Jonah 1:16

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly,.... This was not a natural fear, as before, but a religious one; and not a servile fear, or a fear of punishment, but a reverential godly fear; for they

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Then, when they saw God approved the thing, and confirmed Jonah’ s word, as of a true prophet, and had spared them, the men, the seamen, and all others, if any others were in the ship, feared the Lord; with a deep reverence of his power, wisdom, and justice against Jonah, and of his mercy towards them. What was the final effect of this, and whether they were by it thoroughly turned to God, I inquire not now; it may best become our charity, that as Jonah’ s casting overboard was type of Christ’ s death, so the effect it had upon the mariners might be a type of the conversion of the heathen from idols to God. Exceedingly; their fear before was exceeding great, but that was a fear of the danger, and for themselves a natural fear; but now they do fear the Lord and his majesty and mercy, it is a religious fear. Offered a sacrifice; what they had in the ship to offer to God, or how they could offer there, appears not to us, but the Scripture affirms they did sacrifice, not to idols, but to the true God: some suppose the words are to be interpreted that they would sacrifice at Jerusalem, where they now know that the God of Jonah was worshipped. Made vows: vows are a part of natural religion, and here these persons bind themselves by vows to recognize God’ s goodness in their deliverance. It is not improbable that here is a trajection, as many times in Scripture, that placed last which in construction is to be first. They vowed vows and sacrificed, i.e. vowed they would do it, would be proselytes, and ever worship him Jonah preached to them, Creator of heaven and earth.

Jonah 1:16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.Ver. 16. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly] Heb. with a great fear. They feared before, Jonah 1:10, with a natural fear; but now they feared Jehovah. They began to bear all awful respect to the Divine majesty, of whose power and goodness they were by this miracle clearly convinced, and, as it may seem, to the true faith effectually converted. For they offered a sacrifice to the Lord] They sacrificed spiritual sacrifices presently (that holocaust of themselves, Romans 12:1, that broken heart that lieth low and heareth all that God saith, giving thanks to his name, Hebrews 13:15), and resolved to cover God’ s altar at Jerusalem upon their safe arrival, as the Chaldee here paraphraseth. And made vows] That the true God should be their God (as Jacob, the father of vows, promised, Genesis 28:21), and that they would bestow cost on the temple, on the poor saints, to feed and clothe them, as Isaiah 23:18.

(16) Offered.—There may have been some live-stock on board suitable for sacrifice; but the offering could only be completed on landing, wherefore they made vows.

Verse 16. Offered a sacrifice] The first perhaps ever offered on board a vessel since the ark floated on the waters of the great deluge; and it is most probable that these heathens, witnessing what was done, became sincere converts to the true God.

16. feared the Lord exceedingly] They had feared exceedingly before (Jonah 1:10, where the Heb. expression is the same as here), but their fear then was vague and indefinite, now it recognised as its object Jehovah, the God of Jonah. offered a sacrifice] It would certainly seem to be implied, that immediately on the ceasing of the storm the sailors offered a sacrifice to Jonah’s God, in acknowledgment of what He had already done, and at the same time vowed that they would present to Him other gifts and offerings when He should have brought them safe to land. We know but little of the ships of the ancients, but some of them were of considerable size, and there is no difficulty in supposing that there may have been one or more live animals suitable for sacrifice on board Jonah’s ship. Jonah 1:17 to Jonah 2:10. Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance Cast into the sea at his own request by the sailors, Jonah is swallowed alive by a large fish, and remains uninjured inside it for three days and three nights, Jonah 1:17. While there, he offers a prayer of thanksgiving to Almighty God (Jonah 2:1-9), at whose command the fish, at the end of the three days and three nights, vomits up Jonah on the dry land, Jonah 2:10.

And the men feared the Lord with a great fear - because, from the tranquility of the sea and the ceasing of the tempest, they saw that the prophet’s words were true. This great miracle completed the conversion of the mariners.

15, 16. The prayer ended, they cast Jonah out, and immediately the sea grew calm. The men feared Jehovah exceedingly — The sudden cessation of the tempest was unfailing evidence that the God of Jonah was the God (Mark 4:41).