Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
Then the mariners were afraid - though used to storms; the danger, therefore, must have been extreme.
And cried every man unto his god. The idols proved unable to save them, though each, according to Phoenician custom, called on his tutelary god. But Yahweh proved able: and the pagan sailors owned it in the end by sacrificing to Him (Jonah 1:16).
But Jonah was gone down - before the storm began.
Into the sides - i:e., the interior recesses (cf. 1 Samuel 24:3, "David and his men remained in the sides of the cave;" Isaiah 14:13; Isaiah 14:15).
Of the ship - literally, 'of the decked ship.' Those conscious of guilt shrink from the presence of their fellow-men into concealment.
And he lay, and was fast asleep. Sleep is no necessary proof of innocence; it may be the fruit of carnal security and a seared conscience. How different was Jesus' sleep on the sea of Galilee! (Mark 4:37-39.) Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts with the unoffending mariners' alarm. The original, therefore, is in the nominative absolute: 'But as for Jonah, he,' etc. Compare spiritually, Ephesians 5:14 ("Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee flight"). Jonah's hurried flight to Damascus producing weariness, combined with sorrow and remorse, produced heavy sleep. Men who have taken a wrong step try to forget themselves (Pusey).