1:4–6 / The author lets us know immediately that Jonah can neither escape nor defy God. Verse 3 ends with Jonah fleeing “from before the face of Yahweh.” Verse 4 begins, “But Yahweh.” Into the path of Jonah’s horizontal flight from God, the Lord “hurls” (MT) a great wind onto the Mediterranean, which causes a violent storm with enormous waves. Thus Jonah’s flight is brought to a dead stop only shortly after it is begun. Disobedience rarely has consequences only for
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