COMMENTARY BY THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, ON THE PROPHET JONAH.
A ARGUMENT. The God of all, who created all men, continues to provide for all equally; even if He previously seemed to care more for the Israelites, He did this for the common benefit of all mankind. For just as He, while showing appropriate care for the Israelites, did not speak to each one individually to show what must be done, but rather chose one person from among them who was best—at one time the great Moses, at another Joshua the son of Nun, at other times Samuel, and at another season Elijah—and by each of these, either by giving laws, or by performing wonders, or by offering admonitions, guided them toward salvation; so too, having singled out the Israelite nation from other peoples, God, by the care shown to them, and by His frequent appearances and inexplicable miracles, indicated to these other nations as well the way to the knowledge of God. For He taught us this also through the divinely-inspired Hosea, who says, "Ephraim is a projector," or, as others render it, "Ephraim is with God, a prophet." B By this, he meant that He set forth the people as a kind of lookout and prophet for the benefit and salvation of the other nations. Likewise, Egypt also learned through these people the ineffable power of the God of all; and the report of their destruction, spreading throughout all nations, caused everyone to marvel at the justice of God’s providence. Hence it is that Raab the harlot, having received the light of the knowledge of God, said to the spies, "For the fear of you and the dread of you has fallen upon us; for we have heard how the Lord God dried up the Red Sea before your arrival, and brought you across, because your Lord God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." And many years later, when the Allophyli [Philistines] beheld the ark, C
A they shouted out in fear and horror: "This is the God who struck Egypt." And when he had again struck down those many thousands of Assyrians before the walls of Jerusalem, and forced Sennacherib to flee with only a few, he made his power clear to all men. And in Babylon, having preserved Daniel unharmed when he was delivered to the lions, and having turned that most fierce flame of the furnace into dew, so that those blessed youths could dance in the midst of it and weave a hymn, he terrified the arrogant king and through him taught his subjects that the God of the Israelites is the only God. B And again, when he granted to the people that much-celebrated return under Cyrus the Persian, and out of all those who had been taken captive granted to them alone relief from slavery, and built his own temple, and brought Jerusalem back to its former prosperity, he again signaled, not just to those who were near, but also to those dwelling far away, that he alone is capable of providing for and governing whom he wills. And among the Macedonians, too, he often manifested his own power, and indeed, by working miracles through the prophets and foretelling future events, he led many of the nations to the truth. Thus the Syrian nation feared the great Elisha, once having been enveloped by him in a mist of invisibility, and at another time having witnessed the healing of Naaman. For they held such respect for this prophet C that, when the king was ill, he sent Hazael to him to inquire if he would recover. Furthermore, this same prophet himself anointed this Hazael as king over the Syrians. And the king of the Babylonians showed the divine Jeremiah such honor that he gave him the choice of where to dwell; and while he led all the others, both kings and princes, away as captives, to him alone he gave the authority to live wherever he wished. Thus also the God of all appointed the blessed Jonah as a prophet to the Ninevites. Now this was a city of old, very great, and it had received the royal residence of the king of the Assyrians. For because the only-begotten Word of God was about to appear to men through human nature, and to illuminate all the nations with the light of the knowledge of God, he manifests his own divine D providence to the nations even before his distinct incarnation: so that he might confirm future events by what has preceded them, and teach all that he is the God not only of the Jews, but also of the nations, and show the kinship of the Old and New Testaments. For if he had taken no care of the nations before his incarnation, the Jews would have supposed him to be a different God, as if he were acting in opposition to the one who had given the law; for the one cared only for the Jews, while this one cared for all men. This is the very malady from which the execrable Marcion suffered, who said that this God was different from that one, even though in the Old Testament as well one could observe that God cares for all mortals.
But that we may not lengthen this beyond measure, let us come to the explanation of the prophet. A
Chapter I
The blessed Jonas also uttered other prophecies, which are not contained in this book; but we have learned of them from the fourth book of Kings. For concerning Jeroboam, who, born third from Jehu, reigned over the ten tribes, the Scripture teaches the following: "He restored the border of Israel from the entering of Emath unto the sea that looks to the west, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonas the son of Amathi B the prophet, who was of Gethophra." This prophecy also bears the same name of the father. The God of all commanded him to go to the city of Nineveh, and to announce to them the utter destruction that would come upon them because of their grave iniquity. "For the cry of their wickedness," He says, "has ascended unto me." This means: they have slipped into such great wickedness that they have transgressed the boundaries of My patience. But when the prophet heard these words, he preferred flight to obedience, and ventured to flee to Tharsis. Now, some have opined that Tharsis is Tarsus, by reason of the affinity of the names; others have supposed that India was so called, not noticing C that the kingdom of the Assyrians is adjacent to the kingdom of the Indians, and that it is the custom of those who flee from the east to head toward the west, and for those who decline from the south to withdraw to the north; especially since he went down to Joppa, a maritime city of Palestine, to board ship from there. Now, that city is washed by the western sea. But it is impossible for anyone to sail directly from that sea to India, since between our sea and the Indian sea lies a vast continent, in part habitable and in part entirely a desert; then, too, there are very many and very large mountains interspersed, beyond which is the gulf of the Red Sea, with which the Indian sea is joined. And so that no one may D suppose that we are distorting the truth with our own reasonings, I will offer the divine Scripture as a witness, that Tharsis is Carthage, the primary city of Africa. For in the prophet Isaiah, where the Septuagint have said: "Howl, ye ships of Carthage, for your stronghold has perished," Aquila, and Symmachus, and Theodotion have put "Tharsis" instead of "Carthage." For the books of the Hebrews also possess this name. Thus also,
A when the divine Ezekiel made mention of the Carthaginians, we found "Tharsis" both in the Hebrew and in the Syriac. Instructed by these things, we say that Jonah fled not to India, but to Carthage. He did this, indeed, while clearly knowing, in his capacity as a prophet, that the Lord of all is present everywhere, and that no place is destitute of His providence; nevertheless, he supposed that He manifested Himself only in Jerusalem. Nor did sloth or fear become the cause of his flight; but, knowing the fountains of mercy, through the use of which He who ordered him to preach manages all things, and knowing that if the Ninevites repented, they would certainly obtain divine mercy, he deemed it unbecoming that his prediction should be shown to be false, and that he himself should be called a lying prophet. B Indeed, the very proclamation of the threatened punishment suggested that suspicion to him. For he considered that He would not have foretold it if He had wished to punish; but that the threat of punishment is, in truth, an invitation to repentance. In addition to this, he also thought that the obedience of the Ninevites would be a reproach to the Jews: for they, who were foreigners and of a different nation, had believed a man, whereas the Jews were continually disobeying many prophets of their own tribe, who prophesied to them with miracles, and were receiving no benefit from them. For these reasons, he did not immediately do what was commanded; but he even made his flight by sea, thinking that he would quickly be rid of such a ministry. He even paid the fare for the voyage, though no loss incurred thereby could deter him. But the Maker of earth, and sea, and heavens stirs up a tempest against the ship, and binds it with the chains of the waves, and while all other ships held their course with a favorable wind, the sea's tempest raged against this one ship alone, and the force of the waves surged. And this, the lot of the sailors clearly teaches us; C for they would not have set out to discover the cause of the tempest by lot if the tempest had been common; but since they saw others cutting through the backs of the sea without danger, while their own boat was being struck by the great waves, they first turned to prayers, invoking whichever god each supposed to be God; and then, finding no way of salvation from that, they awakened Jonah, who was bound by sleep. For, pierced by the stings of conscience, and cast down by despondency, and unable to bear the barbs of his own thoughts, he had devised relief through sleep. And though there was so much tumult occurring against the ship, with the waves crashing from without, and the sailors being disturbed from within, he himself was not simply or moderately asleep, but was held by a deep sleep and was actually snoring, as he himself taught by his own writings. D But when the captain awakened him, he first compelled him to offer prayers to his own God, not knowing that this flight had destroyed his confidence in Him. [7] And when, even then, the dangers did not cease, they finally sought to learn the cause of the tempest by lot.
knowing—as was natural, for they possessed a native understanding—that a punishment awaits those who sin, and that we pay the penalties appropriate to our transgressions. Since the lot had become the accuser and witness against the prophet, he is brought to trial, and the sailors perform the part of judges, demanding that Jonah give an account of his past life.
VERS. 8. «Annuntia enim nobis, inquiunt, quid est opus tuum, et unde venis, et quo vadis, et ex qua regione, et ex quo populo tu es?» B They inquired in this manner with all accuracy, desiring to learn from every side the cause of the storm. For this reason, they ordered him to tell not only whence he had departed and whither he was going, but also from what nation he drew his lineage, so that from the common customs of his people they might learn the man’s way of life. To these things, then, the blessed Jonah answered:
VERS. 9. «Servus Domini ego sum, et Dominum Deum cœli ego colo, qui fecit mare et aridum.» C Truly the prophet is worthy of admiration and deserving of all praise. For even while awaiting the sentence of death, he becomes a herald of the power of the God of all, calling Him Creator and Lord of all things. Since the majority of mortals at that time were serving idols and were ignorant of the Maker of all things, the blessed prophet rightly reveals Him to those who were ignorant of Him. He also confesses the reason for his flight: because I knew Him to be not only the Creator and Lord of the earth and the sea, but also of the heavens, I was gripped by madness and thought I could escape Him.
VERS. 10. «Et dixerunt ad eum, Cur hoc fecisti?» D These things, they say, while you were not ignorant, and to you the duty of teaching others had been entrusted, how could you attempt to flee from God, who is present everywhere? So great a sense of shame does it bring not to obey God, that the prophet, who was a teacher for others, received a mark of reproach from those who were ignorant. Nevertheless, having heard his words, and having rebuked and censured him, they did not dare to pass the sentence of death upon him, but waited for him, as a prophet, to explain what must be done.
VERS. 11. «Et dixerunt ad eum, Quid tibi faciemus, et quiescet mare a nobis?» For the storm became even more violent after the lot had been cast. Then at last the blessed prophet, having perceived the divine wrath, condemns himself to death.
VERS. 12. «Et dixit Jonas ad eos, Tollite me, et demittite me in mare, et quiescet mare a vobis: ego enim novi, quod propter me fluctus iste magnus super vos venerit.» But not even when they had heard these words did the sailors immediately do what was commanded; rather, they held back, expecting some cessation of the evils, and rowing the ship, they sought to reach the land.
But since the violence of the sea prevented this also, they first propitiated God with prayer and thus gave Jonah over to the sea.
14. “For they say, *‘O Lord, let us not perish for the sake of this man’s life, and do not lay upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Lord, as thou didst will, thou hast done.’*” Even though they had clearly learned from God that the sentence against him had been issued, they plead that they might not pay the penalty while complying with the sentence. “For do not lay upon us innocent blood,” they say; that is, “May we not pay, O Master, the penalty for innocent blood.” B And when the prophet had thus been committed to the sea, the storm of the waves indeed quieted, but a greater fear took hold of the souls of those who witnessed this, such that, after their return, they offered sacrifices to God and believed that He alone is the Master of all things.
CAPUT II.
[1] When Jonah, by divine command (for this is what it says, “The Lord commanded”), a great sea-monster received him, C injuring him in no part by its teeth. And the belly of the sea-monster became a dwelling for the prophet for three days and as many nights, and the digestive power of the stomach was hindered from acting. [2] In such spaciousness did the prophet abide that he was even able to offer prayer to God.
3. *“For I cried,” he says, “in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell came my cry.”* For I, he says, who long thought that He appeared to the prophets only in Jerusalem, found Him present even in the belly of the sea-monster, and having offered supplication, I enjoyed His philanthropy. He called the belly of the sea-monster the “belly of hell,” because the beast was death-dealing, and by nature, D among those things that were born it was dead, living only by grace. Moreover, as a type of the Master Christ, who spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, he reasonably says that he had come to be in the belly of hell. And most paradoxical of all, the One who truly tasted death said that He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights; but the one under the shadow of death calls the belly of the sea-monster the belly of hell. For to Jonah, life was not in his power; but to the Master Christ, death was voluntary and the resurrection willing. For this reason, where there is hell and death, it is called the heart of the earth; but here, hell is named the belly of the sea-monster. “Thou heardest,” he says, “my voice”; for I would not have continued living until the present.
4. *“Thou didst cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the rivers encompassed me.”* Again, the memory of the “heart” demonstrates the shadow resembling the truth; by “rivers” he denotes the onslaught of the waves. A
“All your breakers and your waves have passed over me.” (Vers. 5.) “I said: I have been cast out from your eyes.” Constrained by the insolence of evils, I who but a little while before was borne aloft on the waves, now, as if in a prison house, enclosed within the belly of the sea-monster, I came to know that I had been stripped of your providence, and for this reason I endure each of these things.
“Shall I again look upon your holy temple?” (Vers. 6.) “Water has encompassed me even to my soul: the deepest abyss has surrounded me.” Surrounded by the abyss and placed in the midst of such great waters, I waver, and I fear lest I be altogether deprived of the sight of your temple, which is so desirable to me. B
Vers. 7. “My head has entered into the clefts of the mountains, I went down to the earth, whose bars are everlasting.” For I see myself surrounded by certain great mountains, and hemmed in on all sides by most firm barriers. By these things, however, he designates not only the size of the sea-monster, but also that there was no escape from the evils by which he was held. It is also probable that he speaks of certain mountains which were covered by the marine waters, against which ships are sometimes dashed and broken; of which, in fact, sailors—knowing them well—are eager to avoid the rocks lurking beneath the sea.
“And may my life ascend from corruption to you, O Lord my God.” (Vers. 8.) “When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered the Lord, and let my prayer come to you into your holy temple.” Since, he says, when I was at the very gates of death, I did not suffer forgetfulness of you to arise within me, then, O Master, having freed me from this corruption, restore me to life, so that I may again offer you the customary prayers in the temple consecrated to you. C
Vers. 9. “Those who guard vain and lying things have abandoned their mercy.” Those who have been taught false and vain things, obeying the lot, have cruelly cast me into the sea.
Vers. 10. “But I, with a voice of praise and thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you; whatever I have vowed, I will repay to you for my salvation, O Lord.” For, having been delivered from the dangers by which I am held, I will offer to you saving sacrifices, recounting both the greatness of your benefit and the harm of my flight. The blessed Jonah promised these things, and he fulfilled his promises, and delivered everything in writing, so that not only the men who were then present, but also those born later might learn the things concerning him. And just as the blessed David left his own transgression written down, preaching the mercy of God and showing to those who sin the remedy of repentance, so the wondrous Jonah [described] both his flight and his punishments. D
and the salvation granted to him. The man-loving Master, having received his prayer, brought the prophet out from the belly of the sea monster as if from some prison.
CAP. III.
B But again, straightway He commanded him to perform those things which he had heard before, and to reach that great city, and to present the proclamation of the fearful threat. But having learned by experience the harm which results from resisting God, he makes the journey as he was commanded, and reaches Nineveh. Let no foolish person show idle curiosity C as to how the sea monster vomited him out—for all things are possible when God wills it—nor on what shore he cast him out; for this too is among the things that are altogether superfluous. Let every pious person be content with the teaching of the Spirit.
3’. “And Nineveh,” he says, “was a city great before God, about three days' journey.” For much, he says, did God concern Himself with the salvation of this city, since He had fashioned many human beings within it. And the phrase, “About a three days’ journey,” some have understood concerning D the territory belonging to the city, as having a journey of three days in both length and breadth; but others, that it was the [time] for the one preaching to be able to go around the entire city in three days. Whether one accepts this or that, it does no harm to the truth; but nevertheless, the second seems to me to be more true; and what follows compels me to prefer it.
4’. “For Jonah began,” he says, “to enter the city about a journey of one day.” Not traveling straight through the city, but going around the markets, and streets, and lanes, and preaching that “Yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” But these [words] Aquila, and Symmachus, and Theodotion said were “forty,” and the Syrian and the Hebrew agree with these; and this number also has plausibility. For in three days, sometimes Jonah traveled through the whole city, and sometimes the Ninevites, by offering that laborious repentance to God, enjoyed salvation from Him; and sometimes, sitting before the gates, he waited for the end of the prophecy. Wherefore, it seems to me that the number of forty days is more true. And it is likely that the Seventy also had set down the number in agreement with the others, but that those who first transcribed it erred regarding this, and then this edition spread into all the copies. But the Ninevites, seeing an unknown man and a foreigner performing an unpleasant proclamation, not only did not take it ill, nor did they stone him, but rather, believing the prophecy, they put on sackcloth and offered their supplications to God, both those who were—
A—abounding in wealth and those living in poverty; for it said: "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them." When the king himself heard these words, he left his throne, adorned with gold and set with stones, and put off his purple robe as useless, and in its place he clothed himself in sackcloth. He ordered not only all men and women to observe a fast, but even commanded the flocks and herds to abstain from all food, that they, being pressed by hunger, and some lowing, others bleating, and each uttering its own natural cry, might move the men to shed warmer tears, and might open the fountains of God's mercy. And not only by using sackcloth and fasting did they offer supplications to God, but also, B "each one returned from his evil way and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying: (Ver. 9) Who knows if God will turn, and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, and we shall not perish?" This is indeed the true goal of repentance: "For turn away," he says, "from evil, and do good." And again: "Cease from your evil deeds; learn to do good." Thus, therefore, the Ninevites, having ceased from their former sin and having adopted a better change of character, enjoyed the divine favor.
Ver. 10. "For God saw," he says, "their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil which he had said that he would do to them; and he did it not." God did not look to the fasting, but to the withdrawing from evil; wherefore He grants repentance for repentance, not repenting in the same manner as we do (for God does not wish this at one time and that at another), but he called the change of the threats "repentance." For this reason also He threatened; for if He had wished to punish, He would not have offered a threat, but would have brought the punishment itself. But because He rejoices only in salvation, He threatens grievous things, so that He may not bring about grievous things. He called the threats "evil," not that they are evil by nature—for how could that be evil which brings a stop to wickedness and introduces the possession of virtue and good order? But the divine Scripture, using names customary among us, called the threat of punishment "evil," as it possesses the power to cause trouble and pain. C Witnessing this love of mankind in God, the prophet is dejected and grieved, as if his prophecy were being refuted and appearing false. Afterwards, praying to God and explaining the causes of his flight, D [he says]:
Ver. 2. "Are not these my words," he says, "when I was still in my own country? Therefore I anticipated in fleeing to Tharsis." Knowing these things (for I saw your great long-suffering even towards Israel…
I anticipated the event, for you are merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and rich in mercy, and relenting over evils, I took that flight, then being delivered to the storm and the sea-monster, I prayed to return again to life: now I ask the opposite.
γ'. "Master, take my soul from me," for it is better for me to die than to live. I prefer death to living with shame; A for I am ashamed and cover myself, being called a liar by so many. But the good Master answers the prophet:
δ'. "Are you very grieved?" Symmachus interpreted this more clearly: "Are you justly grieved?" for the rest have said: "If you have grieved rightly"; that is, "Consider within yourself if you have just grounds for grief." And here He commands him to find a consolation for his grief by reasoning; at the end of the prophecy, He also rebukes him for his empty grief, and shows the reasonableness of His own judgment.
ε'. "Jonas went out of the city and sat opposite it, and made himself a booth, and was sitting under it, until he should see what would happen to the city." The prophet placed this first, but narrated it last. For having narrated the repentance of the Ninevites, he wished to join to this the divine loving-kindness, and the grief B that befell him in consequence of this. He says that the events between these times—that having proclaimed the departure from the city and having fixed his booth, he was waiting for the end of the prediction—this is clear, as it happened before the grief: for after the end of the appointed days, seeing that nothing was befalling the city, he offered to God with pain the prayer. But yet, even in this, he contrives for himself a consolation, and at the command of God, a gourd, which he himself desired, instantly budding and long-leafed, creating shade, offers comfort.
τὸ δὲ,
ς'. "And the Lord God commanded a gourd," He has set, not expressing a divine voice here, but teaching that as soon as God willed, the plant began to be. So also above He said: "And God mandated to the sea-monster," this did not happen by a divine voice saying so, but by a C command—for his will is a decree. Thus the blessed Jonas accepted joyful relief instead of grief. But again, God destroyed the root of the gourd with a certain worm, and withered the plant, having turned away from it the influx of the sun, as was the custom, striking against his head.
ζ'. "And God commanded a burning wind, and the sun struck upon the head of Jonas,"
and he fainted, and desired his soul to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live." A Again the prophet returned to a greater pusillanimity and grief, and was brought to the point of preferring death to life. [9] But the healer of sinners and protector of the just asked the prophet: "Art thou very sorry for the gourd?" [10, 11] And when the prophet had confessed this, in such a way that for its sake he preferred death to life, God said: "I will use thee as a judge. Consider therefore if it is just that thou shouldst grieve for the gourd, of which thou wert not the cultivator (for thou didst not plant it, nor didst thou irrigate it; but having been born at dawn, it became the consumption of a worm and the sun on the following day), and yet that I should not spare so great a city, which was founded by Me, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who know not their right hand or their left, and many cattle." B Considering this, therefore, admire the mercy, as it possesses a reasonable ground. The phrase, "who know not their right hand or their left," some have understood as referring to simplicity; but to me it seems to hint at the multitude of young people inhabiting it: and the scope of the words guides us to this understanding. For if, he says, it was not fitting to accept the repentance of the sinners, it was at least fitting to take pity on so many myriads who, by reason of their immaturity, have not been instructed in the knowledge of the right hand and the left. In addition to these, the city has cattle exceeding that number, which themselves owe no penalty for sins. As therefore he added the cattle for this reason, so also he added the immature age, so that neither these nor those could justly be made to pay the penalty for sins. This, then, is the end of the prophecy. We, however, should laud our good Master, who, not wishing the death of the sinner, but that he should return and live, sometimes allows His holy men to be grieved, and bestows mercy even when they are unwilling. Thus, when the great Elias had checked the rain, C He Himself, as if a kind of ambassador, comes to the servant, saying, "Go, and show thyself to Achab, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth." D Enjoying such gentleness of God, let us foster a disposition appropriate to His benefits, and let us fashion our lives according to His divine laws, so that we may reap the good and desirable fruits of these, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father is the glory, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Commentary on the Prophet Michaeas. Preface.
OF THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHET MICAH
A [1477 ARGUMENTUM.] Approaching the prophecy of the divine Micah, I have called to mind the Lord’s voice, which He uttered in the holy Gospels to exaggerate the wickedness and ungrateful mind of the Jews: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" For, adorning with the gift of prophecy so many and such great men, He appointed physicians to heal the grievous wounds of Israel. One of these was the blessed Micah, who predicted the same things as those admirable men, Hosea, Joel, and Amos, and was almost their contemporary, even if they were slightly earlier, having begun their prophecy during the reign of Uzziah. For he too, in the days of Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, saw what he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. In their times, the blessed Hosea also prophesied. B Through many prophets, God predicts the same things, so that those who suffered from stupidity, being shamed by the multitude of the prophets, might at length turn away from impiety and malice. Thus, the divine Micah has begun his prophecy.
CHAPTER ONE
Ver. 2. "Hear, all ye people, hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; and the Lord God shall be for a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple."