Jonah 1.11-12-The Crew Asks Jonah For A Solution To The Problem And He Tells Them To Throw Him Overboard
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday September 29, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 1:11-12-The Crew Asks Jonah For A Solution To The Problem And He Tells Them To Throw Him Overboard
Lesson # 17
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1:1.
This evening we will note Jonah 1:11-12 and in this passage, the crew in desperation asks Jonah what they should do on behalf of him to make the sea calm and he responds by telling them to throw him overboard.
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.’” (NASU)
“What should we do to you?” is composed of the interrogative pronoun mā(h) (מָה) (maw), “what” and the first person plural masculine singular qal active perfect form of the verb ʿā∙śā(h) (עָשָׂה) (aw-saw), “should we do” and the preposition le (לְ) (le), “to” and the second person masculine singular form of the pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙tā(h) (אַתָּה) (aw-thaw), “you.”
The interrogative pronoun mā(h) is a marker of a direct question and means “what” referring to a specific action that the crew must do on behalf of Jonah to end this great storm.
The verb ʿā∙śā(h) means “should we do” and refers to a course of action that the crew must perform on behalf of Jonah.
The pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙tā(h) refers of course to Jonah as the receiver and beneficiary of the action.
It is the object of the preposition le, which functions as a marker persons benefited by an event indicating that the crew is asking what specific course of action they must take “on behalf of” him and “for the benefit of” him that will bring the great storm to an end.
Now that the crew knows that Jonah’s disobedience to his god was the cause of the great tempest that was pounding the ship and that his god caused this disaster, they ask him for a solution.
The pagan crew does not worship Yahweh like Jonah and they would have no clue as to what course of action they must take to appease his god.
Since Jonah worships Yahweh, only he would know what to do in this situation.
As Stuart quips, “Jonah is both the guilty party and the expert here.”
Now some contend that the crew is asking if there is something that they could do “to” Jonah in the form of punishment.
This is unlikely since verses 12-16 record the crew’s great anxiety in fulfilling Jonah’s request to throw him overboard thus indicating they had no desire to cause him any physical harm.
Rather the crew is asking what they could do “on behalf of” Jonah in the form of assisting him in presenting a suitable or acceptable sacrifice to Yahweh in order to appease Him and bring an end to the storm.
“For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy” gives the reason why the crew asked Jonah if there was any thing that they could do on behalf of him in the form of assisting him in finding or providing a suitable and acceptable sacrifice to Yahweh, which would bring an end to the storm.
Jonah 1:12, “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.’” (NASU)
“For I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you” presents the reason why Jonah is commanding the crew to pick him up and throw him into the sea in order that the sea will become calm on account of and on behalf of the crew and its captain.
“I know” is composed of the first person singular form of the pronoun ʾānˊ∙ḵî (אָנׄכִי) (aw-no-kee), “I” and the masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) (יָרֵא) (yaw-ray), “know.”
The pronoun ʾānˊ∙ḵî expresses Jonah’s deep self-consciousness of guilt that he alone was responsible for the great storm that was threatening the lives of everyone on the ship.
The verb yā∙rē(ʾ) means “to recognize” indicating that Jonah “recognized” that the dire circumstances that the ship and its crew and Jonah found themselves in were due to his disobedience to the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.
By no means should Jonah’s willingness to die be considered as gallant or virtuous since he repeatedly prays that God would kill him after going to Nineveh (See Jonah 4:3).
Rather, his willingness to die should be interpreted as a recognition of his guilt before God.
It is also clear that his willingness to die here is an attempt by him to avoid going to Nineveh since he again wishes to die after the Ninevites repented in response to his message of judgment against it.
He has no concern for the crew since he wants to die to avoid going to Nineveh.
He is willing to die so that he can get out of going to Nineveh.
He’d rather drown than become a missionary to Nineveh.
Jonah is in effect forcing God’s hand, which is of course impossible to do.
Again this is clearly indicated by Jonah 4:3 and also supported by the fact that he makes no attempt to pray for the end of the storm.
The prophet’s willingness to die implies that Jonah clearly understands and is fully aware that he is under discipline and that death is a just penalty that he deserves.
However, Jonah forgets that God will treat him like the Ninevites and relent from killing him if he repents.
The purpose for which the Lord brought a great storm against the ship carrying Jonah was to prompt the prophet to go and carry out his prophetic assignment.
The Lord does not want Jonah to die or the crew.
In fact, he uses the storm not only to get Jonah to obey him but also to save the crew and become worshipers of Himself.
Jonah 1:4-12 reveals that the heathen crew has more regard for their own lives and the life of Jonah as is demonstrated in verses 13-14.
However, the prophet of God, Jonah has no regard for his own life and the lives of those on board the ship with him.
Jonah is a terrible witness and ambassador for the Lord.
1 Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, 12 and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.” (NET Bible)
Jonah has no compassion for the pagans as demonstrated by his conduct on the ship and his refusal to go to Nineveh.
However, the heathen crew demonstrates compassion for Jonah.
They demonstrate they possess a moral conscience and Jonah reveals he has none.
The heathen crew has respect for Yahweh, “the Lord” but Jonah demonstrates no respect for Him.
Interestingly, Jonah does not jump into the ocean on his own but solicits the crew’s help.
Bob Deffinbaugh answers this question, he writes, “Why did Jonah not just jump into the sea? It seems as though the sailors had to act in obedience to God’s directive through Jonah. Casting him into the sea would surely have meant death to Jonah. Just as the Israelites had to be the instruments of the death of a sinner against God (cf. Lev. 24:10 16).” (The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah; page 5)