Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
themselves, and that he watches while they are asleep: but this ought not to serve to nourish our self-indulgence; for every one of us is already more indulgent to himself than he ought to be: but, on the contrary, this example of Jonah, whom we see to have been so near destruction, ought to excite and urge us, that when any of us has gone astray from his calling he may not lie secure in that state, but, on the contrary, run back immediately to God. And if God be not able to draw us back to himself without some violent means, let us at least follow in this respect the example of Jonah, which we shall in its own place notice. It follows ---
Jonah 1:6
6. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
6. Et accessit ad eum magister funis, et dixit ei, Quid tibi, sopite? Surge, clama ad
Deum tuum, si forte serenum se exhibeat Deus nobis (alii vertunt, cogitet de nobis, vel gratificetur nobis,) et non pereamus.
Jonah relates here how he was reproved by the pilot or master of the ship 94, inasmuch as he alone slept, while all the rest were in anxiety and fear. ``What meanest thou, fast sleeper?'' The pilot no doubt upbraids Jonah for his sleepiness, and reproves him for being almost void of all thought and reflection. What meanest thou, fast sleeper 95 , he says; when thou sees all the rest smitten with alarm, how canst thou sleep? Is not this unnatural? Rise, then, and call on thy God
We see that where there is no rule of faith a liberty is commonly taken, so that every one goes astray here and there. Whence was it, that the pilot said to Jonah, Call on thy God, and that he did not confine him to any certain rule? Because it had been customary in all ages for men to be satisfied with some general apprehension of God; and then every one according to his own fancy formed a god for himself: nor could it have been otherwise, as I have said, while men were not restrained by any sacred bond. All agree as to this truth, that there is some God, and also that no dead idol can do anything, but that the world is governed by the providence and power of God, and further, that safety is to be sought from him. All this, has been received by the common consent of all; but when we come to particulars, then every one is in the dark; how God is to be sought they know not. Hence every one takes his own liberty: ``For the sake of appeasing God I will then try this; this shall be my mode of securing his favor; the Lord will regard this service acceptable; in this way shall all my iniquity be expiated, that I may obtain favor with God.'' Thus each invents for themselves some tortuous way to come to God; and then every one forms a god peculiar to himself. There can therefore be no stability nor consistency in men, unless they are joined together by some bond, even by some certain rule of religion, so that they may not vacillate, and not be in doubt as to what is right to be done, 94{{}החבל{, רבthe master of the rope or roping: {ὁ} {πρωρευς}, the prowman, the boatswain. --- Sept. Nauclerus, pilot, is the word used by Calvin. --- Ed.
95{{}המ{, םדרנ-{{`` }ךלτί} {σὺ} {ρεγχεις} --- why dost thou snore?'' --- Sept. ``Quid tu sopore deprimeris --- why art thou oppressed with deep sleep?'' --- Jerome. ``Quid dormis --- why sleepest thou?'' --- Dathius. ``How is it, thou art fast asleep?''
--- Henderson. ``What ails thee? Sleeping!'' --- Benjoin. The first pare is well rendered by the last author, but not the other; for ,{}םדרנonly found as a verb in Niphal, ever means a deep sleep. It is applied to Sisera, in Jael's tent, Judges 4:21, and to the sleep of death, Psalm 76:6. The rendering then ought to be, ``What ails thee? Being fast asleep.'' --- Ed.