Jonah 1:5

“Then the mariners were afraid, etc.] Perceiving that the storm was not an ordinary, but a supernatural one; and that the ship and all in it were in extreme danger, and no probability of being saved. This shows that the storm must be very violent, to frighten such men who were used to the sea, and to storms, and were naturally bold and intrepid. The word used signifies “salters”, so called from the salt sea they used, as they are by us “mariners”, from “mare”, the “sea”; though R. Japhet in Aben Ezra thinks the commodity they carried in their vessel was salt: and cried every man to his god: to help them, and save them out of their distress. In the ship it seems were men of different nations,…”

“mariners were afraid--though used to storms; the danger therefore must have been extreme. cried every man unto his god--The idols proved unable to save them, though each, according to PhÅ“nician custom, called on his tutelary god. But Jehovah proved able: and the heathen sailors owned it in the end by sacrificing to Him (). into the sides--that is, the interior recesses (compare ; , ). Those conscious of guilt shrink from the presence of their fellow man into concealment. fast asleep--Sleep is no necessary proof of innocence; it may be the fruit of carnal security and a seared conscience. How different was Jesus' sleep on the Sea of Galilee! (). Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts…”

“And cried, every man unto his God - They did what they could. “Not knowing the truth, they yet know of a Providence, and, amid religious error, know that there is an Object of reverence.” In ignorance they had received one who offended God. And now God, “whom they ignorantly worshiped” Acts 17:23, while they cried to the gods, who, they thought, disposed of them, heard them. They escaped with the loss of their wares, but God saved their lives and revealed Himself to them. God hears ignorant prayer, when ignorance is not willful and sin. To lighten it of them - , literally “to lighten from against them, to lighten” what was so much “against them,” what so oppressed them. “They thought that…”

“Into the sides - ln some cabin or other, whither he went before the storm arose. Jonah 1:6”

“1:5-6 Jonah’s ongoing sleep was perhaps induced by God to advance the crisis to a point where it was clear that the sailors’ gods could not help (1:6).”

“cried: Jon 1:6, Jon 1:14, Jon 1:16; Kg1 18:26; Isa 44:17-20, Isa 45:20; Jer 2:28; Hos 7:14 and cast: Job 2:4; Act 27:18, Act 27:19, Act 27:38; Phi 3:7, Phi 3:8 the sides: Sa1 24:3 and was: Jdg 16:19; Mat 25:5, Mat 26:40, Mat 26:41, Mat 26:43, Mat 26:45; Luk 22:45, Luk 22:46 Jonah 1:6”