A paraphrasticall explication of the twelve minor prophets. Viz. Hoseah. Joel. Amos. Obadiah. Jonah. Micah. Nahum. Habakkuk. Zephaniah. Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi. / By Da. Stokes. D.D.

CHAP. I.

1. NOw the word of the Lord came un∣to Ionah the son of Amittai, saying.

2 Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and cry against it; for their wick∣ednesse is come up before me.

3 But Ionah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Ioppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to goe with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord.

4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the Sea, so that the ship was like to be bro∣ken.

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried e∣very man unto his God, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship, into the

sea, to lighten it of them; but Ionah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 So the Ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we pe∣rish not.

7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this ••evill is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Ionah.

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evill is upon us: what is thine oc∣cupation? and whence co∣mest thou? what is thy countrey? and of what peo∣ple art thou?

9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord be∣cause he had told them)

11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? (for the sea wrought and was tempe∣stuous.)

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land, but they could not; for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this mans life, and lay not upon us inno∣cent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it plea∣sed thee.

15 So they took up Ionah

and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.

16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vowes.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Ionah, and Io∣nah was in the belly of the fish three dayes and three nights.

The Prophesie of Jonah,* 1.1 who was an Hebrew (as appears by his words to the Mari∣ners) whatsoever made Lyranus think him the Son of the widow of Sarepta,* 1.2 that was raised again to life by Eliah.* 1.3 He seems to have been of the tribe of Naphthali.* 1.4 For he was of Gath-heper,* 1.5 which was a City in the tribe of Naphtali.* 1.6 And ma∣ny of the Iewes think, it was he, that an∣nointed Iohn at the command of Elias.* 1.7 He lived in the time of Jeroboam, the Son of Ioas, and prophesied of the victory, which that King of Israel should obtain to the great benefit of that kingdom, He was a signe to the Ninevites, and the conversion of Nineveh (the great City of Assy∣ria) by his preaching, was a prediction of the

vocation of the Gentiles, and rejection of the Iewes. Lastly, He is (i) 1.8 commended to us by our Saul himself, as a type of his Death, and Buriall, and Resurrection.

Notes

• * 1.1

  c. 1. 9.
• * 1.2

  3 Reg. 17. 23.
• * 1.3

  Jos. 19, 13.
• * 1.4

  4. Reg. 9.
• * 1.5

  4. Reg. 14, 25.
• * 1.6

  Luc. 1 1,30.
• * 1.7

  Mat. 12,45.
• (i) 1.8

  Matt. 12, 40.