Jonah 1
Amplified Bible
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 Now the word of the Lord came to [a]Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go to [b]Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim [judgment] against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”(A) 3 But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to [c]Joppa and found a ship going to [d]Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.(B)
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind toward the sea, and there was a violent tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.(C) 5 Then the sailors were afraid, and each man cried out to his god; and to lighten the ship [and diminish the danger] they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship and had lain down and was sound asleep. 6 So the captain came up to him and said, “How can you stay asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will give a thought to us so that we will not perish.”
7 And they said to another, “Come, [e]let us cast lots, so we may learn who is to blame for this disaster.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Now tell us! [f]Who is to blame for this disaster? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, [g]who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, [h]because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming more and more violent. 12 Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard [breaking through the waves] to return to land, but they could not, because the sea became even more violent [surging higher] against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “Please, O Lord, do not let us perish because of taking this man’s life, and do not make us accountable for innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as You pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared (appointed, destined) a great [i]fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the stomach of the fish [j]three days and three nights.(D)
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:1 Jonah, the only prophet known to attempt to run away from a divinely appointed mission, lived during the time when Jeroboam II ruled Israel (the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom). He was from the town of Gath-Hepher in Galilee.
- Jonah 1:2 The city of Nineveh was the magnificent capital of the Assyrian Empire. The great palace of Sennacherib was without rival and contained seventy or more rooms. The city was home to more than 120,000 residents (at least twice the size of Babylon) and had no less than fifteen gates in the wall surrounding the city. During this period of time it was probably the largest city in the known world. Built near the juncture of the Tigris River and its tributary the Khoser, it was served by an elaborate water system of eighteen canals. Nineveh had many suburbs, three are mentioned along with Nineveh in Gen 10:11, 12. Nineveh’s extensive ruins are located near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.
- Jonah 1:3 The natural harbor of the city of Joppa (modern Jaffa, Israel) has been in use since the Bronze Age. It was the port of entry for the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon’s temple (2 Chr 2:16), and again for the second temple of Jerusalem (Ezra 3:7). It is located just south of Tel Aviv.
- Jonah 1:3 Possibly Tartessos in southwest Spain.
- Jonah 1:7 To these sailors, who undoubtedly believed in their own pagan gods, the casting of lots was a way to allow the gods to express themselves since only they could control how a lot fell. In this case, it is possible that God intervened to identify Jonah as the guilty party.
- Jonah 1:8 The questions asked indicate that the sailors were afraid of Jonah even before he confessed his worship of the Lord (v 9). The lot had already confirmed that he was responsible, but instead of acting on that they gave him the option of blaming someone else. The other questions are typical of what one would ask any stranger.
- Jonah 1:9 This was an important addition to Jonah’s description of God, because most people who believed in pagan gods had different deities for different regions of the created world, and often they also worshiped deities of their own localities. Jonah was affirming that there is only one true God.
- Jonah 1:10 Jonah probably had informed them when he first boarded (cf v 3) but they may not have taken him seriously, or perhaps they were just indifferent to his reason for the voyage. Now that they were in mortal danger, they believed him.
- Jonah 1:17 The ancient Hebrew term “fish” did not make a distinction between fish and marine mammals. There are no marine creatures known today which would be capable of swallowing a man, either because of their anatomy or because of their observed behavior. It is possible that the creature that swallowed Jonah has long since been extinct, or even that it was uniquely created by God for this one purpose.
- Jonah 1:17 Jesus cited Jonah’s experience as a sign of His resurrection (Matt 12:40).
Jona 1
Schlachter 2000
Jonas Ungehorsam und Flucht vor Gott
1 Und das Wort des Herrn erging an Jona, den Sohn Amittais, folgendermaßen:
2 Mache dich auf, geh nach Ninive[a], in die große Stadt, und verkündige[b] gegen sie; denn ihre Bosheit ist vor mein Angesicht heraufgekommen!
3 Da machte sich Jona auf, um von dem Angesicht des Herrn weg nach Tarsis zu fliehen; und er ging nach Japho[c] hinab und fand dort ein Schiff, das nach Tarsis fuhr. Da bezahlte er sein Fahrgeld und stieg ein, um mit ihnen nach Tarsis zu fahren, weg von dem Angesicht des Herrn.
4 Aber der Herr schleuderte einen starken Wind auf das Meer, sodass ein großer Sturm auf dem Meer entstand und das Schiff zu zerbrechen drohte.
5 Da fürchteten sich die Schiffsleute und schrien, jeder zu seinem Gott; und sie warfen die Geräte, die im Schiff waren, ins Meer, um es dadurch zu erleichtern. Jona aber war in den untersten Schiffsraum hinabgestiegen, hatte sich niedergelegt und war fest eingeschlafen.
6 Da trat der Schiffskapitän zu ihm und sprach: Was ist mit dir, dass du so schläfst? Steh auf, rufe deinen Gott an! Vielleicht wird dieser Gott an uns gedenken, dass wir nicht untergehen!
7 Und sie sprachen einer zum anderen: Kommt, wir wollen Lose werfen, damit wir erfahren, um wessentwillen uns dieses Unglück getroffen hat! Und sie warfen Lose, und das Los fiel auf Jona.
8 Da sprachen sie zu ihm: Sage uns doch, um wessentwillen uns dieses Unglück getroffen hat! Was ist dein Gewerbe, und wo kommst du her? Was ist dein Land, und von welchem Volk bist du?
9 Er aber sprach zu ihnen: Ich bin ein Hebräer; und ich fürchte den Herrn, den Gott des Himmels, der das Meer und das Trockene gemacht hat.
10 Da gerieten die Männer in große Furcht und sprachen: Was hast du da getan? Denn die Männer wussten, dass er vor dem Angesicht des Herrn floh; denn er hatte es ihnen erzählt.
11 Und sie fragten ihn: Was sollen wir mit dir machen, damit das Meer uns in Ruhe lässt? Denn das Meer tobte immer schlimmer.
12 Er sprach zu ihnen: Nehmt mich und werft mich ins Meer, so wird das Meer euch in Ruhe lassen! Denn ich weiß wohl, dass dieser große Sturm um meinetwillen über euch gekommen ist.
13 Da ruderten die Leute mit aller Kraft, um das Ufer wieder zu erreichen; aber sie konnten es nicht; denn das Meer tobte immer schlimmer gegen sie.
14 Da schrien sie zu dem Herrn und sprachen: »Ach, Herr! lass uns doch nicht um der Seele dieses Mannes willen untergehen, rechne uns aber auch nicht unschuldiges Blut an; denn du, Herr, hast getan, was dir wohlgefiel!«
15 Darauf nahmen sie Jona und warfen ihn ins Meer; und das Meer hörte auf mit seinem Wüten.
16 Da bekamen die Männer große Ehrfurcht[d] vor dem Herrn und brachten dem Herrn ein Schlachtopfer dar und legten Gelübde ab.
Footnotes
- (1,2) Ninive war eine bedeutende Großstadt und zeitweise die Hauptstadt des assyrischen Reiches. Entsprechend den Weissagungen der Propheten Nahum (Nah 2) und Zephanja (Zeph 2,13-15) wurde Ninive 612 v. Chr. von den Medern und Chaldäern erobert und zerstört.
- (1,2) od. rufe aus.
- (1,3) eine Hafenstadt am Mittelmeer (das heutige Jaffa).
- (1,16) od. Furcht.
Yonah 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 Now the Devar Hashem came unto Yonah ben Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that ha’ir hagedolah (great city), and preach against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.
3 But Yonah rose up to run away unto Tarshish from the presence of Hashem, and went down to Yafo; and he found an oniyah going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Hashem.
4 But Hashem sent out a ruach gedolah (great wind) into the yam (sea), and there was a sa’ar gadol (mighty tempest) in the yam, so that the oniyah was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his g-d, and cast forth the cargoes that were in the oniyah into the yam, to lighten it of them. But Yonah was gone down into the hold of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon Eloheicha, if so be that HaElohim will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast goralot (lots), that we may have da’as for whose cause this ra’ah is upon us. So they cast goralot (lots), and the goral (lot) fell upon Yonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause ra’ah hazot (this evil) is upon us; What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, Ivri anochi (I am a Hebrew); and I fear Hashem, Elohei HaShomayim, which hath made the yam and the yabashah (dry land, Bereshis 1:9).
10 Then were the men of yirah gedolah (great terror), and said unto him: Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he was running away from the presence of Hashem, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the yam against us may be calm [see Yeshayah 53:5,8; Mt 12:39-40; 16:4]? For the yam did rage and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the yam; so shall the yam be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this sa’ar hagadol (great tempest, storm) is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the yabashah; but they could not: for the yam did rage, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto Hashem, and said, We beseech Thee, Hashem, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man’s nefesh, and lay not upon us dahm naki (innocent blood); for Thou, Hashem, hast done just as it pleased Thee.
15 So they took up Yonah, and cast him forth into the yam [see Yeshayah 53:5,8; Mt 12:39-40; 16:4]; and the yam ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared Hashem with a yirah gedolah, and offered a sacrifice unto Hashem, and vowed nedarim.
17 (2:1) Now Hashem had prepared a dag gadol (great fish) to swallow up Yonah. And Yonah was in the belly of the dag shloshah yamim and shloshah leilot (three days and three nights).
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