lasted but a short time and then he realized he had more room. He felt about him and his hands came in contact with a yielding slimy substance that seemed to shrink from his touch. It finally dawned upon him that he had been swallowed by the whale . . . he could easily breathe; but the heat was terrible. It was not of a scorching, stifling nature, but it seemed to open the pores of his skin and draw out his vitality. . . . His skin where it was exposed to the action of the gastric juice . . . face, neck and hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness and took on the appearance of parchment . . . (and) never recovered its natural appearance . . . (though otherwise) his health did not seem affected by his terrible experience”. ¹ibid

30. 
    Despite anti-supernaturalistic bias from liberal critics, Jonah’s experience with the great fish is not inconsistent with enlightened faith.
    
31. 
    It is no more incredible than many other miracles recorded in the Bible, particularly the bodily resurrection of Jesus with which it was connected by Christ Himself. Mat.12:39-40
    
32. 
    The expression “three days and three nights” does not necessitate a full 72 hours.
    
33. 
    The Jews reckoned any part of a day or night as a whole.
    
34. 
    As Jonah’s body (and soul) was in the fish’s stomach, he is a type of Christ that spent parts of 3 days and nights “in the heart of the earth”. Mat.12:40c
    
35. 
    The difference between Jonah and Christ is that Jonah’s situation was continuous while Jesus’ wasn’t.
    
36. 
    Christ died late on Friday and His soul went into Sheol Paradise (“heart of the earth”) for the remainder of that day, Friday night, Saturday day and night and Sunday morning.
    
37. 
    But this only accounts for three days and two nights.
    
38. 
    Repeatedly Christ said that His body would be raised on the 3^rd day. Mat.16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Luk.18:31-34; 24:7,46 cp.Mat.27:64; Luk.24:21; Act.10:40
    
39. 
    The 3 days looks to Christ’s death burial and resurrection.
    
40. 
    However, what about the 3^rd night?
    
41. 
    On resurrection Sunday, Christ appeared shortly to the two Mary’s and other women (Mat.28:1; Luk.24:10), the 2 on the Emmaus road (Mar.16:12-13; Luk.24:13ff) and the twelve, (Joh.20:19-23), but had not yet ascended into the 3^rd heaven (Joh.20:11-18 esp.vs.17).
    
42. 
    After 6 PM resurrection Sunday, Christ then returned to Paradise (the 3^rd night) to transfer all OT saints to the 3^rd heaven.
    
43. 
    This was His first ascension. Cp.Eph.4:8-9
    
44. 
    Christ was received by the Father in coronation as the King of kings. Cp.Psa.2:7-9
    
45. 
    Still, His ascension was not complete or static (fixed) as He returned to earth in witness over a period of 40 days. Cp.Act.1:3
    
46. 
    His final ascension was visibly evidenced by the Apostles and Christ was then seated at the right hand of the Father, as He is today. Act.1:9-11; Heb.1:13 cf.Psa.110:1
    
47. 
    It is the totality of the 3 days and nights that points to Jonah’s experience as the “sign” of Christ given the Jews.
    
48. 
    Contrary to the general view that Jonah is a type of Christ limited to His resurrection (which is included), the typology has farther reaching effects.
    
49. 
    This in focus on His ascension that when completed would initiate the removal of dispensational custodialship from Israel giving it to another nation (the Church). Cp.Mat.21:43 cp.Act.2 (Day of Pentecost)
    
50. 
    Christ’s complete experience of facing the cross is related to in terms of “ascension”. Luk.9:51
    
51. 
    Jonah as a type singularly looks to Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and ascension.
    
52. 
    His ascension as a sign to Israel is two-fold: Cp.Act.2:32-36
    
    1. 
       Evidence of Messianic claim validated in His glorified ascension to the right hand of the Father.
       
    2. 
       Evidence of judgment against Israel for unbelief parenthetically removing their dispensational status.
       
53. 
    After the great fish vomits Jonah onto land (Jon.2:10), Jonah will fulfill his ministry to Nineveh (Jon.3) completing the typological experience as a sign to Israel.
    

Lake Erie Bible Church

P-T Ken Reed