Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 1
Ancient boats were wooden, and they would often need repairs after bad weather. However, the sailors on Jonah’s boat soon realised that the storm was causing much worse damage that that. In this terrible storm, their boat was actually starting to fall apart.
Until that time, the sailors and their captain had hoped to make good profits from this journey. They had filled the boat with precious objects from Israel, which they hoped to sell at Tarshish, 2000 miles (3000 kilometres) away (compare 1 Kings 10:22).
Now, however, the sailors gave up all hope of profit. They cared only to save their own lives. So, they threw their valuable objects into the sea. They wanted the boat to be as light as possible, so that it would not sink. Then, perhaps, whatever remained of the boat after the storm would continue to float. If so, the sailors would then try to row it to land.
The sailors were so desperate that they all began to pray. It seems that they came from many different countries. At that time, in each nation, the people served different false gods. So each sailor asked the false god of his own nation for help. Only one man on the boat, Jonah, knew the true God. However, he was not praying.
Rather, Jonah was asleep. That astonishes us. There was the noise of the storm, the waves, and the sailors’ cries. There was the noise from the boat itself as its wood broke into pieces. None of this woke Jonah. He had chosen not to obey God’s instruction that he should go to Nineveh. Now, he had become careless about the boat, its sailors, and even his own life.
Next part: The boat's captain urges Jonah to pray (Jonah 1:6)
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