Jonah 1:6

"So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”"

Key Reflection

The shipmaster's exclamation underscores the urgency of prayer in times of crisis, highlighting how even pagans recognize the need for divine intervention to avert disaster. His call to Jonah reflects a broader truth that spiritual realities can intersect with physical challenges, prompting even those unaware of God’s sovereignty to seek His help.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

What meanest thou? -or rather, “what aileth thee?” (literally “what is to thee?”) The shipmaster speaks of it (as it was) as a sort of disease, that he should be thus asleep in the common peril. “The shipmaster,” charged, as he by office was, with the common weal of those on board, would, in the common peril, have one common prayer. It was the prophet’s office to call the pagan to prayers and to calling upon God. God reproved the Scribes and Pharisees by the mouth of the children who “cried Hosanna”Matthew 21:15; Jonah by the shipmaster; David by Abigail;1 Samuel 25:32-34; Naaman by his servants.

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