MS: וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה־לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיךָ אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד
LXX: Καὶ προσῆλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πρωρεὺς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί σὺ ῥέγχεις ἀνάστα καὶ ἐπικαλοῦ τὸν Θεόν σου ὅπως διασώσῃ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπολώμεθα
TJ: וּקְרַב לְוָתֵיהּ רַב סְפַנְיָא וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ מָא אַתְּ דְמוּךְ קוּם צַלֵי קֳדָם אֱלָהָךְ מָאִים יִתְרַחֵים מִן קֳדָם יְיָ עֲלָנָא וְלָא נוֹבֵיד
Verse Breakdown
MS: וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל LXX: Καὶ προσῆλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πρωρεὺς TJ: וּקְרַב לְוָתֵיהּ רַב סְפַנְיָא
MS: vayiqrav ‘elaiv rav hakhovel LXX: Kai proselthe pros auton ho proreus TJ: uqrav levateh rav sepanya’
MS: And went to him, the greatest of the sailors LXX: And went before him, the captain TJ: And went to him, the greatest of the sailors
MS: וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה־לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיךָ LXX: καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί σὺ ῥέγχεις ἀνάστα καὶ ἐπικαλοῦ τὸν Θεόν σου TJ: וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ מָא אַתְּ דְמוּךְ קוּם צַלֵי קֳדָם אֱלָהָךְ
MS: Vay’omer lo mah-lekha nirdam qum qra’ ‘el-’eloheikha LXX: kai epipen autoi ti su regxeis anasta kai epikalou ton theon sou TJ: va’amar leih ma’ ‘at dmukh qum tsaley qadam ‘elahakh
MS: And said to him, what are you doing sleeping? Arise, cry to your god! LXX: And said to him, what are you doing sleeping? Arise and call to your god! TJ: And said to him, what is this, of sleeping? Arise and cry out before your god!
MS: אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד LXX: ὅπως διασώσῃ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπολώμεθα TJ: מָאִים יִתְרַחֵים מִן קֳדָם יְיָ עֲלָנָא וְלָא נוֹבֵיד
MS: ‘ulay yit`ashet ha’elohim lanu vel’o n’oved LXX: hopos diasosei ho theos hemas kai ou me apolometha TJ: ma’im yitrakheym min qadam yeya `alana’ vela’ noveyd
MS: Possibly show kindness, this god to us, and we will not perish! LXX: Perhaps be kind, this god to us, and we will certainly not die! TJ: Maybe there is kindness before the Lord toward us, and we will not perish!
Critical Reconstruction
Shortest Construction:
“And the captain went before him, and said to him, what are you doing, sleeping? Arise, cry to your god! Perhaps this god will be kind to us, and we will not perish!”
Longest Construction:
“And the greatest sailor went before him, and said to him, what are you doing, sleeping? Arise, cry to your god! Perhaps there is kindness from before the Lord, and we will certainly not perish!”
Overview:
This verse has four minor changes. Firstly, MS and TJ use the term “rav” to describe the highest sailor, which LXX uses the term captain for. This is insignificant and does not change the meeting. Second, TJ uses the usual construction of “min qadam,” which is “from before the presence” of God, to describe where this kindness might come from. Third, the LXX uses a phrase “ou me,” which is an emphatic “certainly not,” where MS and TJ use the typical “lo,” which is the regular “not.” All of these changes so far are superficial. However, the final change is from TJ, which exchanges “perhaps the god will be kind to us,” with “perhaps the Lord will be kind to us,” shifting from a general deity to the specific name of God, abbreviated in TJ as “yeya.” This change clarifies that God is the one behind the storm, but it is certainly not what the sailors said before Jonah explained which god he served.
Starting Small
Bible study begins in the smallest places. Even the tiniest verse, when understood in its context, can reveal much about the character and heart of God. Let’s begin with this verse, which says, “And the captain went before him, and said to him, what are you doing, sleeping? Arise, cry to your god! Perhaps this god will be kind to us, and we will not perish!” What do you see? When I look at this verse, I see people brought to a place of serious desperation before God. In fact, this reminds me of Mark 4:37-38 (NKJV), which says, “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’”
These two verses together cover very similar events, hundreds of years apart. A great storm arises on the sea, and the sailors, in one case pagans and in one case Jesus’ disciples, become deathly afraid. I feel as though Jesus’ disciples get a bad rap in this story for being fearful. Wouldn’t you be fearful, too? But examine where the different sailors look for refuge. The sailors with Jonah cry out to their gods, and demand Jonah cries out to his god likewise. They are approaching God with “shotgun religion.” They pray to as many gods as they can, and maybe they will pray to the right one. But Jesus’ disciples do not approach Jesus with “shotgun religion.” They go straight to Jesus: “And they awoke Him, and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’” There is nothing here that the disciples were unsure of who was in control. The sailors with Jonah did not know where to look, so they tried everything. The disciples, though they get a bad rap for their fear, know exactly where to look: their Teacher, soundly asleep in the stern of the boat.
Who do we look to when our sea becomes stormy? Like the sailors, we probably begin throwing cargo overboard. We drop anything we can, because the big storm consumes everything. But we can be brought to a point of not being sure how long we can endure the storm. So which sailor are we: The pagan, or the disciple? Do we approach God with “shotgun religion,” consuming ourselves with rituals? “Maybe if I go to church again this week God will look at me.” But this is only “shotgun religion.” The disciples approached Jesus with a vulnerable question: Did He not care if they were perishing? I believe this is a question we can ask God for ourselves. And I believe He will answer when we ask. When we seek His face, sit in His Word, speak with Him in prayer, He will answer. When we do that, we move past “God, do you not care if we are perishing” to “God, what are you doing through this?” And when we seek Him in this way, we can find and know the “kindness from before the Lord” (Jonah 1:6c, TJ). Amen!
How much contemplation are we able to find from only a single verse of Scripture, when understood in the greater context of Scripture and our lives? Bible study can begin as small as a single verse. As we move on to more verses, remember this principle. Each verse is a valuable nugget to understand God’s character and love for His creation. Amen!
