Jonas 1

Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel

Jonas 1

1Now the word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying,ΚΑΙ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς Ἰωνᾶν τὸν τοῦ Ἀμαθὶ, λέγων,

2Rise, and go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness is come up to me.ἀνάστηθι, καὶ πορεύθητι εἰς Νινευὴ τὴν πόλιν τὴν μεγάλην, καὶ κήρυξον ἐν αὐτῇ, ὅτι ἀνέβη ἡ κραυγὴ τῆς κακίας αὐτῆς πρὸς μέ.

3But Jonas rose up to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord.Καὶ ἀνέστη Ἰωνᾶς τοῦ φυγεῖν εἰς Θαρσὶς ἐκ προσώπου Κυρίου· καὶ κατέβη εἰς Ἰόππην, καὶ εὗρε πλοῖον βαδίζον εἰς Θαρσὶς, καὶ ἔδωκε τὸ ναῦλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς αὐτὸ, τοῦ πλεῦσαι μετʼ αὐτῶν εἰς Θαρσὶς ἐκ προσώπου Κυρίου.

4And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken.Καὶ Κύριος ἐξήγειρε πνεῦμα ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐγένετο κλύδων μέγας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ τὸ πλοῖον ἐκινδύνευε τοῦ συντριβῆναι.

5And the sailors were alarmed, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonas was gone down into the * hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.Καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν οἱ ναυτικοὶ, καὶ ἀνεβόησαν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν θεὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκβολὴν ἐποιήσαντο τῶν σκευῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, τοῦ κουφισθῆναι ἀπʼ αὐτῶν· Ἰωνᾶς δὲ κατέβη εἰς τὴν κοίλην τοῦ πλοίου, καὶ ἐκάθευδε, καὶ ἔρεγχε.

6And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snore you? arise, and call upon your God, that God may save us, and we perish not.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.

7And each man said to his neighbor, Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas.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.

8And they said to him, Tell us † what is your occupation, and whence come you, and of what country and what people are you?Καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἀπάγγειλον ἡμῖν, τίς σου ἡ ἐργασία ἐστὶ, καὶ πόθεν ἔρχῃ, καὶ ἐκ ποίας χώρας, καὶ ἐκ ποίου λαοῦ εἶ σύ;

9And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry land.Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτοὺς, δοῦλος Κυρίου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, καὶ τὸν Κύριον Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐγὼ σέβομαι, ὃς ἐποίησε τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηράν.

10Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this that you have done? for the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.Καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν οἱ ἄνδρες φόβον μέγαν, καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὸν, τί τοῦτο ἐποίησας; διότι ἔγνωσαν οἱ ἄνδρες ὅτι ἐκ προσώπου Κυρίου ἦν φεύγων, ὅτι ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς·

11And they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea ‡ rose, and lifted its wave exceedingly.καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὸν, τί ποιήσομέν σοι, καὶ κοπάσει ἡ θάλασσα ἀφʼ ἡμῶν; ὅτι ἡ θάλασσα ἐπορεύετο καὶ ἐξήγειρε μᾶλλον κλύδωνα.

12And Jonas said to them, Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.Καὶ εἶπεν Ἰωνᾶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἄρατέ με, καὶ ἐμβάλετέ με εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ κοπάσει ἡ θάλασσα ἀφʼ ὑμῶν· διότι ἔγνωκα ἐγὼ, ὅτι διʼ ἐμὲ ὁ κλύδων ὁ μέγας οὗτος ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἐστι.

13And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea § rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them.Καὶ παρεβιάζοντο οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς τὴν γῆν, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύναντο, ὅτι ἡ θάλασσα ἐπορεύετο, καὶ ἐξηγείρετο μᾶλλον ἐπʼ αὐτούς.

14And they cried to the Lord, and said, ** Forbid it, Lord: let us not perish for the sake of this man's life, and bring not righteous blood upon us: for you, Lord, have done as you would.Καὶ ἀνεβόησαν πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ εἶπαν, μηδαμῶς Κύριε· μὴ ἀπολώμεθα ἕνεκεν τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου, καὶ μὴ δῷς ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς αἷμα δίκαιον, διότι σὺ Κύριε, ὃν τρόπον ἐβούλου, πεποίηκας.

15So they took Jonas, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.Καὶ ἔλαβον τὸν Ἰωνᾶν, καὶ ἐξέβαλον αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἔστη ἡ θάλασσα ἐκ τοῦ σάλου αὐτῆς.

16And the men feared the Lord very greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.Καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν οἱ ἄνδρες φόβῳ μεγάλῳ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἔθυσαν θυσίαν τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ηὔξαντο τὰς εὐχάς.

Translator's Notes

These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.

• v. 5*Lit. hollow.
• v. 8†Alex. + 'for those whose cause this evil is upon us'
• v. 11‡Gr. went.
• v. 13§Lit. went and rose up more.
• v. 14**Gr. by no means. See Acts 10. 14

The Fathers on Jonas 1

Saint Methodius of Olympus comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.

On Jonas 1

Saint Methodius of Olympus

Ante-Nicene Fathers · Third century · On the History of Jonah

On the History of Jonah, from the Book on the Resurrection. Fragments. On the History of Jonah. From the Book on the Resurrection. I. The history of Jonah contains a great mystery. For it seems that the whale signifies Time, which never stands still, but is always going on, and consumes the things which are made by long and shorter intervals. But Jonah, who…

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