So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Ver. 15. So they took up Jonah] Not against his will, but in a sort offering himself to condign punishment. The mariners had tried all ways to save him, till they saw they must either destroy him or be destroyed with him. So deal many with their beloved sins, which they are loth to mortify, they see they must either kill or be killed, Romans 8:13; either turn from them to God, or burn for ever in hell. Jonah's charity is exemplary, who yielded to perish alone rather than to have others perish with him and for him; the devil and his imps desire to draw company the same way with themselves; and say, as that wretch of old, When I die, may the earth be all fired, εμου θαναντος γαια μιχθητω τυρι εμου δε ζωντος dixit Caligula .
And cast him forth into the sea] Thus dealeth God by his servant Jonah; formerly faithful in his office, and able thereunto, and therefore sent to Nineveh. "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth," Proverbs 11:31; here they are sure of their payment, neither can all their good deeds bear out one prepensed wickedness of a lesser fault that lies unrepented for, as were easy to instance in Moses, Miriam, David, and others. And all this proceeds from love displeased.
And the sea ceased from raging] Heb. stood from its wrath, or indignation. Nee marls ira manet (Ovid. Metam.). Nec horret iratum mare (Horat. lib. Epod.). The sea having found what it sought for, and now possessed of the prisoner it pursued, resteth quiet and content; Vide hic mare et disce sapere, saith one; see the sea here, and learn obedience to thy Creator, since winds, waves, and all are at his beck and check. See Matthew 8:26 .