MS: וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ לְכוּ וְנַפִּילָה גוֹרָלוֹת וְנֵדְעָה בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ וַיַּפִּלוּ גּוֹרָלוֹת וַיִּפֹּל הַגּוֹרָל עַל־יוֹנָה
LXX: Καὶ εἶπεν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ δεῦτε βάλωμεν κλήρους καὶ ἐπιγνῶμεν τίνος ἕνεκεν ἡ κακία αὕτη ἐστὶν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἔβαλον κλήρους καὶ ἔπεσεν ὁ κλῆρος ἐπὶ Ἰωνᾶν
TJ: וַאֲמָרוּ גְבַר לְחַבְרֵיהּ אֱתוֹ וְנִרְמֵי עַדְבִין וְנִידַע בְּדִיל מָה בִישְׁתָא הָדָא לָנָא וּרְמוֹ עַדְבִין וּנְפַל עַדְבָא עַל יוֹנָה
Verse Breakdown
MS: וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ לְכוּ LXX: Καὶ εἶπεν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ δεῦτε βάλωμεν κλήρους TJ: וַאֲמָרוּ גְבַר לְחַבְרֵיהּ אֱתוֹ
MS: vay’omru ‘ish ‘el-re`ehu lecu LXX: kai eipen hekastos pros ton plesion autou deute balomen klerous TJ: va’amaru gevar lekhavreyh ‘etu
MS: And they said, man to his neighbor, come LXX: And said each to the neighbor (his), come TJ: And they said, man to his neighbor, come
MS: וְנַפִּילָה גוֹרָלוֹת וְנֵדְעָה בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ LXX: καὶ ἐπιγνῶμεν τίνος ἕνεκεν ἡ κακία αὕτη ἐστὶν ἐν ἡμῖν TJ: וְנִרְמֵי עַדְבִין וְנִידַע בְּדִיל מָה בִישְׁתָא הָדָא לָנָא
MS: venapilah gorlot vened`ah beshelmi hara`ah haz’ot lanu LXX: kai epignomen tinos heneken he kakia haute estin en hemin TJ: venirmey `advin venida` bedil mah vishta’ hada’ lana’
MS: And throw lots, and we may know for who, this evil, is to us LXX: And throw lots, and know whose this evil is toward us TJ: And throw lots, and we may know because of what, this to us
MS: וַיַּפִּלוּ גּוֹרָלוֹת וַיִּפֹּל הַגּוֹרָל עַל־יוֹנָה LXX: καὶ ἔβαλον κλήρους καὶ ἔπεσεν ὁ κλῆρος ἐπὶ Ἰωνᾶν TJ: וּרְמוֹ עַדְבִין וּנְפַל עַדְבָא עַל יוֹנָה
MS: vayapilu gorlot vayipol hagoral `al-yonah LXX: kai evalon klerous kai epesen ho kleros epi ionan TJ: urmo `advin unpal `adva’ `al yonah
MS: And threw lots, and fell the lot to Jonah LXX: And threw lots, and landed the lot upon Jonah TJ: And they threw lots, and fell the lot to Jonah
Critical Reconstruction
Shortest Construction:
“And they said, each man to his neighbor, come and throw lots, and we may know for who this evil is to us. And they threw lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.”
Longest Construction:
“And they said, each man to his neighbor, come and throw lots, and we may know because of what this evil is to us. And they threw lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.”
Overview:
This verse is extremely stable across traditions. There is little to no revision to the original idea in the passage. The only revision is the change of phrase in TJ, which says “because of what is this evil to us,” which simply lengthens the phrase “why” to two words.
Five Beginning Questions
In order to approach a text in biblical studies, one must learn the essential questions to ask when reading. These questions are commonly taught as the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “why” questions. This may seem like an elementary principle, but when you learn to actively and systematically apply these to each text, you gain a tremendous, automatic insight. For example, let us look at this seemingly unremarkable verse: “And they said, each man to his neighbor, come and throw lots, and we may know because of what this evil is to us. And they threw lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.”
We will apply the five reading questions. First, who is in this verse? Sailors and Jonah. But what do we really know about these characters? These sailors were pagan sailors. They are denoted as sailors, not regular people in the boat, so it is valid to ask, are there other people on the boat who are not Jonah and who are not the sailors, such as other passengers sailing to Tarsus? If so, why are they not mentioned here? The sailors are pagan, meaning they did not worship the God of Israel, but cried out to their own gods in a previous verse. Jonah, on the other hand, is a prophet of God, sent to warn a people about their destruction.
Second, what happens? The sailors have cried out to their gods, and using their own wisdom they decide someone must have upset their gods. In other words, they understand that this storm is not by accident. Remember, we know these are sailors, people who sail as a profession. The text describes the storm as a great storm, and the seasoned sailors’ reactions verify that. They cast lots, a kind of divine ask for the one at fault, and it actually works. Jonah, the one at fault for this storm, is chosen.
Third, when? This story takes place during the divided kingdom of Israel, as seen from Kings previously. This is also before Assyria took over the region. Therefore, there is no united Israel and no superpower ruling the area. This has at least one significant application to the text, in that religion would be a mix of dozens of cultures in the area around Joppa, where they sailed from.
Fourth, where? This story obviously happened on a boat, so the sailors had nowhere to run. However, there may be more to the story. According to 2 Chronicles 2:16, Joppa was the port where the beams of cedar from Lebanon would be carried to Jerusalem for Solomon’s Temple. This may seem insignificant, but this means Joppa would be one of the most accessible ports for Jerusalem, the religious capital of the southern kingdom of Judah at this time. Yet, there is rampant paganism. Why is Judah not doing its job of being a light to the blind?
Finally, why? Why do these sailors cast lots? They do this because they do not know their way. As previously mentioned, they are attempting a kind of “shotgun religion,” trying different things until one of them works. In this case, though, they encounter the God of Israel, which will make a serious impact on them.
With this single verse, applying the five reading questions gives a full profile on the events. When we learn to search for answers to these five questions, verses can be understood to a near exhausted extent. And when we learn to do this automatically, we can glean benefit after benefit through the understanding and application of God’s Word.
