Jonah 1:3

Tarshish was the name of a great-grandson of Noah through Noah’s son Japheth and Japheth’s son Javan (Genesis 10:1-4). From then on in the Old Testament the name describes both the descendants of this man and the territory where they settled (cf. 1 Kings 10:22; 1 Kings 22:48; 1 Chronicles 7:10). The territory was evidently a long distance from Israel and on the Atlantic coast of southwest Spain (cf. Jonah 4:2; Isaiah 66:19). [Note: See the map in Alexander, p. 49.] It also contained mineral deposits that its residents mined and exported to Tyre and probably other places (Jeremiah 10:9; Ezekiel 27:12). Since the Hebrew word tarshishu means smelting place or refinery, the Jews referred to several such places on the Mediterranean coast by this name. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Tarshish," by J. A. Thompson.] Similarly several towns along the coastlands of English-speaking nations today bear the name "Portland." Therefore it is probably impossible to locate the exact spot that Jonah proposed to visit. The identification of Tarshish with Spain is very old going back to Herodotus, the Greek historian, who referred to a Tartessus in Spain. [Note: Ibid.] This site was about 2500 miles west of Joppa. In any case, Jonah sought to flee by ship from Joppa on Israel’s Mediterranean coast and to go to some remote destination that lay in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Joppa stood about 35 miles southwest of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Nineveh lay about 550 miles northeast of Samaria.

"Jonah the believer is disgruntled with his calling. (Whoever thought a missionary would be disgruntled-except a fellow missionary!)" [Note: Joyce Baldwin, "Jonah," in The Minor Prophets, p. 543.]

Why did Jonah leave Israel? He evidently concluded that if he ran away God would select another prophet rather than track him down and make him go to Nineveh. By going in the opposite direction from Nineveh, as far from Nineveh as was then possible, Jonah seems to have been trying to get as far away from the judgment he thought the Lord would bring on that city as he could. In short, he seems to have been trying to run away from the Lord’s calling and to preserve his own safety at the same time. This is the only instance in Scripture of a prophet disobeying God’s call (cf. Amos 3:8 for the typical response).

However it was "the presence of the Lord" localized in the Promised Land, mentioned twice in this verse for emphasis, that Jonah sought to escape more than anything. Specifically it was God’s influence over him. He probably knew that he could not remove himself from the literal presence of the omnipresent God.

"To be a prophet was not necessarily to be a great theologian. God chooses whom he will, whether trained professional specialist or not (cf. Amos 7:14-15)." [Note: Stuart, p. 466.]

There is a chiasm in this verse. It begins and ends with references to going to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. In the center is another reference to going to Tarshish. This structure stresses the fact that Jonah defiantly repudiated God’s call.

Perhaps we can appreciate how Jonah felt about his commission if we compare a similar case. Suppose God called some Jew living during the Hitler regime to go to Berlin and prophesy publicly that God was going to destroy Nazi Germany unless the Germans repented. The possibility of the Germans repenting and God withholding judgment on them would have been totally repugnant to such a Jew. His racial patriotism would have conflicted with his fidelity to God just as Jonah’s did. [Note: Gaebelein, p. 72.]

"In this brief introduction to the book the reader learns three central things: (1) who Jonah was; (2) what Yahweh wanted him to do; (3) Jonah’s response. Thus are introduced the main characters of the story, i.e., Jonah and God; and the situation around which the story revolves, i.e., Jonah’s unwillingness to carry out a divine commission which he finds odious." [Note: Stuart, p. 452.]

Many servants of the Lord throughout history have mistakenly thought that they could get away from the Lord and escape the consequences of His actions by changing their location. This book teaches us that that is not possible (cf. Psalms 139:7-10).

"It’s possible to be out of the will of God and still have circumstances appear to be working on your behalf." [Note: Wiersbe, pp. 378-79.]

"An officer in an army may resign the commission of his president or king, but an ambassador of the Lord is on a different basis. His service is for life, and he may not repudiate it without the danger of incurring God’s discipline." [Note: Gaebelein, p. 74.]