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Jonah Глава 1
서론
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Английский оригинал
In this chapter we have, I. A command given to Jonah to preach at Nineveh, Jon 1:1,2. II. Jonah's disobedience to that command, Jon 1:3. III. The pursuit and arrest of him for that disobedience by a storm, in which he was asleep, Jon 1:4-6. IV. The discovery of him, and his disobedience, to be the cause of the storm, Jon 1:7-10. V. The casting of him into the sea, for the stilling of the storm, Jon 1:11-16. VI. The miraculous preservation of his life there in the belly of a fish (Jon 1:17), which was his reservation for further services.
1-3
A Commission against Nineveh; The Prophet's Disobedience (840 BC)
對尼尼微的使命；先知的違命（主前840年）
¹ 耶和華的話臨到亞米太的兒子約拿，說：
² 「你起來！往尼尼微大城去，向其中的居民呼喊，因為他們的惡達到我面前。」
³ 約拿卻起來，逃往他施去躲避耶和華；下到約帕，遇見一隻船，要往他施去。他就給了船價，上了船，要與船上的人同往他施去躲避耶和華。
請注意，1. 神賜給約拿的尊榮，授他使命往尼尼微去說預言攻擊它。約拿意為鴿子，這對神的一切先知、他的一切百姓都是合宜的名，他們當馴良像鴿子，並當像鴿子一般為這地的罪惡和災禍哀鳴。他父親名叫亞米太——我的真理；因為神的先知當作真理之子。耶和華的話臨到他——向他發生了（原文如此），因為神的話是實在之物；人的話不過是風，但神的話是實質。他先前已熟悉耶和華的話，認得他的聲音，分辨出陌生人的聲音；如今所給他的命令是：起來！往尼尼微大城去，Jon 1:2。尼尼微此時是亞述帝國的京都，一座顯赫的城（創10:11），一座大城，那大城，周長四十八英里（有人說遠不止此），在人口上甚大——由其中嬰孩之多可知（Jon 4:11）——在財富上甚大（其財寶無窮，鴻2:9），在權勢和統治上甚大；它曾有一度統管地上的諸王。但大城和大人物一樣，都在神的治理和審判之下。尼尼微是大城，卻是外邦之城，沒有對真神的認識和敬拜。有多少大城和大國坐在黑暗中、坐在死蔭的幽谷裏！這大城是邪惡之城：他們的惡已經達到我面前（有人讀作他們的惡毒）；他們的惡是傲慢的，他們是肆無忌憚地犯罪。想到在大城裏所犯的罪何其多，實在可悲——那裏有許多罪人，他們不僅個個是罪人，還彼此使對方犯罪。他們的惡已經上達，就是說，已到了極高的程度，到了頂峰；其量數已滿到邊緣；他們的惡已經上達，如所多瑪的惡一般，創18:20,21。它上達我面前——到我的面上（原文如此）；它是對神大膽而公開的侮辱；是在他面前，在他的眼前犯罪；因此約拿必須向其中呼喊；他必須為他們極大的惡作見證，並警戒他們因此將要臨到的毀滅。神正出來攻擊它，他便差遣約拿在先，宣告戰爭，吹響號角。你要大聲呼喊，不可止息。他不可在角落裏低語他的信息，而要在尼尼微的街市上公佈；有耳可聽的就當聽神藉著他的先知對那邪惡之城所說的話。當罪的呼聲上達於神，報應的呼聲就向罪人發出。他必須往尼尼微去，在當地為它的惡呼喊。別的先知奉命向鄰國傳達信息，那鴻的預言特別是尼尼微的默示；但約拿必須親自去傳達信息：「起來，快快地；以先知當有的速度和勇氣，並當有的決心，投入這工；起來，往尼尼微去。」奉神差遣的人必須起而行，必須為所派定的工激勵自己。先知先是奉差到以色列家迷失的羊那裏去，卻不只是到他們那裏；他們得了兒女的餅，尼尼微卻吃其中的碎渣兒。2. 約拿拒絕順從神的命令、拒絕奉差前行，因而對神所行的虧欠（Jon 1:3）：約拿卻不但不起來往尼尼微去，反而起來逃往他施，逃往海那邊去，不向任何港口啟航，只想逃離耶和華的面；只要能這樣作，他不在乎往何處去——這不是他以為可以逃到神鑒察的眼目之外，而是逃離他的特殊同在，逃離那當他受命作這工時臨到他的預言之靈——他以為自己被它纏住，巴不得逃出它的聲音範圍。有人認為約拿是基於一些猶太人的看法，以為預言之靈只限於以色列地（這在以西結和但以理的經歷中被證明為謬誤），因此他盼望只要出了那地的邊界，便能擺脫它。（1）約拿不肯往尼尼微去呼喊，或因為往那裏去是漫長危險的旅程，又在他所不識的路上；或因為他怕向那大而強盛的城傳達如此不討喜的信息會喪命。他體貼肉體，因為不能安然前往而推辭這差使；或因為他為自己本國的特權心生嫉妒，不願別國分享神啟示的尊榮；他恐怕這將是神的國從猶太人轉移到另一國的開端——那國將結出更多的果子。他親口承認（Jon 4:2），他之所以厭惡這旅程，原因在於他預見尼尼微人必悔改，神必赦免他們並收納他們，這將是以色列人的恥辱——他們向來是神獨特的子民。（2）於是他往他施去，往基利家的他撒（有人如此認為），可能因為他在那裏有親友，盼望與他們暫住一時。他往約帕去——以色列地的一個著名海港——尋找一艘開往他施的船，在那裏找到了一隻。护理似乎在協助他的計劃，給他逃脫的機會。我們可能偏離了本分之路，卻仍遇見順風。現成的路未必是正當的路。他或許發現那船正要拔錨啟航往他施去，這樣他就不耽延時間。或者，也許他往他施去，是因為他發現那船開往那裏；否則各處對他都一樣。只要自己不在當行的路上，他便不認為自己偏離了所要走的路。於是他給了船價；因為他不計代價，只要能達到目的，逃到耶和華的面之外。他與他們同去，與水手們、與旅客們、與商人們，無論是誰往他施去。約拿忘記了自己的尊嚴，也忘記了自己的本分，與他們混在一起，上了船，要與他們同往他施去。請看當神任憑屬他的人隨己意而行時，他們變成甚麼樣子；當耶和華的話臨到我們時，我們何等需要耶和華的靈隨著話而來，將我們裏面一切的意念奪回，順服它。先知以賽亞承認自己之所以不悖逆，也不退後，是因為神不但對他說話，更開通我的耳朵，賽50:5。讓我們從此學會停止倚靠人，在試煉的時候不過分自信，無論對自己或對別人；卻要自己以為站得穩的，須謹慎，免得跌倒。
Английский оригинал
A Commission against Nineveh; The Prophet's Disobedience (840 BC)
¹ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Observe, 1. The honour God put upon Jonah, in giving him a commission to go and prophesy against Nineveh. Jonah signifies a dove, a proper name for all God's prophets, all his people, who ought to be harmless as doves, and to mourn as doves for the sins and calamities of the land. His father's name was Amittai—My truth; for God's prophets should be sons of truth. To him the word of the Lord came—to him it was (so the word signifies), for God's word is a real thing; men's words are but wind, but God's words are substance. He has been before acquainted with the word of the Lord, and knew his voice from that of a stranger; the orders now given him were, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, Jon 1:2. Nineveh was at this time the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy, an eminent city (Ge 10:11), a great city, that great city, forty-eight miles in compass (some make it much more), great in the number of the inhabitants, as appears by the multitude of infants in it (Jon 4:11), great in wealth (there was no end of its store, Na 2:9), great in power and dominion; it was the city that for some time ruled over the kings of the earth. But great cities, as well as great men, are under God's government and judgment. Nineveh was a great city, and yet a heathen city, without the knowledge and worship of the true God. How many great cities and great nations are there that sit in darkness and in the valley of the shadow of death! This great city was a wicked city: Their wickedness has come up before me (their malice, so some read it); their wickedness was presumptuous, and they sinned with a high hand. It is sad to think what a great deal of sin is committed in great cities, where there are many sinners, who are not only all sinners, but making one another sin. Their wickedness has come up, that is, it has come to a high degree, to the highest pitch; the measure of it is full to the brim; their wickedness has come up, as that of Sodom, Ge 18:20,21. It has come up before me—to my face (so the word is); it is a bold and open affront to God; it is sinning against him, in his sight; therefore Jonah must cry against it; he must witness against their great wickedness, and must warn them of the destruction that was coming upon them for it. God is coming forth against it, and he sends Jonah before, to proclaim war, and to sound an alarm. Cry aloud, spare not. He must not whisper his message in a corner, but publish it in the streets of Nineveh; he that hath ears let him hear what God has to say by his prophet against that wicked city. When the cry of sin comes up to God the cry of vengeance comes out against the sinner. He must go to Nineveh, and cry there upon the spot against the wickedness of it. Other prophets were ordered to send messages to the neighbouring nations, and the prophecy of Nahum is particularly the burden of Nineveh; but Jonah must go and carry the message himself: "Arise quickly; apply thyself to the business with speed and courage, and the resolution that becomes a prophet; arise, and go to Nineveh." Those that go on God's errands must rise and go, must stir themselves to the work cut out for them. The prophets were sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet not to them only; they had the children's bread, but Nineveh eats of the crumbs. 2. The dishonour Jonah did to God in refusing to obey his orders, and to go on the errand on which he was sent (Jon 1:3): But Jonah, instead of rising to go to Nineveh, rose up to flee to Tarshish, to the sea, not bound for any port, but desirous to get away from the presence of the Lord; and, if he might but do that, he cared not whither he went, not as if he thought he could go any where from under the eye of God's inspection, but from his special presence, from the spirit of prophecy, which, when it put him upon this work, he thought himself haunted with, and coveted to get out of the hearing of. Some think Jonah went upon the opinion of some of the Jews that the spirit of prophecy was confined to the land of Israel (which in Ezekiel and Daniel was effectually proved to be a mistake), and therefore he hoped he should get clear of it if he could but get out of the borders of that land. (1.) Jonah would not go to Nineveh to cry against it either because it was a long and dangerous journey thither, and in a road he knew not, or because he was afraid it would be as much as his life was worth to deliver such an ungrateful message to that great and potent city. He consulted with flesh and blood, and declined the embassy because he could not go with safety, or because he was jealous for the prerogatives of his country, and not willing that any other nation should share in the honour of divine revelation; he feared it would be the beginning of the removal of the kingdom of God from the Jews to another nation, that would bring forth more of the fruits of it. He owns himself (Jon 4:2) that the reason of his aversion to this journey was because he foresaw that the Ninevites would repent, and God would forgive them and take them into favour, which would be a slur upon the people of Israel, who had been so long a peculiar people to God. (2.) He therefore went to Tarshish, to Tarsus in Cilicia (so some), probably because he had friends and relations there, with whom he hoped for some time to sojourn. He went to Joppa, a famous seaport in the land of Israel, in quest of a ship bound for Tarshish, and there he found one. Providence seemed to favour his design, and give him an opportunity to escape. We may be out of the way of duty and yet may meet with a favourable gale. The ready way is not always the right way. He found the ship just ready to weigh anchor perhaps, and to set sail for Tarshish, and so he lost no time. Or, perhaps, he went to Tarshish because he found the ship going thither; otherwise all places were alike to him. He did not think himself out of his way, the way he would go, provided he was not in his way, the way he should go. So he paid the fare thereof; for he did not regard the charge, so he could but gain his point, and get to a distance from the presence of the Lord. He went with them, with the mariners, with the passengers, with the merchants, whoever they were that were going to Tarshish. Jonah, forgetting his dignity as well as his duty, herded with them, and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish. See what the best of men are when God leaves them to themselves, and what need we have, when the word of the Lord comes to us, to have the Spirit of the Lord come along with the word, to bring every thought within us into obedience to it. The prophet Isaiah owns that therefore he was not rebellious, neither turned away back, because God not only spoke to him, but opened his ear, Isa 50:5. Let us learn hence to cease from man, and not to be too confident either of ourselves or others in a time of trial; but let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
4-10
The Prophet in the Storm; The Prophet Convicted by the Lot (840 BC)
先知在風暴中；先知因掣籤被定罪（主前840年）
⁴ 然而耶和華使海中起大風，海就狂風大作，甚至船幾乎破壞。
⁵ 水手便懼怕，各人哀求自己的神。他們將船上的貨物拋在海中，為要使船輕些。約拿已下到底艙，躺臥沉睡。
⁶ 船主到他那裏對他說：「你這沉睡的人哪，為何這樣呢？起來，求告你的神，或者神顧念我們，使我們不致滅亡。」
⁷ 船上的人彼此說：「來吧，我們掣籤，看看這災臨到我們是因誰的緣故。」於是他們掣籤，掣出約拿來。
⁸ 眾人對他說：「請你告訴我們，這災臨到我們是因誰的緣故？你以何事為業？你從哪裏來？你是哪一國、屬哪一族的人？」
⁹ 他對他們說：「我是希伯來人。我敬畏耶和華——那創造滄海旱地之天上的神。」
¹⁰ 他們就大大懼怕，對他說：「你做的是甚麼事呢？」那些人已經知道他躲避耶和華，因為他告訴了他們。
當約拿上了船、揚帆駛向他施時，他自以為足夠安全；但我們在此看見他被追趕擒拿，被揭露、被定罪，如同從神那裏開小差的人，如同降下旗幟的人。
I. 神差遣一位追趕者在他後頭——海中的狂風，Jon 1:4。神將風包在皮袋裏（詩135:7），神從這些寶庫中送出，他拋出（原文如此），帶著力度和猛勢，大風進入海中；狂風成就他的話，常作他忿怒的使者；他把風聚在拳頭中（箴30:4），在那裏抓住它們，又從那裏隨己意擠出它們；因為雖然對我們而言，風隨意思吹，對神卻不然，乃是隨他所指引。這風的效應是狂風大作；因為風起則浪湧。注意，罪給靈魂、給家庭、給教會和國家帶來風暴和狂飆；它是一種攪擾不安的事物。這狂風厲害到一個地步，以致船幾乎破壞；水手們別無所盼；那隻船（有人如此譯），那一隻而非別的。同一時間在同一海面上有別的船隻，然而，看來約拿所乘的那隻船比任何別的船受得更劇烈的顛簸、處於更大的危險。這風是在約拿之後被差來的，為要把他帶回神面前和本分之中；當我們走迷的時候，被挽回、被呼召回頭，縱然是藉著狂風，也是極大的憐憫。
II. 船上的水手因這狂風大作而驚恐，唯獨約拿——當事人——卻漠不關心，Jon 1:5。水手們對自己的危險有所感動，雖然神所要爭論的對象並不是他們。1. 他們懼怕；雖然他們的行當使他們常常與這類危險打交道，慣於輕看它們，但如今連最老練最膽壯的也開始發顫，預感這場狂風不同尋常，它起得如此突然，發作得如此猛烈。注意，神能在最膽大的人身上投下恐怖，使將軍和軍長也向岩石和山嶺呼求庇護。2. 他們各人哀求自己的神；這是他們懼怕的結果。許多人直到被驚嚇才肯禱告；要學禱告的人，讓他下海去罷。主啊，他們在急難的時候尋求你。他們每一個人都禱告；不是有的禱告、有的褻瀆，而是人人都投入其中；既然危險是共同的，向天上的呼求也是共同的；並非一人替他們眾人禱告，而是各人為自己禱告。他們各人哀求自己的神，就是他本國或本城的神，或他自己的守護神；人人都有一位神，都信有一位神，這是反對無神論的見證；但異教的愚昧在於他們有許多的神，各人隨自己所好揀選一位，其實只能有一位真神，也毋需多於一位。然而，他們雖然失去了自然之光關於只有一位神的指示，卻仍受自然之律關於當向神禱告的指引（這百姓豈不當求問自己的神嗎？賽8:19），以及當我們身處患難危險時特別當向神禱告的指引。在患難之日求告我。有人受苦麼？有人驚恐麼？讓他禱告。3. 他們求拯救的禱告輔之以努力；他們既求自己的神幫助，便盡力自助；因為法則是：自助者神助之。他們將船上的貨物拋在海中，為要使船輕些，正如保羅同行的水手在類似情形中把船上的器具和麥子都拋棄了，徒27:18,19,38。他們似乎是作一趟商航，裝載著許多貨物和商品，指望從中獲利；但如今為了救命，他們甘心因拋棄貨物而受損失。請看對性命天然之愛是何等強烈。人以皮代皮，情願捨去一切所有的保全性命。難道我們不當對屬靈的生命——靈魂的生命——予以同等的重視，認為贏得全世界也不能補償喪失靈魂的損失嗎？請看世俗財富的虛空，及其與我們同在的不確定性。財富為自己長出翅膀飛去；不，有時情形可能如此，我們不得不為它們長出翅膀，將它們趕走，正如這裏——貨物若留在原主手中只能害他們，以致他們自己情願擺脫它們，寧可沉沒那本會沉沒他們的貨物，雖然他們毫無指望可以收回。但願人對自己的靈魂也能如此精明，情願捨棄那些若不捨棄便要叫信心和無虧的良心遭到破壞、使靈魂永遠沉淪的財富、享樂和尊榮！那些如此為著保全屬靈福益而放棄今世利益的人，至終必是說不盡的得著者；因為他們在那些條件下所失去的，他們必再得著，直到永生。但約拿這一切時間在哪裏呢？人本會期望他下到自己的艙房裏，不，下到底艙，在船的兩側之間，他卻躺在那裏，沉睡不醒；外頭的喧嚷不能叫醒他，裏頭罪咎的感覺也不能喚醒他。也許在此之前有一段時期他避免入睡，恐怕神又在他夢中對他說話；而如今他既以為自己脫離了那危險，就睡得格外沉酣。注意，罪具有令人麻木的性質，我們當切切謹慎，免得我們的心被罪的詭詐所剛硬。撒但的計謀是，當牠藉著試探把人從神和他們的本分中引誘出來之後，便搖哄他們在屬肉體的安全感中沉睡，好叫他們對自己的悲慘和危險毫無感覺。這是我們都當關心的事——所以你們要警醒。
III. 船主把約拿叫起來禱告，Jon 1:6。船主到他那裏，因羞恥的緣故吩咐他起來，既為活命禱告，也為死亡預備；他給了他，1. 一番正當而必要的責備：你這沉睡的人哪，為何這樣呢？我們在此稱讚船主，他給了他這責備；因為他雖對他是陌生人，眼下卻如同他家中的一員；凡是擁有寶貴靈魂的人，我們都當盡力從死裏救回他。我們為約拿感到惋惜，他竟需要這樣的責備；作為耶和華的先知，他若在自己本位上，本可以責備尼尼微王，但如今偏離了本分之路，自己反倒暴露在一個微不足道的船主的責備之下。請看人如何因自己的罪和愚昧貶低自己、使自己卑微。然而我們也當讚嘆神差這及時責備的良善，因為這是他恢復的第一步，正如雞叫之於彼得。注意，那些在風暴中沉睡的人，被人問到他在作甚麼，是理所當然的。2. 一句切題的忠告：「起來，求告你的神」；我們在這裏各人哀求自己的神，你為何不起來求告你的呢？在所怕的危險和所盼望的拯救上，你豈不是與眾人同樣有分麼？注意，別人的敬拜當激發我們的敬拜；那些盼望在共同的憐憫中有分的人，理當為此所獻上的禱告和懇求盡自己的一分力量。在公眾患難的日子，我們若在施恩寶座前有任何門路，就當為公眾的好處加以善用。連神的僕人自己，有時也需要被呼召、被激發起來盡這本分。3. 這忠告的好理由：或者神顧念我們，使我們不致滅亡。看來他們所求告的許多神，在他們看來不過是介於他們與至高神之間的中保，是為他們代求的；因為船主所說的仍是一位神，他指望從他得著解救。為激勵禱告，他暗示危險極大且迫在眉睫：「我們大家都要滅亡了；我們與死之間不過一步之隔，而這一步眼看就要邁出。」然而他又暗示仍有指望，他們的毀滅或許可以避免，可以不致滅亡。只要還有生命，就有指望；只要還有指望，就有禱告的餘地。他又暗示，唯有神能成就他們的拯救，這必須出於他的大能和他的憐憫。「他若顧念我們，為我們行事，我們還可以得救。」因此我們當仰望他，倚靠他，無論危險多麼迫近。
IV. 約拿被查出是風暴的禍因。
1. 水手們在這風暴本身或自己在其中所受的苦上，觀察到如此特別、如此不尋常之處，以致斷定這是神公義差來的使者，要逮捕那船上某人，因他犯了某種滔天大罪，正如那些化外人（徒28:4）所判斷的：「我們中間必有一個是殺人的，或犯了褻瀆聖物、或發假誓等類的罪，他正被海的報應所追趕，我們大家都是因他受苦。」連自然之光也教導我們：在非常的審判中，神的忿怒從天上顯明出來，反對某些特別的罪惡和罪人。我們無論何時遭遇災禍，都必斷定其中必有緣故；必定是我們行了惡，否則這禍不會臨到我們；必定有神與我們爭論的根據。
2. 他們決定掣籤，看看他們當中誰是招致這場風暴的罪魁：*我們掣籤罷，看看這災是因誰的緣故臨到我們。*他們當中沒有一個懷疑自己，說：主啊，是我麼；是我麼？他們卻彼此懷疑，定要找出那人來。注意，當任何災禍臨到我們時，知道它為何臨到是一件可羡慕的事，好叫那不對的得以改正，既除去病根，憂愁也就消除了。為此我們必須舉目望天，禱告說：主啊，求你使我知你與我爭論的緣故；我所看不見的求你指教我。這些水手想要知道他們船上那個累贅的人是誰，那當滅之物，好叫那一個人替百姓死，而全船不致喪亡；這不僅是權宜之計，也是極其公正的。為此他們掣籤，藉此向神的判斷呼求——眾人的心向他敞開，在他面前毫無隱藏——同意順服他的揭露和判定，並以籤所說的為真實；因為他們憑自然之光曉得聖經所告訴我們的：*籤放在懷裏，定事由耶和華。*連外邦人也視掣籤為神聖之事，當以認真和莊重來進行，不可拿來取樂。基督徒若對向护理的呼求沒有同樣的敬畏，便是羞恥。
3. 掣籤掣出約拿，其實他若肯告訴他們，他自己的良心所告訴他的——你就是那人——便可省去他們這番麻煩；但罪犯如常，直到發現不能抵賴，直到籤落在他身上，才認罪。我們可以設想船上有些人按別的方面看是比約拿更大的罪人，然而這風暴所追趕、這籤所指明的卻是他；因為父母、主人所要糾正的，正是自己的兒女、自己的僕人——他們若行得不正；別人冒犯，他則交給律法對付。風暴追在約拿之後，是因為神有工要他作，是為要將他帶回這工。注意，神有許多方法使隱藏的罪和罪人暴露，使那以為瞞過一切活人眼目的愚昧顯明出來。神的右手必找出一切離棄他的僕人，正如找出一切對他心懷詭計的仇敵一樣；是的，雖然他們逃到海極，或下到船的底艙。
4. 約拿因此被帶到船主和水手面前受審。他是個外人；他們當中沒有一個能說認識這囚犯，或對他有任何指控，因此必須從他口中逼出認罪，憑他口中的話定他；這事無需刑具，他們所面臨的船破之危已足夠叫他恐懼，促使他說實話。雖然藉籤已發現他就是那個因他而受損受險的人，他們卻不像人所恐怕的那樣瘋狂撲向他，而是平靜溫和地查問他的案。當罪犯被揭發被定罪時，當以憐憫待之。他們不用難聽的話對他，而是說：「求你告訴我們，到底怎麼回事？」他們查問他兩件事：——（1）他是否願意親口承認，他就是那因他的緣故風暴被差來的人，正如籤所暗示的：*「求你告訴我們，這災是因誰的緣故臨到我們」；果然是因你的緣故麼？若是，*是為何緣故？「你是因何罪受這樣的追討呢？」也許約拿舉止的莊重和端方使他們懷疑這籤指錯了人、射不中靶，因此他們不願相信它，除非他親口認罪；於是懇求他在這事上給他們一個交代。注意，那些要找出自己患難之因的人，不僅要開始、更要鍥而不捨地追問，要深究細節，作殷勤的考察。（2）他的身分如何，無論是他的職業還是他的國籍。[1.] 他們查問他的職業：*你以何事為業？*這是問一個流浪者的恰當問題。也許他們懷疑他的行當是否招來了這場麻煩：「你是個占卜的、行邪術的、通曉秘術的嗎？你曾行法術招來這風嗎？或者你如今要去作甚麼生意？也許如巴蘭那樣，要咒詛神的百姓，這風是來阻止你的嗎？」[2.] 他們查問他的國籍。一個問：*你從哪裏來？*另一個等不及回答，又問：你是哪一國的人？第三個意思相同：「屬哪一族的人？你是迦勒底人嗎」——他們以占卜著稱——「還是阿拉伯人」——他們以偷盜著稱？他們想知道他是哪一國的人，好因他本國的神而揣測他是否能在這場風暴中對他們有所幫助。
5. 約拿回答這些盤問，作出全面的交代。（1）他們查問他的國籍嗎？他告訴他們自己是希伯來人（Jon 1:9），不僅屬於以色列國，更屬於他們從列祖所承受的信仰。他是希伯來人，因此更羞於承認自己是罪犯；因為希伯來人的罪——他們如此宣認信仰、享受如此特權——比別人的罪更大，更加罪大惡極。（2）他們查問他的職業——你以何事為業？他回答時述說自己的信仰，因為那就是他的職業，那就是他的事業，那就是他當作生計的：「我敬畏耶和華」；那就是我所敬拜的神，我所求告的神，就是天上的神，統管萬有的主，那創造滄海旱地的神，對二者都擁有主權。不是某一個特定國家的神——他們正是按此查問，正如他們各人所求告的那些神一樣，而是全地的神，他既造了海和旱地，便能在其中任意作工，並隨意使用二者。他如此說，不僅是定自己為愚妄——竟逃避這位神的面——更是有意要引導這些水手離開他們敬拜事奉多神的行徑，歸向那唯一又真又活神的認識和順服。當我們在不認識我們的人當中，當盡力藉著在一切機會上承認我們與神的關係和對他的敬畏，使他們得以認識神。（3）他們查問他如今受追討的罪嗎？他承認自己躲避耶和華的面，他正是在逃離本分，而風暴被差來是要將他帶回。我們有理由認為他帶著憂傷和羞愧告訴他們這事，稱義神而定罪自己，並向水手們暗示耶和華是何等大的神——他能差遣這樣的使者如這場狂風一般追趕一個逃亡的僕人。
6. 聖經告訴我們這在水手們心中留下的印象：那些人就大大懼怕，這是公正的，因為他們領悟到，（1）神發怒了——那位造了滄海旱地的神。這場狂風來自一位被觸怒之公義的手，因此他們有理由恐怕日子難過。為某項特定的罪所降的審判，在其中具有獨特的重量和恐怖。（2）神向一個敬畏他、敬拜他的人發怒——僅僅因為他在某一件事上逃離他的工；這使他們為自己害怕。「若主的先知因一次過犯便受這樣嚴厲的懲罰，我們犯了如此多、如此大、如此可惡的罪，將要如何呢？」若義人尚且僅僅得救，因一次違命便被如此緊緊追討，不敬虔和犯罪的人將出現在哪裏呢？彼前4:17,18。他們對他說：「你做的是甚麼事呢？」你既敬畏那造滄海旱地的神，為何竟愚妄地以為能逃離他的面？這是何等荒謬、不可理喻的事！*他這樣被責備，正如亞伯拉罕被亞比米勒責備一樣（創20:16）；因為信仰的宣稱者若行了不對的事，就當準備聽見不如此宣認的人對他提起。「你為何這樣待我們呢？」（也可如此理解）*「你為何將我們牽連在這追討之中呢？」*注意，那些故意犯罪的人不知道那罪的危害能達到何處，也不知道它能造成何等的損害。
Английский оригинал
The Prophet in the Storm; The Prophet Convicted by the Lot (840 BC)
⁴ But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
⁶ So the ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
⁷ And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
⁸ Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause 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, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
¹⁰ Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
When Jonah was set on ship-board, and under sail for Tarshish, he thought himself safe enough; but here we find him pursued and overtaken, discovered and convicted as a deserter from God, as one that had run his colours.
I. God sends a pursuer after him, a mighty tempest in the sea, Jon 1:4. God has the winds in his treasure (Ps 135:7), and out of these treasures God sent forth, he cast forth (so the word is), with force and violence, a great wind into the sea; even stormy winds fulfil his word, and are often the messengers of his wrath; he gathers the winds in his fist (Pr 30:4), where he holds them, and whence he squeezes them when he pleases; for though, as to us, the wind blows where it listeth, yet not as to God, but where he directs. The effect of this wind as a mighty tempest; for when the winds rise the waves rise. Note, Sin brings storms and tempests into the soul, into the family, into churches and nations; it is a disquieting disturbing thing. The tempest prevailed to such a degree that the ship was likely to be broken; the mariners expected no other; that ship (so some read it), that and no other. Other ships were upon the same sea at the same time, yet, it should seem, that ship in which Jonah was was tossed more than any other and was more in danger. This wind was sent after Jonah, to fetch him back again to God and to his duty; and it is a great mercy to be reclaimed and called home when we go astray, though it be by a tempest.
II. The ship's crew were alarmed by this mighty tempest, but Jonah only, the person concerned, was unconcerned, Jon 1:5. The mariners were affected with their danger, though it was not with them that God has this controversy. 1. They were afraid; though, their business leading them to be very much conversant with dangers of this kind, they used to make light of them, yet now the oldest and stoutest of them began to tremble, being apprehensive that there was something more than ordinary in this tempest, so suddenly did it rise, so strongly did it rage. Note, God can strike a terror upon the most daring, and make even great men and chief captains call for shelter from rocks and mountains. 2. They cried every man unto his god; this was the effect of their fear. Many will not be brought to prayer till they are frightened to it; he that would learn to pray, let him go to sea. Lord, in trouble they have visited thee. Every man of them prayed; they were not some praying and others reviling, but every man engaged; as the danger was general, so was the address to heaven; there was not one praying for them all, but every one for himself. They cried every man to his god, the god of his country or city, or his own tutelar deity; it is a testimony against atheism that every man had a god, and had the belief of a God; but it is an instance of the folly of paganism that they had gods many, every man the god he had a fancy for, whereas there can be but one God, there needs to be no more. But, though they had lost that dictate of the light of nature that there is but one God, they still were governed by that direction of the law of nature that God is to be prayed to (Should not a people seek under their God? Isa 8:19), and that he is especially to be prayed to when we are in distress and danger. Call upon me in the time of trouble. Is any afflicted? Is any frightened? Let him pray. 3. Their prayers for deliverance were seconded with endeavours, and, having called upon their gods to help them, they did what they could to help themselves; for that is the rule, Help thyself and God will help thee. They cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them, as Paul's mariners in a like case cast forth even the tackling of the ship, and the wheat, Ac 27:18,19,38. They were making a trading voyage, as it should seem, and were laden with many goods and much merchandise, by which they hoped to get gain; but now they are content to suffer loss by throwing them overboard. to save their lives. See how powerful the natural love of life is. Skin for skin, and all that a man has, will he give for it. And shall we not put a like value upon the spiritual life, the life of the soul, reckoning that the gain of all the world cannot countervail the loss of the soul? See the vanity of worldly wealth, and the uncertainty of its continuance with us. Riches make themselves wings and fly away; nay, and the case may be such that we may be under a necessity of making wings for them, and driving them away, as here, when they could not be kept for the owners thereof but to their hurt, so that they themselves are glad to be rid of them, and sink that which otherwise would sink them, though they have no prospect of ever recovering it. Oh that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would be willing to part with that wealth, pleasure, and honour which they cannot keep without making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience and ruining their souls for ever! Those that thus quit their temporal interests for the securing of their spiritual welfare will be unspeakable gainers at last; for what they lose upon those terms they shall find again to life eternal. But where is Jonah all this while? One would have expected gone down into his cabin, nay, into the hold, between the sides of the ship, and there he lies, and is fast asleep; neither the noise without, nor the sense of guilt within, awoke him. Perhaps for some time before he had avoiding sleeping, for fear of God's speaking to him again in a dream; and now that he imagined himself out of the reach of that danger, he slept so much the more soundly. Note, Sin is of a stupifying nature, and we are concerned to take heed lest at any time our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of it. It is the policy of Satan, when by his temptations he has drawn men from God and their duty, to rock them asleep in carnal security, that they may not be sensible of their misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch therefore.
III. The master of the ship called Jonah up to his prayers, Jon 1:6. The ship-master came to him, and bade him for shame get up, both to pray for life and to prepare for death; he gave him, 1. A just and necessary chiding: What meanest thou, O sleeper? Here we commend the ship-master, who gave him this reproof; for, though he was a stranger to him, he was, for the present, as one of his family; and whoever has a precious soul we must help, as we can, to save it from death. We pity Jonah, who needed this reproof; as a prophet of the Lord, if he had been in his place, he might have been reproving the king of Nineveh, but, being out of the way of his duty, he does himself lie open to the reproofs of a sorry ship-master. See how men by their sin and folly diminish themselves and make themselves mean. Yet we must admire God's goodness in sending him this seasonable reproof, for it was the first step towards his recovery, as the crowing of the cock was to Peter. Note, Those that sleep in a storm may well be asked what they mean. 2. A pertinent word of advice: "Arise, call upon thy God; we are here crying every man to his god, why dost not thou get up and cry to thine? Art not thou equally concerned with the rest both in the danger dreaded and in the deliverance desired?" Note, The devotions of others should quicken ours; and those who hope to share in a common mercy ought in all reason to contribute their quota towards the prayers and supplications that are made for it. In times of public distress, if we have any interest at the throne of grace, we ought to improve it for the public good. And the servants of God themselves have sometimes need to be called and stirred up to this part of their duty. 3. A good reason for this advice: If so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. It should seem, the many gods they called upon were considered by them only as mediators between them and the supreme God, and intercessors for them with him; for the ship-master speaks of one God still, from whom he expected relief. To engage prayer, he suggested that the danger was very great and imminent: "We are all likely to perish; there is but a step between us and death, and that just ready to be stepped." Yet he suggested that there was some hope remaining that their destruction might be prevented and they might not perish. While there is still life there is hope, and while there is hope there is room for prayer. He suggested also that it was God only that could effect their deliverance, and it must come from his power and his pity. "If he think upon us, and act for us, we may yet be saved." And therefore to him we must look, and in him we must put our trust, when the danger is ever so imminent.
IV. Jonah is found out to be the cause of the storm.
1. The mariners observed so much peculiar and uncommon either in the storm itself or in their own distress by it that they concluded it was a messenger of divine justice sent to arrest some one of those that were in that ship, as having been guilty of some enormous crime, judging as the barbarous people (Ac 28:4), "no doubt one of us is a murderer, or guilty of sacrilege, or perjury, or the like, who is thus pursued by the vengeance of the sea, and it is for his sake that we all suffer." Even the light of nature teaches that in extraordinary judgments the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against some extraordinary sins and sinners. Whatever evil is upon us at any time we must conclude there is a cause for it; there is evil done by us, or else this evil would not be upon us; there is a ground for God's controversy.
2. They determined to refer it to the lot which of them was the criminal that had occasioned this storm: Let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause the evil is upon us. None of them suspected himself, or said, Is it I, Lord; is it I? But they suspected one another, and would find out the man. Note, It is a desirable thing, when any evil is upon us, to know for what cause it is upon us, that what is amiss may be amended, and, the grievance being redressed, the grief may be removed. In order to this we must look up to heaven, and pray, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me; that which I see not teach thou me. These mariners desired to know the person that was the dead weight in their ship, the accursed thing, that that one man might die for the people and that the whole ship might not be lost; this was not only expedient, but highly just. In order to this they cast lots, by which they appealed to the judgment of God, to whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secret is hid, agreeing to acquiesce in his discovery and determination, and to take that for true which the lot spoke; for they knew by the light of nature, what the scripture tells us, that the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord. Even the heathen looked upon the casting of lots to be a sacred thing, to be done with seriousness and solemnity, and not to be made a sport of. It is a shame for Christians if they have not a like reverence for an appeal to Providence.
3. The lot fell upon Jonah, who could have saved them this trouble if he would but have told them what his own conscience told him, Thou are the man; but as is usual with criminals, he never confesses till he finds he cannot help it, till the lot falls upon him. We may suppose there were those in the ship who, upon other accounts, were greater sinners than Jonah, and yet he is the man that the tempest pursues and that the lot pitches upon; for it is his own child, his own servant, that the parent, that the master, corrects, if they do amiss; others that offend he leaves to the law. The storm is sent after Jonah, because God has work for him to do, and it is sent to fetch him back to it. Note, God has many ways of bringing to light concealed sins and sinners, and making manifest that folly which was thought to be hidden from the eyes of all living. God's right hand will find out all his servants that desert him, as well as all his enemies that have designs against him; yea, though they flee to the uttermost parts of the sea, or go down to the sides of the ship.
4. Jonah is hereupon brought under examination before the master and mariners. He was a stranger; none of them could say that they knew the prisoner, or had any thing to lay to his charge, and therefore they must extort a confession from him and judge him out of his own mouth; and for this there needed no rack, the shipwreck they were in danger of was sufficient to frighten him, so as to make him tell the truth. Though it was discovered by the lot that he was the person for whose sake they were thus damaged and exposed, yet they did not fly outrageously upon him, as one would fear they might have done, but calmly and mildly enquired into his case. There is a compassion due to offenders when they are discovered and convicted. They give him no hard words, but, "Tell us, we pray thee, what is the matter?" Two things they enquire of him:—(1.) Whether he would himself own that he was the person for whose sake the storm was sent, as the lot had intimated: "Tell us for whose cause this evil is upon us; is it indeed for thy cause, and, if so, for what cause? What is this offence for which thou art thus prosecuted?" Perhaps the gravity and decency of Jonah's aspect and behaviour made them suspect that the lot had missed its man, had missed its mark, and therefore they would not trust it, unless he would himself own his guilt; they therefore begged of him that he would satisfy them in this matter. Note, Those that would find out the cause of their troubles must not only begin, but pursue the enquiry, must descend to particulars and accomplish a diligent search. (2.) What his character was, both as to his calling and as to his country. [1.] They enquire concerning his calling: What is thy occupation? This was a proper question to be put to a vagrant. Perhaps they suspected his calling to be such as might bring this trouble upon them: "Art thou a diviner, a sorcerer, a student in the black art? Hast thou been conjuring for this wind? Or what business are thou now going on? It is like Balaam's, to curse any of God's people, and is this wind send to stop thee?" [2.] They enquire concerning his country. One asked, Whence comest thou? Another, not having patience to stay for an answer to that, asked, What is thy country? A third to the same purport, "Of what people art thou? Art thou of the Chaldeans," that were noted for divination, "or of the Arabians," that were noted for stealing? They wished to know of what country he was, that, knowing who was the god of his country, they might guess whether he was one that could do them any kindness in this storm.
5. In answer to these interrogatories Jonah makes a full discovery. (1.) Did they enquire concerning his country? He tells them he is a Hebrew (Jon 1:9), not only of the nation of Israel, but of their religion, which they received from their fathers. He is a Hebrew, and therefore is the more ashamed to own that he is a criminal; for the sins of Hebrews, that make such a profession of religion and enjoy such privileges, are greater than the sins of others, and more exceedingly sinful. (2.) Did they enquire concerning his calling—What is thy occupation? In answer to that he gives an account of his religion, for that was his calling, that was his occupation, that was it that he made a business of: "I fear the Lord Jehovah; that is the God I worship, the God I pray to, even the God of heaven, the sovereign Lord of all, that has made the sea and the dry land and has command of both." Not the god of one particular country, which they enquired after, and such as the gods were that they had been every man calling upon, but the God of the whole earth, who, having made both the sea and the dry land, makes what work he pleases in both and makes what use he pleases of both. This he mentions, not only as condemning himself for his folly, in fleeing from the presence of this God, but as designing to bring these mariners from the worship and service of their many gods to the knowledge and obedience of the one only living and true God. When we are among those that are strangers to us we should do what we can to bring them acquainted with God, by being ready upon all occasions to own our relation to him and our reverence for him. (3.) Did they enquire concerning his crime, for which he is now persecuted? He owns that he fled from the presence of the Lord, that he was here running away from his duty, and the storm was sent to fetch him back. We have reason to think that he told them this with sorrow and shame, justifying God and condemning himself and intimating to the mariners what a great God Jehovah is, who could send such a messenger as this tempest was after a runagate servant.
6. We are told what impression this made upon the mariners: The men were exceedingly afraid, and justly, for they perceived, (1.) That God was angry, even that God that made the sea and the dry land. This tempest comes from the hand of an offended justice, and therefore they have reason to fear it will go hard with them. Judgments inflicted for some particular sin have a peculiar weight and terror in them. (2.) That God was angry with one that feared and worshipped him, only for once running from his work in particular instance; this made them afraid for themselves. "If a prophet of the Lord be thus severely punished for one offence, what will become of us that have been guilty of so many, and great, and heinous offences?" If the righteous be thus scarcely saved, and for a single act of disobedience thus closely pursued, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1Pe 4:17,18. They said to him, "Why hast thou done this? If thou fearest the God that made the sea and the dry land, why wast thou such a fool as to think thou couldst flee from his presence? What an absurd unaccountable thing is it!" Thus he was reproved, as Abraham by Abimelech (Ge 20:16); for if the professors of religion do a wrong thing they must expect to hear of it from those that make no such profession. "Why hast thou done this to us?" (so it may be taken) "Why has thou involved us in the prosecution?" Note, Those that commit a willful sin know not how far the mischievous consequences of it may reach, nor what mischief may be done by it.
11-17
The Prophet Confesses His Folly; The Prophet Reads His Own Doom; The Prophet Cast into the Sea; Jonah's Preservation in the Fish's Belly (840 BC)
先知承認自己的愚妄；先知宣讀自己的厄運；先知被拋入海中；約拿在魚腹中得以保全（主前840年）
¹¹ 他們對他說：「我們當向你怎樣行，使海平靜呢？」這話是因海越發狂浪。
¹² 他對他們說：「你們將我抬起來，拋在海中，海就平靜了；我知道你們遭這大風是因我的緣故。」
¹³ 然而那些人竭力盪槳，要把船攏岸，卻是不能；因為海越發狂浪，反對他們。
¹⁴ 他們便求告耶和華說：「耶和華啊，我們懇求你，不要因這人的性命使我們死亡，不要使流無辜血的罪歸與我們；因為你耶和華是隨自己的意旨行事。」
¹⁵ 他們遂將約拿抬起，拋在海中，海的狂浪就平息了。
¹⁶ 那些人便大大敬畏耶和華，向耶和華獻祭，並且許願。
¹⁷ 耶和華安排一條大魚吞了約拿。約拿在魚腹中三日三夜。
顯然約拿就是那因他而招致這災禍的人，但揭發他並不足以平息這場狂風的要求；他們已找出他來，但還要作更多的事，因為海越發狂浪（Jon 1:11），又（Jon 1:13），它越來越狂（旁註如此譯）；因為我們若發現罪是患難之因，卻不肯離棄它，只是使壞的更壞。於是他們繼續追討。
I. 他們詢問約拿本人，看他認為他們當怎樣待他（Jon 1:11）：我們當向你怎樣行，使海平靜呢？他們看出約拿是耶和華的先知，因此即使在他自己的案子上，也不願不先與他商議就行事。他顯然是個罪犯，但也顯然是個悔改的人，因此他們不願凌辱他，也不願對他粗魯。注意，我們當以極大的溫柔對待那些被過犯所勝、因此陷入困境的人。他們若能想到別的辦法救這船，就不肯將他拋入海中。或者，他們如此行，是要顯明這案子何等明顯——除了將他拋入海中別無他法；讓他作自己的審判官，一如他曾作自己的控告者，他自己也必如此說。注意，當罪掀起風暴、使我們落在神不悅的記號之下時，我們當關心該怎樣行才能使海平靜；我們當怎樣行呢？我們在風暴中必須禱告和相信，要努力成就風暴被差來所要達到的目的，風暴就必轉為平靜。但我們尤其必須考慮對那掀起風暴的罪當怎樣行；那必須被揭發，並痛悔地承認；那必須被恨惡、否認、徹底離棄。我與它還有何干？將它釘十字架，將它釘十字架，因它已經作了這惡。
II. 約拿宣讀自己的厄運（Jon 1:12）：你們將我抬起來，拋在海中。他不肯自己跳入海中，卻把自己交在他們手中，讓他們把他拋入海中，並向他們保證那時海就平靜了，否則不能平靜。他這樣提議，是體恤水手們，使他們不必因他受累。「願你的手攻擊我」（大衛如此說，代上21:17），「攻擊我這有罪的人；讓我為自己的罪而死，卻不要讓無辜的人因此受累。」這是真正悔改之人的話語，他們懇切盼望別人不再因自己的罪和愚昧而受苦或吃虧。他如此提議，也是順服神的旨意——是神差這狂風追趕他；因此他判定自己被拋入海中，因為他清楚地看見神如此審判他，好叫他不至被主審判到永遠的悲慘。注意，那些真正為罪自卑的人，必樂意順服神的旨意，甚至順服於死刑的判決。約拿既看見這是自己罪孽的刑罰，他便接受、順服，並在其中稱義神。無論肉身如何被毀壞，無論如何被毀壞，只要靈魂在主耶穌的日子可以得拯救便好，林前5:5。他所給的理由是：因為我知道你們遭這大風是因我的緣故。請看約拿何等樂意將一切罪咎攬在自己身上，並將一切麻煩看作是他們的：「這狂風臨到你們，純粹是因我的緣故——我犯了罪；因此你們將我拋在海中罷；因為，」1.「我罪有應得。我邪惡地背離了我的神，是因我的緣故他向你們發怒。我實在不配再呼吸這空氣——因我的緣故它被狂風所攪擾；不配再住在這船上——因我的緣故它被這樣顛簸。將我拋入海中罷，如同你們因我的緣將貨物拋在其中一樣。將我淹死對我已是太好的對待；單一次的死，對這樣累積的罪過而言，刑罰太輕了。」2.「因此別無使海平靜之法。若是我掀起了風暴，將貨物拋在海中也不能平息它；不，你們必須把我拋在那裏。」良心既被喚醒、風暴既在其中興起，除了與那攪擾之因——罪——分離、棄絕它之外，別無他法使它歸於平靜。與我們的金錢分離並不能安撫良心；不，必須把那約拿拋入海中。約拿在此乃是基督的預表——他捨命作多人的贖價；但有一個重大的分別：約拿甘心投入的風暴是他自己掀起的，但基督甘心投入的風暴卻是我們掀起的。然而正如約拿甘心被拋入狂濤大海以使其平靜，我們的主耶穌也是如此——他死，好叫我們活。
III. 可憐的水手們盡力要使自己免去將約拿拋入海中的必要，卻全歸徒然（Jon 1:13）：他們竭力盪槳，要把船攏岸，這樣，他們若必須與約拿分離，便可將他安全送上岸；卻是不能。他們一切的努力歸於無用；因為海比他們所能行的更猛烈，越發狂浪，反對他們，以致他們無論如何不能攏岸。他們有時或許以為已達目的，很快又被拋回海上。他們的船仍然超載；他們既拋棄了貨物，只要約拿還在船上，船便毫無減輕。況且他們逆風逆水而行——神報應的風、他定旨的潮；與神爭辯是徒然的，想以毀滅我們的罪以外的方式自救，也是徒然的。由此可見，這些水手極不情願對約拿本人執行判決，雖然他們知道這場狂風是因他的緣故臨到他們。他們如此猶豫，部分是因為怕招致流人血的罪，部分是因對可憐的約拿不得不有的憐憫——他是個義人、是身處患難的人、是個真誠的人。注意，罪人越自卑、越自審自判，就越有可能在神在人面前蒙憐恤。約拿越急切地說將我拋在海中，水手們越不肯如此行。
IV. 他們既覺得必須將約拿拋入海中，便先向神禱告，求這流血之罪不歸在他們身上、不算為他們的罪，Jon 1:14。他們發現拼命盪槳歸於徒然，便放下槳去禱告：於是他們求告耶和華，求告耶和華——那又真又活的神，不再求告他們從前所哀求的許多的神和許多的主，Jon 1:5。他們向以色列的神禱告，因為他們如今藉著神在約拿身上的护理、並他告訴他們的信息，確信唯獨他是神。他們既決定將約拿拋入海中，便先在天上的法庭呈上抗辯，表明他們不是甘心如此行，更不是惡意如此行，也非因狂風因他的緣故臨到而設計報復他。不；願他的神赦免他，正如他們所作的一樣！他們是被迫出於自衛如此行，別無他法拯救自己的性命；他們如此行，乃是作公義的執行者，因為神和他自己都定了他這樣的死。因此他們向約拿所敬畏的神獻上謙卑的請願，求他們不因這人的性命滅亡。請看，1. 他們對沾染血債何等恐懼，尤其是敬畏神、敬拜他、與他相交之人的血——他們看出約拿正是這樣的人，雖然他在一件事上有過。天然的良心對流血之罪不能不心存畏懼，並促使人在禱告中十分迫切，正如大衛那樣求從其中得解救，詩51:14。他們在此也是如此：*耶和華啊，我們懇求你，不要使流無辜血的罪歸與我們。*他們如今求免於罪的危險，與先前求免於海的危險一樣迫切，尤其因為約拿在他們看來不是普通人，而是個極好的人，是神人，是天地之大創造主的敬拜者——因這緣故，連這些粗魯的水手也對他心生敬畏，想到要取他性命便戰慄。無辜的血是寶貴的，但聖徒的血、先知的血更為寶貴，凡以任何方式使自己落在這血債之下的人，必付出慘重代價才得曉得。水手們看見約拿被神報應追趕，卻仍不能不心存戰慄地想到作他的行刑者。雖然他的神與他有爭論，他們卻想：*我們的手不可加害他。以色列人此時正殺害盡本分的先知（耶洗別最近的逼迫可證），任意揮霍他們的性命——這些外邦人對一個他們視為先知的人所存的體恤，反襯出他們的殘忍，更加顯出他們的過犯——雖然那人如今偏離了本分。2. 他們對招惹神怒何等恐懼；他們恐怕若由他們結束約拿的性命，他便發怒，因為他曾說：不可難為我受膏的人，也不可惡待我的先知；你們若如此行，後果自負。「主啊，」他們說，「不要因這人的性命使我們滅亡。*不要讓我們陷入如此致命的兩難。我們看見若饒他性命，我們必滅亡；求你不要因取他性命而使我們滅亡。他們的理由是好的：*因為你耶和華是隨自己的意旨行事；*你已使我們不得不如此行；追趕他的風、揭發他的籤，都在你的指引之下，我們所遵從的正是這指引；我們不過是护理的工具，我們如此行是極其不情願的；但我們不得不說：願主的旨意成就。」注意，當我們明明被护理引導去作與自己心意相違、並出乎自己意料之外的事時，我們若能說：耶和華啊，你是隨自己的意旨行事，便得著些許安慰。並且，神若憑己意行事，我們便當滿足，即使他沒有照我們的意思行事。
V. 他們既已對所怕的罪作了解除，便開始執行（Jon 1:15）：他們將約拿抬起，*拋在海中。*他們把他拋出他們的船、拋離他們的同夥，把他拋入海中——那狂飆怒濤的海，彷彿呼喊著：「交出來，交出來；交出叛徒，否則別指望平安。」我們不難想象可憐的約拿看見自己將要被趕到神面前作審判官時，心中何等困惑惶恐——他如今正在逃避的，本是他作主人的那位，如今卻要以審判官的身分面對他。注意，那些逃避神的人不知道自己奔向何等毀滅。他們有禍了！因為他們逃避我。當罪是那掀起風暴的約拿時，它就必如此被拋在海中；我們必須棄絕它、將它治死，必須淹沒那否則便要把我們淹沒在毀滅和沉淪中的東西。我們若藉著徹底的悔改和改革將我們的罪拋入海中，永不再召回、不再歸回，神也必以赦免的憐憫制伏我們的罪孽，將它們投入深海，彌7:19。
VI. 約拿被拋入海中，立刻終止了風暴。海得了所要的，便心滿意足地安息；它平息了狂浪。這是神主權大能的明證——他能很快將風暴轉為平靜；也是他治理之公正的明證——當患難的目的達成、達到時，患難便立刻撤去。他不永遠爭辯，不與我們爭辯到我們順服、交出案情為止。我們若轉離我們的罪，他便很快轉離他的怒氣。
VII. 水手們因此更加確信約拿的神是唯一的真神（Jon 1:16）：那些人便大大敬畏耶和華，對以色列的神心懷極深的敬畏，並定意在今後唯獨敬拜他；因為沒有別神能如此毀滅、能如此拯救。他們看見神在興起和平息狂風上的大能，看見他對約拿——他自己的僕人——所行的公義，又看見他拯救他們脫離毀滅邊緣的良善，那時他們便敬畏耶和華，耶5:22。作為他們敬畏他的證據，他們回到以色列地登岸之後便向耶和華獻祭，目前則許願要如此行，為他們的得救感恩，並為自己的靈魂贖罪。或者，也許他們船上還帶著一些可立即向神獻為祭物的東西。又或者這可理解為禱告和讚美屬靈的祭，神喜悅它勝過有角有蹄的公牛或牛犢的祭。參詩107:2等。我們不僅在追求憐憫時當許願，更在領受憐憫時當許願——後者更為大方，正如那些仍在思索要向神獻上甚麼的人。
VIII. 約拿的性命畢竟藉著神蹟得以保全，我們還要再聽到他的消息。在審判之中神記念憐憫。約拿將被嚇得厲害，受害卻少與其說是因罪受罰，不如說是被帶回本分。雖然他逃避耶和華的面，似乎落入他報應的手中，神卻還有更多的工要他作，因此已安排一條大魚吞了約拿（Jon 1:17），我們的救主稱之為鯨魚（太12:40），是最大的鯨魚之一，喉嚨比別的寬，其腹中曾發現有穿著鎧甲的人屍。在創造的記載中特別提到神創造大鯨（創1:21），以及在水中的鱷魚，在其中游泳，詩104:26。神為這鱷魚找到了事，已安排了它，已派定了它（原文如此），指定它作約拿的接收者和拯救者。注意，神統管一切受造之物，能使其中任何一個為他向百姓施恩的旨意效力，連最不為人所知的海中之魚，連完全不受人管轄的巨鯨也是如此。這魚已被安排，潛伏在船邊近水之處，好叫約拿不至沉入海底，救他活命——雖然他本該死。讓我們站住，看耶和華這施恩的拯救，讚嘆他的大能——他如此拯救了一個將要淹死的人——並讚嘆他的憐憫——他竟肯拯救一個逃避他、得罪他的人。約拿之在此時不被消滅，實在是因耶和華的慈愛。魚吞了約拿，不是要吞吃他，而是要保護他。從吃的之中出了食物；因為約拿在魚腹中三日三夜仍然活著，身體完好——未被動物的熱氣所消化，也未因缺氧而窒息。誠然對自然而言這是不可能的，對自然之神卻不然，在他凡事都能。約拿藉這奇妙的保全被定意要成為，1. 神聖憐憫的記念碑，鼓勵那些犯了罪、偏離了神的人歸回並悔改。2. 尼尼微的傳道者，滿有果效；而這為拯救他所行的神蹟，若其消息傳到尼尼微，必有助於他的成功。3. 基督顯著的預表——他照聖經所說埋葬了，又照聖經所說復活了（林前15:4），照著這聖經，因為約拿怎樣三日三夜在大魚肚腹中，人子也要照樣三日三夜在地裏頭，太12:40。約拿的埋葬是基督埋葬的影像。神預備了約拿的墳墓，照樣他也預備了基督的墳墓——早在很久以前就已定旨他必與財主同葬，賽53:9。約拿的墳墓奇特嗎？是新的嗎？基督的也是——從來沒有人葬在其中過。約拿在其中三日三夜的大部分時間嗎？基督也是如此；但二者都是為要再復活，好將悔改的道理帶給外邦世界。來看主安葬的地方。
Английский оригинал
The Prophet Confesses His Folly; The Prophet Reads His Own Doom; The Prophet Cast into the Sea; Jonah's Preservation in the Fish's Belly (840 BC)
¹¹ Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
¹² And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
¹⁴ Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
¹⁵ So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.
¹⁷ Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
It is plain that Jonah is the man for whose sake this evil is upon them, but the discovery of him to be so was not sufficient to answer the demands of this tempest; they had found him out, but something more was to be done, for still the sea wrought and was tempestuous (Jon 1:11), and again (Jon 1:13), it grew more and more tempestuous (so the margin reads it); for if we discover sin to be the cause of our troubles, and do not forsake it, we do but make bad worse. Therefore they went on with the prosecution.
I. They enquired of Jonah himself what he thought they must do with him (Jon 1:11): What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm to us? They perceived that Jonah is a prophet of the Lord, and therefore will not do any thing, no, not in his own case, without consulting him. He appears to be a delinquent, but he appears also to be a penitent, and therefore they will not insult over him, nor offer him any rudeness. Note, We ought to act with great tenderness towards those that are overtaken in a fault and are brought into distress by it. They would not cast him into the sea if he could think of any other expedient by which to save the ship. Or, perhaps, thus they would show how plain the case was, that there was no remedy but he must be thrown overboard; let him be his own judge as he had been his own accuser, and he himself will say so. Note, When sin has raised a storm, and laid us under the tokens of God's displeasure, we are concerned to enquire what we shall do that the sea may be calm; and what shall we do? We must pray and believe, when we are in a storm, and study to answer the end for which it was sent, and then the storm shall become a calm. But especially we must consider what is to be done to the sin that raised the storm; that must be discovered, and penitently confessed; that must be detested, disclaimed, and utterly forsaken. What have I to do any more with it? Crucify it, crucify it, for this evil it has done.
II. Jonah reads his own doom (Jon 1:12): Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. He would not himself leap into the sea, but he put himself into their hands, to cast him into the sea, and assured them that then the sea would be calm, and not otherwise. He proposed this, in tenderness to the mariners, that they might not suffer for his sake. "Let thy hand be upon me" (says David, 1Ch 21:17), "who am guilty; let me die for my own sin, but let not the innocent suffer for it." This is the language of true penitents, who earnestly desire that none but themselves may ever smart, or fare the worse, for their sins and follies. He proposed it likewise in submission to the will of God, who sent this tempest in pursuit of him; and therefore judged himself to be cast into the sea, because to that he plainly saw God judging him, that he might not be judged of the Lord to eternal misery. Note, Those who are truly humbled for sin will cheerfully submit to the will of God, even in a sentence of death itself. If Jonah sees this to be the punishment of his iniquity, he accepts it, he subjects himself to it, and justifies God in it. No matter though the flesh be destroyed, no matter how it is destroyed, so that the spirit may be but saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, 1Co 5:5. The reason he gives is, For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. See how ready Jonah is to take all the guilt upon himself, and to look upon all the trouble as theirs: "It is purely for my sake, who have sinned, that this tempest is upon you; therefore cast me forth into the sea; for," 1. "I deserve it. I have wickedly departed from my God, and it is upon my account that he is angry with you. Surely I am unworthy to breathe in that air which for my sake has been hurried with winds, to live in that ship which for my sake has been thus tossed. Cast me into the sea after the wares which for my sake you have thrown into it. Drowning is too good for me; a single death is punishment too little for such a complicated offence." 2. "Therefore there is no way of having the sea calm. If it is I that have raised the storm, it is not casting the wares into the sea that will lay it again; no, you must cast me thither." When conscience is awakened, and a storm raised there, nothing will turn it into a calm but parting with the sin that occasioned the disturbance, and abandoning that. It is not parting with our money that will pacify conscience; no, it is the Jonah that be thrown overboard. Jonah is herein a type of Christ, that he gives his life a ransom for many; but with this material difference, that the storm Jonah gave himself up to still was of his own raising, but that storm which Christ gave himself up to still was of our raising. Yet, as Jonah delivered himself up to be cast into a raging sea that it might be calm, so did our Lord Jesus, when he died that we might live.
III. The poor mariners did what they could to save themselves from the necessity of throwing Jonah into the sea, but all in vain (Jon 1:13): They rowed hard to bring the ship to the land, that, if they must part with Jonah, they might set him safely on shore; but they could not. All their pains were to no purpose; for the sea wrought harder than they could, and was tempestuous against them, so that they could by no means make the land. If they thought sometimes that they had gained their point, they were quickly thrown off to sea again. Still their ship was overladen; their lightening it of the wares made it never the lighter as long as Jonah was in it. And, besides, they rowed against wind and tide, the wind of God's vengeance, the tide of his counsels; and it is in vain to contend with God, in vain to think of saving ourselves any other way than by destroying our sins. By this it appears that these mariners were very loth to execute Jonah's sentence upon himself, though they knew it was for his sake that this tempest was upon them. They were thus very backward to it partly from a dread of bringing upon themselves the guilt of blood, and partly from a compassion they could not but have for poor Jonah, as a good man, as a man in distress, and as a man of sincerity. Note, The more sinners humble and abase themselves, judge and condemn themselves, the more likely they are to find pity both with God and man. The more forward Jonah was to say, Cast me into the sea, the more backward they were to do it.
IV. When they found it necessary to cast Jonah into the sea they first prayed to God that the guilt of his blood might not lie upon them, nor be laid to their charge, Jon 1:14. When they found it in vain to row hard they quitted their oars and went to their prayers: Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, unto Jehovah, the true and living God, and no more to the gods many. and lords many, that the had cried to, Jon 1:5. They prayed to the God of Israel, being now convinced, by the providences of God concerning Jonah and the information he had given them, that he is God alone. Having determined to cast Jonah into the sea, they first enter a protestation in the court of heaven that they do not do it willingly, much less maliciously, or with any design to be revenged upon him because it was for his sake that this tempest was upon them. No; his god forgive him, as they do! But they are forced to do it se defendendo—in self-defence, having no other way to save their own lives; and they do it as ministers of justice, both God and himself having sentenced him to so great a death. They therefore present a humble petition to the God whom Jonah feared, that they might not perish for his life. See, 1. What a fear they had of contracting the guilt of blood, especially the blood of one that feared God, and worshipped him, and had fellowship with him, as they perceived Jonah had, though in a single instance he had been faulty. Natural conscience cannot but have a dread of blood-guiltiness, and make men very earnest in prayer, as David was, to be delivered from it, Ps 51:14. So they were here: We beseech thee, O Lord! we beseech thee, lay not upon us innocent blood. They are now as earnest in praying to be saved from the peril of sin as they were before in praying to be saved from the peril of the sea, especially because Jonah appeared to them to be no ordinary person, but a very good man, a man of God, a worshipper of the great Creator of heaven and earth, upon which account even these rude mariners conceived a veneration for him, and trembled at the thought of taking away his life. Innocent blood is precious, but saints' blood, prophets' blood, is much more precious, and so those will find to their cost that any way bring themselves under the guilt of it. The mariners saw Jonah pursued by divine vengeance, and yet could not without horror think of being his executioners. Though his God has a controversy with him, yet, think they, Let not our hand be upon him. The Israelites were at this time killing the prophets for doing their duty (witness Jezebel's late persecution), and were prodigal of their lives, which is aggravated by the tenderness these heathens had for one whom they perceived to be a prophet, though he was now out of the way of his duty. 2. What a fear they had of incurring the wrath of God; they were jealous lest he should be angry if they should be the death of Jonah, for he had said, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm; it is at your peril if you do. "Lord," say they, "let us not perish for this man's life. Let it not be such a fatal dilemma to us. We see we must perish if we spare his life; Oh let us not perish for taking away his life." And their plea is good: "For thou, O Lord! hast done as it pleased thee; thou had laid us under a necessity of doing it; the wind that pursued him, the lot that discovered him, were both under thy direction, which we are herein governed by; we are but the instruments of Providence, and it is sorely against our will that we do it; but we must say, The will of the Lord be done." Note, When we are manifestly led by Providence to do things contrary to our own inclinations, and quite beyond our own intentions, it will be some satisfaction to us to be able to say, Thou, O Lord! has done as it pleased thee. And, if God please himself, we ought to be satisfied though he do not please us.
V. Having deprecated the guilt they dreaded, they proceeded to execution (Jon 1:15): They took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea. They cast him out of their ship, out of their company, and cast him into the sea, a raging stormy sea, that cried, "Give, give; surrender the traitor, or expect no peace." We may well think what confusion and amazement poor Jonah was in when he saw himself ready to be hurried into the presence of that God as a Judge whose presence as a Master he was now fleeing from. Note, Those know not what ruin they run upon that run away from God. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me. When sin is the Jonah that raises the storm, that must thus be cast forth into the sea; we must abandon it, and be the death of it, must drown that which otherwise will drown us in destruction and perdition. And if we thus by a thorough repentance and reformation cast our sins forth into the sea, never to recall them or return to them again, God will by pardoning mercy subdue our iniquities, and cast them into the depths of the sea too, Mic 7:19.
VI. The throwing of Jonah into the sea immediately put an end to the storm. The sea has what she came for, and therefore rests contended; she ceases from her raging. It is an instance of the sovereign power of God that he can soon turn the storm into a calm, and of the equity of his government that when the end of an affliction is answered and attained the affliction shall immediately be removed. He will not contend for ever, will not contend any longer till we submit ourselves and give up the cause. If we turn from our sins, he will soon turn from his anger.
VII. The mariners were hereby more confirmed in their belief that Jonah's God was the only true God (Jon 1:16): Then the men feared the Lord with a great fear, were possessed with a deep veneration for the God of Israel, and came to a resolution that they would worship him only for the future; for there is no other God that can destroy, that can deliver, after this sort. When they saw the power of God in raising and laying the tempest, when they saw his justice upon Jonah his own servant, and when they saw his goodness to them in saving them from the brink of ruin, then they feared the Lord, Jer 5:22. As an evidence of their fear of him, they offered sacrifice to him when they came ashore again in the land of Israel, and for the present made vows that they would do so, in thankfulness for their deliverance, and to make atonement for their souls. Or, perhaps, they had something yet on board which might be for a sacrifice to God immediately. Or it may be meant of the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, with which God is better pleased than with that of an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs. See Ps 107:2, etc. We must make vows, not only when we are in the pursuit of mercy, but, which is much more generous, when we have received mercy, as those that are still studying what we shall render.
VIII. Jonah's life, after all, is saved by a miracle, and we shall hear of him again for all this. In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. Jonah shall be worse frightened than hurt, not so much punished for his sin as reduced to his duty. Though he flees from the presence of the Lord, and seems to fall into his avenging hands, yet God has more work for him to do, and therefore has prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah (Jon 1:17), a whale our Saviour calls it (Mt 12:40), one of the largest sorts of whales, that have wider throats than others, in the belly of which has sometimes been found the dead body of a man in armour. Particular notice is taken, in the history of creation, of God's creating great whales (Ge 1:21) and the leviathan in the waters made to play therein, Ps 104:26. But God finds work for this leviathan, has prepared him, has numbered him (so the word is), has appointed him to be Jonah's receiver and deliverer. Note, God has command of all the creatures, and can make any of them serve his designs of mercy to his people, even the fishes of the sea, that are most from under man's cognizance, even the great whales, that are altogether from under man's government. This fish was prepared, lay ready under water close by the ship, that he might keep Jonah from sinking to the bottom, and save him alive, though he deserved to die. Let us stand still and see this salvation of the Lord, and admire his power, that he could thus save a drowning man, and his pity, that he would thus save one that was running from him and had offended him. It was of the Lord's mercies that Jonah was not now consumed. The fish swallowed up Jonah, not to devour him, but to protect him. Out of the eater comes forth meat; for Jonah was alive and well in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, not consumed by the heat of the animal, nor suffocated for want of air. It is granted that to nature this was impossible, but not to the God of nature, with whom all things are possible. Jonah by this miraculous preservation was designed to be made, 1. A monument of divine mercy, for the encouragement of those that have sinned, and gone away from God, to return and repent. 2. A successful preacher to Nineveh; and this miracle wrought for his deliverance, if the tidings of it reached Nineveh, would contribute to his success. 3. An illustrious type of Christ, who was buried and rose again according to the scriptures (1Co 15:4), according to this scripture, for, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so was the Son of man three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, Mt 12:40. Jonah's burial was a figure of Christ's. God prepared Jonah's grave, so he did Christ's, when it was long before ordained that he should make his grave with the rich, Isa 53:9. Was Jonah's grave a strange one, a new one? So was Christ's, one in which never man before was laid. Was Jonah there the best part of three days and three nights? So was Christ; but both in order to their rising again for the bringing of the doctrine of repentance to the Gentile world. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
在本章我們看見：一、神賜給約拿往尼尼微傳道的命令，Jon 1:1,2。二、約拿違背那命令，Jon 1:3。三、他因那違背而被暴風追趕擒拿，當時他正在沉睡，Jon 1:4-6。四、他被查出，連同他的違背，正是那暴風的起因，Jon 1:7-10。五、他為平息暴風而被拋入海中，Jon 1:11-16。六、他的性命在魚腹中奇妙地得以保全（Jon 1:17），這是為日後的服事而將他留存。