Jonah 1.4-The Lord Responds To Jonah's Disobedience By Hurling A Powerful Wind On The Sea That Threatens To Break Up The Ship
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 14, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 1:4-The Lord Responds To Jonah’s Disobedience By Hurling A Powerful Wind On The Sea That Threatens To Break Up The Ship
Lesson # 8
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.
Last week we noted Jonah 1:1-3, which records the first of seven scenes in the book of Jonah.
This passage records Jonah disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants because of their wickedness.
This evening we will begin to study the second scene in the book of Jonah that appears in Jonah 1:4-16.
Jonah 1:4 records the Lord responding to Jonah’s disobedience by hurling a powerful wind on the sea that threatened to break up the ship.
Jonah 1:1, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, ‘How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’ 7 Each man said to his mate, ‘Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.’ So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ 9 He said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.’ 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, ‘How could you do this?’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, ‘What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?’—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.’ 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, ‘We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.’ 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
Let’s look at verse 4 in detail.
Jonah 1:4, “The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.”
Jonah 1:4 is a waw disjunctive construction emphasizing a contrast between Jonah’s actions and Yahweh’s.
“The Lord” is the masculine singular proper noun Yahweh (יהוה) (yeh-ho-vaw), which is the covenant-keeping personal name of God used in connection with man’s salvation.
Here in Jonah 1:4, it is emphasizing that Jonah was rejecting God’s sovereign authority over him and rejecting the personal relationship that Jonah had with God.
It also reminds the reader of the “immanency” of God meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men.
Thus, it reminds the reader of the foolishness of Jonah in that he is attempting to flee from the presence of God who is sovereign over and transcendent of His creation and creatures.
It emphasizes God is intervening in the life of Jonah and is concerning Himself with the runaway prophet.
“Hurled” is the third person masculine singular hiphil active suffixed perfect form of the verb ṭûl (טוּל) (tool), which is used of the Lord “hurling” a great wind on the Mediterranean ocean in an effort by Him to turn Jonah around and have the runaway prophet go in the direction of Nineveh.
This verb in Jonah 1:4 emphasizes with the reader the Lord’s sovereign control over His creation and His omnipotence over creation.
“A great wind” is composed of the feminine singular form of the noun rûaḥ (רוּחַ) (roo-akh), “a wind” and the feminine singular form of the adjective gadhol (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “great.”
The noun rûaḥ means “wind” and the adjective gadhol means “great” describing the intensity or the intense power of this wind that the Lord cause to be hurled upon the Mediterranean Sea.
“On the sea” is composed of the preposition al (אַל) (al), “on” and the articular masculine singular form of the noun yām (יָם) (yawm), “the sea.”
The noun yām means “sea” and refers to the Mediterranean and is the object of the preposition al, which is used with the verb ṭûl, which expresses motion that is of a hostile nature and means “against” indicating that the Lord caused a great wind to be hurled against the sea, which resulted in a great storm at sea.
“A great storm” is composed of the masculine singular form of the noun sǎ∙ʿǎr (סַעַר) (saw-ar), “a storm” and the feminine singular form of the adjective gadhol (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “great.”
The noun sǎ∙ʿǎr refers to a “heavy gale, a storm,” i.e. a meteorological phenomenon with a rapid focus on rapid movement of air blowing (or swirling) in the storm involving rain and maybe lightening with emphasis upon its destructive force and the adjective gadhol emphasizes the intensity of this storm.
The Lord’s control of wind and sea is a theme expressed often in the Old Testament (e.g., Exodus 10:13–19; 14–15; Numbers 11:31; Job 26:12; Psalm 89:9; 135:7; Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 49:32–36; Amos 4:13; Nahum 1:4; cf. Mark 4:37–39).
“So that” is the conjunction the wa (וָ) (wa), which is employed with the third person feminine singular piel active suffixed perfect form of the verb ḥā∙šǎḇ (חָשַׁב) (khaw-shab), “was about.”
These two words form a waw-disjunctive clause at the end of Jonah 1:4 emphasizing the attitude of the ship’s captain and crew, which stands in mark contrast to the Jonah who is fast asleep.
“The ship” is the articular feminine singular for the noun ǒniy∙yā(h) (אֳנִיָּה) (on-ee-yaw), which denotes a merchant ship bound for Tarshish and specifically its captain and crew whose services Jonah paid for.
It contains the figure of metonymy where the ship is put for its captain and crew.
“Was about” is the third person feminine singular piel active suffixed perfect form of the verb ḥā∙šǎḇ (חָשַׁב) (khaw-shab), which in the piel stem means “to consider” and is used of the captain and its crew indicating that it was the captain and its crew who “considered” that this ship would be broken to pieces.
Many commentators contend that this verb is personifying the ship indicating that the ship seriously considered that it would break up due to the great storm caused by the Lord.
This personification of the verb emphasizes also the intensity of the storm and is used to set up a contrast with Jonah’s attitude toward the storm.
However, as we noted in verse 3, Jonah paid for the services of the ship’s captain and crew.
Also, in Jonah 1:5, the crew became very afraid because of the intensity of the storm.
Therefore, the context indicates that the ship’s crew and captain were the ones who considered that the ship would be broken to pieces by the great storm caused by the Lord.
Jonah 1:4 stresses with the reader that the Lord is also sovereign over the life of Jonah and will exercise that sovereignty and omnipotence to change the prophet’s mind about obeying His command to go to the great city of Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.
This scene that ends in verse 16 emphasizes the providence of God, which expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God.
The providence of God emphasizes that God is in control of Jonah’s life and the life of the heathen crew and controls the circumstances of our lives, right down to the weather.