Brittany Grove

BIBL 201

Eric Siebert

Detailed Observation of Jonah 1

1. A. 1. Jonah runs away – 1:1-1:3

2. The Storm – 1:4-1:16

3. The Fish – 1:17

I made division between verses 3 and 4 because that’s the transition from Jonah running

away to God doing something about it. The next chunk is a fairly cohesive story about

the event, so I couldn’t find another good division spot until verses 16 and 17, when the

storm is over and the fish swallows Jonah.

B. Sea – 1:4, 1:5, 1:9, 1:11, 1:12, 1:13, 1:15 It’s significant that Jonah describes God as

the God of the sea, amidst all the descriptions of the raging, stormy sea.

God – 1:5, 1:6, 1:9 Each sailor has his own God, but Jonah describes the God.

C. It never gives any information about Jonah’s life or occupation. Was he a prophet full

time, or did he do something else and this was his first prophecy?

2. Category Jonah Sailors

Running Away Tries to avoid Ninevah Try to avoid throwing Jonah over

Reaction to Storm Sleeping Panicking and calling on gods

Worships the LORD each his own god

Occupation Prophet? Sailors

Ethnicity Hebrew non-Hebrew

Solution to Storm Sacrificing himself Rowing back to land

 Some tentative conclusions from this comparison might be that although the sailors were

not Hebrews and didn’t worship God, they had good intentions and were moral enough to not

want to take Jonah’s life. And in the end, in verse 16, they come to worship the Lord.

3. 1:1 – God’s word comes to Jonah -> God can communicate with people -> I agree

1:4 – God send a storm -> God can control weather -> I agree

1:9 – God created the sea and the land -> God created the world - > I agree

1:14 – God might hold the sailors accountable for killing Jonah -> God holds people

accountable for their sins -> I agree

1:17 – God sends a great fish to swallow Jonah -> God works his plan despite people’s

actions -> I agree

4. Tarshish was possibly in Spain, which is all the way across the Mediterranean Sea from

Ninevah, which was further inland and north of Israel. Which means Tarshish was really

flipping far away. And also that the storm and great fish all happened in the

Mediterranean. Additionally, the fish didn’t deliver Jonah straight to Ninevah, as some

storybooks suggest, because Ninevah was nowhere near the coast.