Commentary on the book of the prophet Jonah

Between 412 and 418 St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote a series of interpretations on the minor prophets - a total of 12 parts, according to the number of prophetic books. The preface to each book describes the historical setting and purpose of the prophecies. The beginning of the preface to the interpretation of the Book of the Prophet Hosea is an introduction to the entire corpus of interpretations. Interpretations of St. Kirill are reduced to the unity of typological (proto-educational), spiritual (anagogical) and literal (historical) methods. In his opinion, the books of the prophets do not need allegorical interpretation to clarify their Christological meaning, since by their nature they prophesy about Christ. For St. Cyril of Alexandria, there are only two meanings of Holy Scripture: literal and spiritual, which seem to penetrate each other. The area of ​​spiritual interpretation certainly includes the disclosure of moral meaning, examples of which are contained in these comments. The divine Jonah had a father named Amathia and came from Gath Hover. According to a plausible legend, it was a small city or village in the land of Judea. It seems that he prophesied at the same time as the previous prophets, that is, Hosea and Amos and Micah and others. One might think that he spoke a lot of prophecies to the people of Israel, explained heavenly and divine verbs and clearly foretold the future. But apart from this, no other prophetic word of his remained in writing. And that he repeatedly foreshadowed to the Jewish people about events that were once about to take place, God-inspired Scripture testified to this. Thus, in the fourth book of Kings, the Holy Scripture speaks of Jeroboam, not the first who was in the beginning and who was the son of Nebat, “who led Israel into sin,” as it is written (2 Kings 13:11), inclining him to worship golden calves; but about another Jeroboam, who lived after many kings and was the son of Joash. Listen to what Jonah foretold about him: “Turn back the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath even to the Sea of ​​Arabia, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, the same word and by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Hamath, the prophet of Gethahover. For the Lord saw the humility of Israel..., and I saved by the hand (from the hand - ἐκ χειρός) Jeroboam" (2 Kings 14:25-27), that is, by the hand - διὰ χειρός, for Jeroboam, the son of Joash, fought against He again subjugated the foreigners and the captured cities of the land of Judah to his power and helped the Israelites quite a bit with the assistance of God, who was protective and willing to save them, although they had reached the final stage of disasters. So, from time to time, other prophecies were uttered by Jonah; in the shadows he also depicts the mystery of the economy of our Savior, as Christ Himself said about this, addressing the Jews. So, in what happened to the divine Jonah, the mystery of Christ is depicted and imprinted. In addition, I consider it necessary to tell readers the following. When figurative speech of spiritual contemplation is presented, having a higher, spiritually contemplative and mysterious meaning, and at the same time a person is proposed and taken as a prototype of Christ; then a wise and knowledgeable person must determine, on the one hand, what is not important here for the intended purpose, and on the other: what is useful and necessary and most capable of serving for the edification of the listeners. Let us point out this example: let the subject be blessed Moses, who interceded before God on behalf of Israel at Mount Sinai and was a mediator between God and people. The frightened Israelites begged him, saying: “Speak thou with us, and let not God speak unto us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19). And that this event prefigured mediation through Christ, God and the Father Himself clearly taught this, saying: “All right... I say...: I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren, just as you... , obviously, a mediator who intercedes before God for the human race and proclaims to all those living on earth the unspoken will of God and the Father; For I will put My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them about everything that I command him” (Deut. 18:17-18). So, the divine Moses is accepted as the image of Christ, but we will not assimilate everything that belongs to Moses to Him, so that we do not find ourselves guilty of foolish words and deeds. So Moses himself admits that he was weak-voiced and slow-tongued and incapable of embassy, ​​and begged to choose someone else for this. But Christ is neither slow-tongued nor weak-voiced like that one, but He is the great trumpet; This is what Isaiah called Him, saying: “And it will come to pass in that day that they will blow a great trumpet” (Is. 27:13); for the word of the Savior was proclaimed everywhere and became audible to those living throughout all the heavens. And David, knowing this, said: “The God of gods is the Lord of the verb, and called the earth, from the east of the sun to the west” (Psalm 49:1). So Moses intercedes in the image of Christ, while with his tongue-tiedness he no longer demonstrates the image of Christ in himself. Again, Aaron was taken in the image of Emmanuel, crowned with the privileges of the high priesthood, receiving the right to enter the Holy of Holies and dressed in glorious and admirable clothing (Ex. 28, etc.). But again, we will not attribute everything that belongs to him to Christ. So he was not completely blameless; He was once rebuked for the fact that, together with Miriam, he reproached Moses (Num. 12:1 et al.). Nor was he blameless on another occasion, when Israel drained the calf in the desert. So, not everything that is found in Scripture and images is suitable for spiritual contemplation; but if we take the face of a person who portrays Christ in us, then in fairness we must bypass human shortcomings and dwell on only the essentially important features, looking everywhere for what can be useful for the purpose of the subject. We will talk about Jonah in exactly the same way. He, as it were, prefigures for us the mystery of Christ; however, not everything that happened to him can be considered suitable and necessary for this. So, for example, he was sent to preach to the Ninevites, but he tried to run away from the face of God and turned out to be slow in fulfilling the embassy. And the Son was sent from God the Father to preach to the nations; but he was not disinclined to serve and did not try to run away from the face of God. The prophet convinced those sailing, saying: “Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be satisfied from you” (Jon. 1:12). And he was swallowed by a whale, then he was thrown out after three days, and after that he went to Nineveh and fulfilled his ministry; but he was no less saddened when God had mercy on the inhabitants of Nineveh. And Christ voluntarily took death; He remained in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, was resurrected, and after that he went to Galilee and ordered the beginning of preaching to the pagans. However, he was not saddened like Jonah, seeing those saved into repentance. Therefore, if we do not turn every word of historical narrative into an object of spiritual contemplation, then let no one blame us for this. Just like bees, flying around meadows and flowers, always collect what they need to prepare honeycombs; so the wise interpreter, examining the holy and inspired Scripture, always collecting and combining what is necessary for the explanation of the mysteries of Christ, will offer a decent and blameless teaching. John 1:1–2. And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amathi, saying: Arise, and go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach in it, for the cry of its malice has risen up against Me. When reflecting on the ministry and mission of the prophet Jonah, the thought naturally comes to mind sung by the mouth of Blessed Paul: “Or is the God of the Jews only, and not of the tongues? since there is only one God” (Rom. 3:29–30). Peter, having learned the same thing from experience, told us, saying: “Truly I understand that God does not pay attention to personalities, but fear him in every language, and do what is right to please him” (Acts 10:34-35). He created “heaven and earth, and everything in them” (Psalm 145:6) and created man in the beginning “in his own image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26), so that, embraced by the desire for virtue, he would lead a glorious life in holiness and bliss and have an abundant share in their grace-filled gifts. Then, deceived by the wickedness of the devil, he was drawn to sin, and therefore was subjected to curse and corruption. But before the foundation of the world, Christ was predestined and foreordained for the correction of all; for God and the Father deigned to “lead all things... in Himself, even in heaven and on earth” (Eph. 1:10; cf. Eph. 3:9), but the accomplishment of these great deeds was left to the Only Begotten who became like us and rose in the world with the flesh. And that God, even before the time of His coming, necessarily had care for the lost and had supervision over those who had fallen through ignorance - He wanted to confirm this by His deeds. Therefore he commanded the blessed Prophet to go to Nineveh. It was a Persian city lying to the east, famous and, as the Prophet Jeremiah says, “the land of graven images is” (Jer. 50:38). There were very many cities neighboring Judea and devoted to idolatry; Tire and Sidon and all Galilee of foreigners worshiped the works of their own hands and they had countless types of demons, and altars and churches. Why, tell me, bypassing the neighboring cities, does he send the Prophet to Nineveh, which was very far away and in which, in particular, as I said before, the people were rude and irresistibly devoted to the worship of the sun, stars and fire? And, moreover, beyond any word, she was subject to fear of God-hating magic, because through the mouth of Nahum it was said to her: “a good and pleasant harlot, the mistress of magic” (Nahum 3:4). I think that the omniscient God wanted to usefully show the peoples of antiquity themselves that they too had strayed far and were entangled in the nets of error, but one day they would be caught in the knowledge of the truth, even if they were very bad and rude and reached the extreme uncontrollability. For the word of God has no shortage of things that can nourish the mind and dispose it to learn that through which it could become wise. Listen to what Jeremiah says at one time like this: “Behold, I give My words in your mouth as fire, and this people of the tree, and they will girdle them” (Jeremiah 5:14), and at another like this: “The food of My words is not like burning fire, says the Lord, and like... a stone?” (Jer. 23, 29) 2. So Jonah was sent to the Ninevites not in vain, but in order to give some kind of foreshadowing of that mercy that is characteristic of God and which will one day be shown to those who are lost due to ignorance. But at the same time, this event served to condemn Israel; for he was exposed as rebellious, as insensitive, as caring little about the laws of God. Meanwhile, as a result of the preaching of one Prophet, the Ninevites immediately decided to turn to repentance, although they suffered from very many errors; they, on the contrary, despising Moses and the prophets, neglected Christ Himself, although He added miracles to his teachings, through which one could very easily be convinced that He, being God by nature, became man in order to save the whole of heaven and them (the Jews) before all others. And that this event could serve, and with all justice, as a reproof for the Israelites, indicates this Christ Himself, saying: “The men of Nineveh..., who repented of the preaching of Jonah, will condemn this generation: and behold Jonah is here more” (Matthew 12:41). How is it that what was in Christ is greater than what was under Jonah? Only one threatened the Ninevites with destruction; Christ, striking with indescribable miracles, was the subject of surprise. A miracle that accompanies a sermon almost always serves as a tool for attracting people to faith. So, very prudently, Jonah is sent to preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh, “for the cry of wickedness has gone up” (Jon. 1, 2) from them to the God of all. He, of course, knows absolutely everything, but if he is moved to special observation of those who have sinned; then He says that a cry from works went up to Him; for as God He is the Judge of all. It is also said that the blood of Abel cried out against the murder of Cain, as well as the unbridled shameful deeds of the cities of Sodom. John 1:3. And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa: and he found a ship going to Tarshish: and gave his hire, and sailed with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Joppa is a city in Palestine, located right next to the sea, and at the same time a harbor for those setting off on a sea voyage with the necessary supplies from Judea and especially to the cities located to the east. So the Prophet leaves; then, having found a ship sailing to Tarshish (for he preferred to flee there than to go to Nineveh), he paid payment for the journey and sailed with others. Tarshish calls the now called Tarsus or Tarsus. Some people think that this name denotes a city located among the Ethiopians and Indians. There is no doubt that they have Tarshish. Or Tarshish denotes the entire Indian country. However, I think that in the present case the prophetic word does not point to her; because for those wishing to make a voyage to the Indian peoples, this journey should not be made through Joppa, but rather through the Erythraean Sea 3, unless we assume that the prophet wanted to escape into the Ethiopian country, through the country of the Persians and Assyrians; but such an assumption is completely unfounded. So Tarshish, it seems, is the name given to present-day Tarsus, and this is the city of Cilicia, located by the Cydna River and lying at the very foot of Tarsus, a very high mountain in Cilicia. So the prophet sets off on a journey and the motivation for his departure is (the desire) to “flee from the face of... God” (Ps. 67:2-3). Here, however, we cannot leave without exploring the meaning of this saying, or better yet, the image of escape. I think that to flee from the face of God means to evade the embassy and, as it were, to diminish the ministry. But why and what, taking into account, the Prophet rushes to Tarshish - I cannot understand this, unless I allow myself to make the assumption that he (the prophet), like the most ancient saints, had an insufficient concept of God; for some thought that the power of the God of all extends only to the country of Judaism, is, as it were, contained in it and does not concern any other country. So the divine Jacob once left his father’s house and hurried to Laban in Mesopotamia; Then he settled down for the night in one country and, according to custom, putting a stone under his head, fell asleep, and saw a ladder stretching from earth to heaven and the Angels of God ascending and descending along it, and the Lord establishing himself on it. Rising from sleep, Jacob said: “For the Lord is in this place, but I did not know” (Gen. 28:16). Therefore, I think that the blessed Prophet thought something similar in himself when he left Judea and went to the Hellenic cities. And about the reason why he hesitated and did not want to readily fulfill the service (entrusted to him), we learn from his own words; for he announced this later, during his departure (from Nineveh). When his prophecy did not come true, he was greatly saddened and said: “O Lord, are these not my words, even the verbs, that still exist in my land? For this reason, before fleeing to Tarshish, I realized that You are merciful and generous, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, and repent of evil... And now, Master Lord, take my soul from Me, for I must die rather than live” (Jon. 4:2-3). As a prophet, he was not unaware of the outcome of his ministry; but he was afraid that the Ninevites, after they had not fulfilled his prediction, would ignore the goodness of God who had mercy on them, would raise their hands against him and kill him as an idle talker, a deceiver and a liar, who had aroused in them unnecessary anxiety; for a barbarian is always prone to rage and very easily becomes enraged, even if there is no sufficient reason for the rage. John 1:4–5. And the Lord raised up a [great] wind on the sea, and there was a great storm in the sea, and your ship was destroyed. And the shipmaid was afraid, and each one cried out to his god: and he made the throwing of the vessels into the ships into the sea, so that he might be relieved from them According to the dispensation of God, who agitated the sea with gusts of terrible winds, the ship struggled with the storm. Fear fell on the shipbuilders and they began to talk about the last minutes of life, when, in all likelihood, the ship was creaking and, as if threateningly, announced that it was ready to be crushed. The crowd of shipbuilders used the usual means in such a case and freed the ship from its cargo, so that it was high above the waves and thus rushed through the waters as easily as possible. To prove the danger from the storm, the shipmen themselves were horrified, and having already lost hope of salvation, they began to very diligently call on their gods for help. John 1:5–6. Jonah went down to the bottom of the ship, saving her, and snoring. And the helmsman came to him and said to him: Why are you snoring? Arise and pray to your God, for God will save us, so that we will not perish What would be least befitting of prophetic sobriety would be negligence in prayer, when danger threatened and, apparently, deep sleep, when time and a difficult situation, in which it would be especially appropriate to implore the God of all, called for effort. From this we can see that the dream (of the prophet) came before the storm. And the fact that he went to the very bottom of the ship indicates a strong habit of solitude; for it is always pleasant and desirable for saints to avoid luxury, to move away from the crowd and spend time in solitude, just as Jeremiah says: “It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. He will sit alone and be silent, as if he had been raised up” (Lamentations 3:27-28). And he also exclaimed about the multitude of rebellious ones: “Lord God of hosts, I did not sit down in the company of them who play, but feared from the presence of Your hand: they sat down alone, as if they were filled with sorrows” (Jer. 15, 16-17). To sit alone, I think, means to lead a quiet life, to be freed from the cares and worries of life and not to go along with others who have loved a lustful and carnal life. So the Prophet slept, not because he neglected the demands of duty, but because, as I have already said, he fell asleep before the storm began. The helmsman hastily wakes him up, saying that he should quickly call on his God, since those in danger are always almost saddened if someone turns out to be above fear and untimely indulges in carelessness. John 1:7. And each one said to his sincere: Come, let us cast lots, and let us understand for whose sake this evil is upon us: and the casting of lots, and the casting of lots on Jonah The swimmers come up with something excessive, unusual and strange, wanting to find out by drawing lots because of whom God is angry. However, this is also beneficial, so that someone who thinks that they can run away from the face of God will be discovered; for the lot falls on him, and he is exposed to conviction from the deed itself: he was probably afraid to quickly expose his intention. Therefore, those who wish to fulfill the words act well and wisely: “Do not be ashamed to confess your sins” (Sir. 4:30). John 1:8–10. And deciding to him: tell us for whose sake this evil is upon us, and what your doing is, and where you are coming from, and where you are going, and from which country, and from which people you are. And I said to them: I am the servant of the Lord, and I honor the God of heaven, who created the sea and the dry land. And the man was afraid with great fear, and decided to him: What have you done this? men began to understand that they had fled from the presence of the Lord, that he would tell them After they had already, by means of lot, recognized the culprit of their disaster, they, not being able to clearly understand the essence of sin (Jonah), reveal a useful curiosity. Because they were idolaters; then they demanded that he tell them what his occupation was, what country and city and what people he came from, trying, I think, to find out which God he had offended; for each of those sailing on the ship had his own special god, and not one God of all; they thought that by honoring the deity who was angry because of him, they would get rid of the harmful consequences of the storm. When the Prophet called himself a servant of God, who created the earth and heaven, and said that he worshiped Him; they immediately realized that he had fled from the face of God. But how did they understand this? - from the fact that it was not permissible for the Jews to flee from the country assigned to them, to become close to foreigners and to enter cities accustomed to idolatry; This was a disgrace for them and attracted suspicion of retreat. It seemed that he had broken the law, was guilty and was subject to trial. So the Lord clearly said that they would lose salvation, which, I say, is acquired through faith, if they do not want to accept Him who was still and lived in the world, “he said: I am with you for a short time, and I am going to him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and you will not find: and although I am, you cannot come” (John 7:33-34); and they, reproaching him for moving away from the Jews to the pagans, they foolishly said: “Why does this one want to go, since we will not find him in the Greek dispersion? Does he want to go and teach the Greeks?” (John 7:35); for they consider communication with the Hellenic peoples to be a stupid matter, contrary to accepted customs, contrary to the law and extremely shameful. So, based on the fact that he did not remain within the borders of Judea, but sailed with them to Tarsus, they have suspicion and conclude that he probably renounced life according to the law (Jewish) and, having indulged in Greek customs, is now trying to escape from the face of God. John 1:11–12. And I decided to him: what shall we do to you, and the sea will be satisfied from us? before the sea rose, and there was greater commotion. And Jonah spoke to them: take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be satisfied with you, even though I have known that for my sake this great disturbance is upon you. They were afraid as if the sea had become unbearably violent against them; so they trembled no less than the Jewish God; for they were not ignorant of His inherent power and glory, although they were foreigners. When the prophet called himself a servant of God; then they become confused and waver in their thoughts; for they do not dare to kill, fearing the wrath of almighty God. But since the sea raged against them no less than before; then they inevitably become concerned about themselves. That is why they ask him to tell him what they must do so that the storm calms down and the excitement subsides, and they themselves avoid mortal danger. What about the Prophet? He confesses his sin, repents of offending God and condemns his evil intention: “Take me,” he says, “and throw me into the sea” (Jon. 1:12); as if he was saying that for refusing to carry out the embassy he should be punished by them. He knew that the excitement for the ship would subside if the sea received what it needed and stopped fighting, finally accepting the offender. John 1:13–15. And the men needed to return to the earth, and they could not, for the sea had risen and risen above them. And she cried out to the Lord, and decided: Lord, let not the soul perish for the sake of this man, and do not give us the blood of the righteous: for you, Lord, have done as you willed. And he took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its commotion The Prophet condemned himself to death and decided to risk his life to save them from horror. But they still felt great fear and hesitated to begin committing the murder, but they wanted to save the servant of God and land him alive on the shore, and it was better in this way to turn away the wrath (of God) from themselves. Therefore, they made every effort to bring the ship to the shore; but all their efforts were in vain, because the wind produced an irresistible disturbance for them and rushed against the ship with its violent gusts. After this, they already turn to the propitiation of God with prayer and cry out for forgiveness of their act, as not wanting to kill, but as if (unwittingly) yielding to His sentence and finally forced to give Jonah to the sea and actually gave it up. Having accepted it, it finally calms down, spreads silence and gives the shipbuilders hope of salvation; always obedient to the divine call and obeying the commands of the Lord, it quickly becomes quiet. John 1:16. And the men feared the Lord with great fear, and devoured the sacrifice of the Lord, and prayed prayers Having believed that there is one and essentially God, they received great benefit, although they indulged in an absurd delusion and thought that there were countless gods in the world. So they offer sacrifice according to nature, to the one and true God, leaving their own and abandoning those whom they worshiped in error and who stole the glory due to God - they make vows to Him, although they usually did this to the sea demons. It seemed to the sons of the Hellenes that dominion over the sea was given to a certain Poseidon, for they were all fables, idle talk and terrible madness; We, glorifying the One who is God by nature, truly say to Him: “You rule over the power of the sea,” and so on. (Psalm 88:10). John 2:1. And the Lord commanded the great whale to devour Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. God commands the whale with a wave of His will; for as soon as He wants something to happen, it becomes a law, comes into execution and receives the force of a law. We do not say by this that the God of all gave a command to the whale in the same way as He commands ourselves and the holy Angels, as if instilling in the mind what should be done, and imparting to the hearts the knowledge of what He desires; for to assert that the God of all treats people in exactly the same way as he treats monsters is completely stupid and not far from madness. But, of course, we can say that in general a command, whether to dumb animals, or to the elements, or to any part of creation, is for them, I say, a law, and a command pleasing to Him; since everything obeys His beckons, although the manner of obedience is completely incomprehensible to us, for Him it is completely known. So (Jonah) was swallowed by the whale without any damage and was in it for three days and three nights. Perhaps this will seem to someone unnatural and inconsistent with the requirements of reason. And before others, those who do not know by nature the true God, but are given over to the deceptions of demons, will not believe this. They will say: how could he remain alive while in the whale? How did he not suffer harm during the absorption? or how did you withstand the heat inherent in the womb? How could he live, surrounded by so much moisture, which is, I say, in the belly of a whale? in particular, how was it not destroyed, cooked in the same way as food? after all (for a whale) it was completely weak and a very convenient body for destruction. We answer that this event should rightly be considered truly miraculous, surpassing understanding and going beyond the limits of ordinary phenomena. But if it is said that God did it, then who will not believe it? After all, the Divine is omnipotent and easily transforms the nature of objects into whatever He pleases, and nothing can oppose His ineffable beckons. So that which by its nature is subject to corruption, as a result of His will, may turn out to be inaccessible to corruption; and what is solid, indestructible and inaccessible to the laws of decay can very easily be destroyed; for the nature of creatures, in my opinion, is whatever pleases the Creator 4 . However, you also need to know that the sons of the Greeks, who composed their own myths, say that Hercules, the son of Alcmene and Zeus, was swallowed up by a whale, but was again ejected, with his head naked from the heat inherent in the belly of the monster, completely deprived of hair. Lycophron mentions this story; and he was one of their famous people. He talks about him, calling him: The three-evening lion, whose jaws once The newts were devoured by a sharp-toothed dog. But it is not for the sake of the fables they have invented that we believe in divine deeds - we recalled them only in order to expose the unbelievers; because their historical narrative does not reject the same stories. Since I think that this miraculous event needs to be confirmed by deeds that are still taking place according to the will of God; then we will say that in the womb of the mother, the embryo floats in a natural liquid, it is, as it were, buried in the womb of a pregnant woman, does not have the opportunity to breathe, and yet under such conditions it lives and is preserved, miraculously nourished by the will of God. But not a single objection similar to the above was directed against these works of God, although they did not become understandable to anyone: “Who can understand the mind of the Lord,” according to what is written (Rom. 11:34; Isa. 40:13)? Or who has known the ways of His miracles? Or, in general, whose intelligence are they not superior to, whose power of understanding do they not surpass? So, it is dangerous not to believe, even if God did something beyond reason, but let us accept it as true, avoiding inappropriate inquisitiveness. Since the prophet served as an image of the ministry of Christ, I consider it absolutely necessary to add to this that the whole earth was in danger, the human race was overwhelmed, when the waves of sin seemed to rage against it, terrible and extreme lust drowned it and corruption rose like a wave and wild gusts of wind raged; All these are the works, I say, of the devil and those under his power and with him the evil forces. When we were in such a state, the Creator, God and Father had mercy on us and sent us the Son from heaven, who, having taken flesh and coming to the distressed and stormy earth, voluntarily raised death in order to stop the unrest, so that the sea would calm down, the waves would stop and the storm would cease, for we are saved by the death of Christ. And now the storm has passed, the rain has stopped, the waves have subsided, the power of the winds has been destroyed, a deep silence has finally spread and we, after Christ suffered for us, are in the spiritual bucket. You read something similar in the Gospel Scriptures. One day the boat of the Apostles was sailing across the Sea of ​​Tiberias; when a strong wind arose on the water, they endured unbearable excitement and, being in extreme danger, woke up Christ, who was there and sleeping, crying out loudly: Arise, save, we are perishing (Matthew 8:25); Having risen, it is said, “forbid... the sea,” saying with authority: “Be silent, stop” (Mark 4:39), and saved the disciples. This event was an image of what happened in human nature; for through Him, as I said, we were delivered from the corruption of death, and from sin and from suffering (for sins), and the ancient storm was driven away and all of ours was transformed into silence. John 2:2–3. And Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the whale, and said: I cried out in my sorrow to the Lord my God, and heard me: from the belly of hell, you heard my voice Without suffering any harm, as if using a whale at home, maintaining his mind and not undergoing the slightest injury either physically or mentally, he feels (divine) help; he is sure that God is merciful; Considering what happened to him to be a consequence of inertia in the performance of his ministry, he turns to prayers, offers prayers of gratitude, and at the same time confesses the glory of the Savior, marvels at His power and proclaims His meekness. He said that his prayer was accepted, realizing this, I think, by the prophetic spirit. The expression: “from the belly of hell” (Jon. 2:3) means the same as: “from the belly of the whale,” very correctly likening the beast to hell and death; because he could kill and brutally destroy prey 5. John 2:4–5. Thou hast cast me away into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the rivers have passed over me: all Thy heights are Thy, and Thy waves have come upon me. And I said: I have rejected Your sight He expresses in a variety of ways what happened to him, as if lifting up grace and testifying that with God’s help one can very easily get rid of any disaster. He was, he says, in the very interior of the sea, in the mixing of many waters, flooding it like the waves of a river, and he fell into such distress that he finally came to the conclusion that the eyes of God had completely turned away from him, and he reached despair in his salvation. And it is a terrible and disastrous thing to find yourself outside the eyes of God 6 . Therefore, David begged, saying: “Do not turn Your face away from Me, and do not turn away in anger from Your servant” (Psalm 26:9); the disgust of the face of the divine will certainly be followed by the need to undergo divine wrath, or rather, anger will appear first and precede the disgust. John 2:5. Will I offer food and charity to Thy holy church? He knows that he was preserved by the power of God and honored with help from above, he lived and remained safe, and this in the whale and in the belly of the beast, in a miraculous and beyond reason. But in all likelihood he doubts whether he will be returned (to earth) and whether he will be born again. Therefore, he considers it highly desirable and truly much desired to come to the most divine church and give praise to God the Savior and therefore begs to receive such grace, testifying, as I said, that God can do everything. John 2:6–7. The water poured out on me to the depths of my soul, the last abyss of my daily life was poured out, until my head was buried in the clefts of the mountains; I descended into the earth, even though its faith was sealed for eternity: and let my belly arise from decay to Thee, O Lord my God. Saved by the ineffable power of God, he wants to offer Him the most solemn songs of thanksgiving. He expresses in every possible way what happened to him, and subtly reveals what misfortune he was in: and then again proclaims how he was saved. So, that he was in the sea and in deep abysses and in the clefts of the mountains, because the whale undoubtedly sank between the rocks and in sea caves - he knew about this like a prophet. He says that he descended into the earth, “even if its faith had been sealed for eternity,” that is, into hell, not because he was there (we do not find him dead), but because the dangers were so great and what happened to him was so difficult that they were completely enough to cause his death and bring him down to hell itself, from which no one could come out, and whoever once got there could never return from there. This, I think, is what the words mean: “rivet her faith forever” (John 2:7), as if indestructible, by no one, never invincible, or indissoluble. And that he did not die, but continued to live in the whale, and remained in it, without suffering anything that could cause death or injury, this is clearly indicated by the fact that he still remains in the hope of salvation. Therefore he says: “Let my life arise from decay, O Lord my God” (Jon. 2:7). He begs that he be returned to the light and, as if from hell, be taken from the belly of the whale. John 2:8. Whenever my soul passed away from Me, I remembered the Lord, and may my prayer come to You to Your holy church For those who wish to gain good reputation, suffering is not useless and sorrow cannot be considered unbearable. David will testify to this, saying: “In sorrow I called on the Lord” (Psalm 117:5) and another of the holy prophets: “Lord, in sorrow I remembered Thee” (Isaiah 26:16). And the divine Paul was very pleased to approve and praise sorrow, obviously because it promotes virtue; for he said: “tribulation accomplishes endurance” (Rom. 5:3) and so on. So, while the soul of the Prophet was dying, that is, when it suffered suffering that reached the point of danger and, moreover, extreme; he again does something useful: he, like some, did not immediately fall into negligence and did not express condemnation of the divine judgments, but remembered the Savior. He cried out to Him and desired His help. Knowing His mercy and the abundance of His power, he turned with love to Him, crying out to him to save his life from death and corruption. So, it is very important and honorable not to fall into negligence during suffering, on the contrary, to appease the Lord with petitions and prayers and seek from Him the removal of evil and the destruction of disaster. John 2:9–10. Those who keep vain and false mercy will abandon theirs. But with a voice of praise and confession I will devour You, the great promise I have made, I will reward You for my salvation, the Lord Others, he says, who did not know You, the Lord and Creator of all things, who were caught in the nets of vanity and who worshiped false gods and who watched the flight of birds with hope in them and who shepherded the lawless, do not seek mercy from You and never have hope in it. I am by no means like them, but I know You, the Helper, the good and the most merciful. Therefore, with cry and prayer, he says, I will confess You and, like the most fragrant incense, I will offer You songs, obviously thanksgiving, and I will offer You spiritual sacrifices - glorification and glorification, and I will also make, and very willingly, vows for salvation, that is, that which contributes to my salvation and benefits my soul. And this was obedience to everything pleasing to God and the fulfillment of the prophetic ministry, after the destruction of all slowness and cowardice. So the prophet prays while in the whale. This was a human prototype, but the true image of this event, that is, Christ, was revealed before the honorable cross, when He, already at the very onset of suffering, said to the heavenly Father: “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). He was in great fear and seemed to be overwhelmed by it. But having descended into the underground countries, whether he said anything human, only he knows about this; for it is dangerous to assert this. However, we will see that the divine Peter refers to Him the words spoken by David: “For thou hast not left my soul in hell, nor let thy saint see corruption” (Psalm 15:10); for He rose again on the third day “as if there was no power” (Acts 2:24), so that He, being life by nature, could be held by the bonds of death. John 2:11. And the Lord commanded the whales and Jonah to land Again the whale receives a command, moved by some divine and incomprehensible power of God to fulfill what is pleasing to Him and throws out of its entrails the prophet, who suffered not without benefit for himself; on the contrary, he was convinced from experience and clearly learned that it is dangerous to resist the determinations of the Master. John 3:1–2. And the word of the Lord came again to Jonah, saying: Arise, and go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach in it according to the first preaching which I spoke to you. So, inspired by more ardent zeal, he receives a second command to go to Nineveh and proclaim the same sermon that was spoken to him at the beginning, namely: “for the cry of his malice has gone up against me” (Jon. 1, 2). I have already spoken about what pertains to Christ, but I will speak about it again, without being at all burdened by it, as it is written: “For when I speak to you, I am not lazy, but to you it is firm” (Phil. 3:1). So we will find that Christ, before the honorable cross, seemed to still hesitate to fulfill his work, I say, and to offer the preaching of the Gospel teachings to the pagans. He speaks very clearly about this: “He was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24) and He commanded His holy disciples: “Do not go into the way of tongues” and so on. (Matthew 10:5). But he was “in the hearts of the earth three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40); he came “to the sources of the sea, walking in the footsteps of the deep” (Job 38:16); “at the end... (sank) as if into the clefts of the mountains and went down into the earth, even though its ropes were sealed for eternity” (Jon. 2:6–7). Then, having plundered hell and preached to the spirits there and opened the gates of hell that remained motionless, He returned to life again. His life arose, freed from corruption, and then He appeared in the garden before others to the women seeking Him; then saying to them: “Rejoice,” he commanded to announce to the holy disciples that He was going ahead of them in Galilee (Matthew 28:7-9). Then, finally, His word was proclaimed to the pagans through the blessed apostles. Then preach to the lost “according to the first preaching” (Jon. 3:2): for He taught Israel with no other commandments before His death, and with no other commandments did He teach the Gentiles after it; but the Gospel is one for everyone, and the knowledge of the divine disciples is absolutely the same - and not one for those who are called through faith into sanctification from Israel, but another for us, called from the pagans. John 3:3–4. And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, as the Lord said: Nineveh was a great city to God, like a journey of three days. And Jonah began to enter the city, like a 7-day journey, and preached, and said: Three more days, and Nineveh will be transformed The prophet sets out on a journey and, inspired by ardent zeal, goes to work. Obeying the divine command, he bravely enters the foreign Nineveh, a vast city and occupying such a large space that it would take three days of travel if anyone wanted to go around it; he passes through it in one day, or, as others think, by traveling through it for one day, he proclaimed the divine decree. Of course, an amazing phenomenon (for the Ninevites) was a prophet, a Jewish man, who came from another country, and probably unknown to any of the local residents, walking through the middle of the city, exclaiming and saying: “Three more days, and Nineveh will be transformed” (Jon. 3, 4). Pay attention here and carefully consider the following circumstance: God commanded everyone to preach about Nineveh: “for the cry of her wickedness has come up to Me” (Jon. 1, 2); The Prophet, being in it, says: “Three more days, and Nineveh will be transformed” (Jon. 3, 4). What do we say to this? did he not utter a lie, and did he not speak from his own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord, as some think? We will not say this; on the contrary, we affirm that prophets often indicate the method of their embassy. What the Lord said to him: “Arise, and go to Nineveh, and preach in it, for the cry of its malice has come up to Me” (Jon. 1, 2), - we clearly heard about this immediately at the beginning of the prophecy; and that the Prophet himself said anything to God - we do not know about this. But later we will find him saying this: “O Lord, is this not my saying,” and gave. (Jon. 4, 2). Don't you see that here very much is passed in silence and said by God in secret, as well as through the mouth of a prophet to God? Therefore, the words of the saints should be understood as truth: for those who possess the Spirit of truth in abundance cannot speak a lie. John 3:5. And the men of Nineveh believed in God, and commanded fasting, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest to their smallest The saying is expressive: the inhabitants of Nineveh, that is, a city that has always been distinguished by all kinds of abominations, believed, he says. They had a great and countless number of idols, and numerous churches, and secret arts were widespread. Thus, they held magic and false prophecies in high esteem, the one who turned his curious gaze to the stars was considered wise, and the one who was receptive to all kinds of abominations achieved the highest degree of glory. But they believed in God, from small to large, that is, noble and ignorant, nobles and people of low birth, in the luxury of wealth and suffering under the burden of need. Everyone had one concern - to obey the words of the Prophet. This phenomenon is very surprising and serves as a great praise to those who believe; for they immediately readily obey the person who calls them to correction in the future, and they bow their pampered neck before the divine verbs, and this is due to the call to repentance of a foreigner and one person, and previously unknown to them. This is what the Ninevites did. But foolish Israel does not obey the law, laughs at Moses, and values ​​the words of the Prophets at nothing: but why am I talking about this? He even became the murderer of the Lord and disobeyed Christ Himself. So the condition of the Ninevites was better (than the Israelites) and this was confirmed by the God of all, nowhere saying so to Ezekiel: “Son of man, go and enter into the house of Israel..., not to people... of foreign tongues, nor of heavy tongues..., but even if he sent you to the people, then they too would listen to you: but the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you..., for... disobedient and hard-hearted” (Ezek. 3:4-7). Yes, people of foreign languages, deeply corrupted and frivolous, that is, the Ninevites showed respect to the prophecy and immediately came to realize the need for repentance; and obstinate Israel did not show respect even to the Lord of the Law and Prophets. John 3:6–9. And the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, and took off his robe, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And it was preached and spoken in Nineveh by the king and his nobles, saying 8: “Men, and cattle, and oxen, and sheep, let them not eat anything, let them graze, let them drink under the water. And they put on sackcloth, men and beasts, and cried diligently to God: and each one shall return from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands, saying: Who knows, if he repents and prays to God, and turns from the wrath of his wrath, and we shall not perish? He further enhances his praise for obedience and is even more amazed at the willingness to obey those called to repentance. As soon as the words of the Prophet reached their ears, then he himself, awarded the scepter and crowned with the highest honors, left the royal throne and, throwing off the clothes befitting him and taking off the scarlet robe, put on sackcloth, that is, he was in mournful clothes. Having sat on the ashes, he himself and others gave an indication that it was necessary to refuse food and, propitiating God with incessant prayers, ask Him for mercy. The Ninevites turned out to be very wise in that they all tried together to ward off lawlessness through fasting. Truly this was a true and blameless image of repentance. But since Israel, not having the proper experience in this, once held a very unreasonable and unclean fast, God commanded the Prophet to tell them in a sublime voice: “not such... “I have chosen fasting, says the Lord,” and immediately adds the reason for which He pointed this out: “In the days of your fastings you find your wills, and languish all that is available to you; ... in judgments and conflicts, fast and beat with the palms of the humble” (Isa. 58: 3–4, 6). So, the Ninevites turned out to be the best, performing a pure and immaculate fast to God. The Holy Scripture testified to this, saying: “And return every one from the way of his evil one, and from the unrighteousness that is in their hands” (Jon. 3:8). This act is imbued with wisdom and prudence. They believed that “God will repent” (Jon. 3:9) and stop His anger. “He will repent” (μετανοήοει) says instead: “he will delight” (βουλήσεται). If He sees that they have moved from evil to good, then He Himself will turn to peace and love for mankind, which He greatly desires; for He is good by nature. However, He imposes punishment on those who sin, and on those who reveal an uncontrollable inclination towards self-will He sends His wrath, which, like a bridle, perfectly restrains them and leads them to obedience. Pay attention to what the Ninevites say: “Who knows, if God repents and turns from the wrath of His wrath, and we do not perish?” (Jon. 3, 9). Wise Israel, brought up by the law, does not rise to the understanding that the Lord is good and meek, for they foolishly said: “Our charms and our iniquities are in us, and we melt in them, and how can we be alive?” (Ezek. 33:10). But they heard God clearly saying: “By conversion, turn from your evil ways: and in this way are you dying, O house of Israel?” (Ezek. 33:11). This is what the Ninevites did, turning away the anger that threatened them by turning to something better, and they decided that livestock, deprived of food and drink and forced to cry, should suffer along with people. This was done beyond what was required, since it was not necessary and God did not want the suffering of animals; but Scripture pointed out this in order to highlight the extraordinary nature of the repentance of the Ninevites. I know that some blush at this and say that by brutes we mean the most foolish among people. These words are fair and would be appropriate at times if they were understood by anyone in this way. But the meaning of the words being explained certainly corresponds to the idea that the definition of suffering even for animals indicates the highest degree of repentance. John 3:10. And God saw their deeds, as if they had turned from their evil ways: and God repented of the evil that He had said to do to them, and did not do it The Lord is quick to show mercy and will save those who repent; He immediately forgives them for their previous guilt with the cessation of their sin, and He Himself leaves His anger and begins to provide for their good. When He sees that they have turned to goodness, He also turns to meekness, postpones destruction and is worthy of forgiveness; for He quite rightly says: “Ye also die, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. I still do not want death... of the dying..., but rather to turn him from his way and to live his soul" (Ezek. 18:31-32). When he speaks “about evil” (Jon. 3:10), then he does not mean moral impurity, but anger that causes suffering: for loving virtue, God does not harm us. John 4:1–3. And Jonah was saddened with great sorrow and was troubled. And you prayed to the Lord and said this: O Lord, is it not these words of mine that still exist in my land? For this reason, before fleeing to Tarshish, I realized that You are merciful and generous, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, and repent of evil. And now, Master Lord, take my soul from Me, for I must die rather than live. When God showed mercy to those who, by repentance, averted the consequences of (divine) wrath, and when the appointed period expired, after which what was foretold was to take place, and yet none of what was predicted came true; Then the prophet was very sad, not because the city escaped destruction (for this is characteristic only of an evil envious person and least of all characteristic of a saint), but because he seemed like some kind of liar and idle talker, who in vain frightened them and spoke from his own thinking, and not at all from the mouth of God, according to what was written. But some think that the prophet was saddened for some other reason not specified (in the biblical text). After he, they say, learned that Israel, with the calling of the flock of pagans, would completely lose hope in God, then, as if such a time had already come, he came into great sorrow and was saddened for his fellow tribesmen, as if they were already dead. But he himself does not allow it to be understood this way, emphatically saying that he fled to Tarshish (but was caught for daring to fulfill the embassy) due to the clear knowledge that He is “merciful... and generous... and repent of your evils” (John 4:2). Since you, he says, are like that, then how did you command me to preach to them in vain about (threatened) destruction? And, like a man, he is faint-hearted, claiming that he spoke these very words in the land of Judea - he is already asking for death and, as it were, pronouncing an unjust condemnation against Providence. And this is a dangerous matter and unworthy of a holy soul. After all (if not a single prudent person can reproach the doctors of the body for the fact that they change medicines in accordance with the properties of the wounds; then how can one condemn the omniscient God, Who invents healing that always corresponds to the state of our souls and is truly the most useful? Yes, He is the doctor of souls, taming the fury of our passions, sometimes with suffering, sometimes with the benefits of mercy. John 4:4–5. And the Lord said to Jonah: Are you very sad? And Jonah came out of the city, and sat down straight from the city, and made himself a booth 10, and sat under it in the canopy until he saw that there would be hail He does not allow the spirit of the Prophet to be suppressed by despondency, but, as it were, supports him when he is weakened. But although He is very merciful, He nevertheless usefully denounces the Prophet for being saddened; for, I think, nothing else can be indicated by the fact that (God) asks (the Prophet) and says: “Are you very sad?” (Jon. 4, 4). He seems to reproach those who are saddened and do not understand the purpose of divine definitions. When the days had already passed, after which the foreshadowed should have come to fruition, and meanwhile the (divine) anger had not yet revealed its effect, then he realized that God had mercy on them; however, he has not completely lost hope, but he thinks that although a reprieve of punishment has been given to those who decided to repent; but nevertheless, those who, upon repentance, did not discover sorrow equivalent to their sins, will certainly be subjected to some kind of punishment of wrath; for what benefit can a three-day feat bring to those mired in every lawlessness and plunged into such terrible sins? So, in all likelihood, thinking within himself, the Prophet leaves the city and remains to see what will happen to them. He expected that the city would either be destroyed by an earthquake or burned by fire like Sodom. They hastily arrange a shelter for him and build a tent. John 4:6. And the Lord God commanded the pumpkin, and the growth over Jonah's head, that there should be a shade over his head, to overshadow him from the evil ones, and Jonah rejoiced over the pumpkin with great joy God gives the command to the pumpkin in the same way as to the whale, that is, by wave and desire. And immediately a beautiful and lush pumpkin grew and (with its leaves) soon covered the entire hut, to the joy of (the prophet) spreading a lot of shade like a grove. The Prophet rejoices greatly over her and truly rejoices as if on the occasion of a great event. From this you can see the simplicity and sincerity of his soul characteristic of him. On the one hand, he “was saddened... with great sorrow” (Jon. 4:1) because what he predicted did not come true, and on the other hand, he “rejoiced... with great joy” (Jon. 4:6) for the sake of greenery and plants. The innocent heart is very susceptible to sorrows and joys. You will see the truth of these words if you pay attention to the morals of children, who are often sad over trifles and cry a lot over little things. On the contrary, sometimes, fascinated by something insignificant, they become delighted and suddenly move from sadness to joy. Just as among human bodies those that are usually not distinguished by their strength are easily subject to falling, with some kind of push, even if someone does not do it very strongly, but touches it as if with the most gentle hand, so an ingenuous heart easily surrenders to everything that is capable of touching it or even saddening it. John 4:6–8. And God commanded the early worm in the morning, and to eat up the pumpkin, and from there. And quickly, when the sun rose, 11 God commanded the burning wind and strike the sun on the head of Jonah: and you were faint-hearted, and denied your soul, and said: I must die rather than live. The caterpillar is called an early worm because it receives the beginning of its existence from the dew falling before sunrise. God commands her, as well as the hot wind, which should be understood in the same sense in which He gives commands to the pumpkin itself and the whale. And then suddenly it (the pumpkin) dries up, and the burning wind hits him hard, and the sun sends heat on the languishing man, finding him without shade, which intensifies his grief even more, and he has already reached such cowardice that death itself has become very desirable for him. John 4:9. And the Lord said to Jonah: Are you so sad about the pumpkin? And he said: I was greatly saddened even to the point of death. Notice again that the God of all, out of immeasurable love for mankind, seems to play with the innocent souls of saints and is in no way inferior to parents in tender love. When the pumpkin gives him shade, the Prophet rejoices over it. After this, according to the arrangement of Providence, the caterpillar causes harm and the burning wind strikes him, showing that the shadow was very useful and necessary for him, so that he would grieve even more, having lost something better. Then, having become greatly saddened because of a small thing, I say, because of a pumpkin, he will no longer blame divine humanity if it decides to show mercy and mercy to the most famous cities and filled with countless inhabitants. Therefore, he very skillfully asks him the question: “Are you very sad” - and this is because of a vegetable plant. He admits this and this was finally a means of protection for the humane God. John 4:10–11. And the Lord said: you were offended by the pumpkin, but you did not labor for it 12, nor did you feed it, even though it was born in one place, and one perished in one place. Shall I not spare the great city of Nenevea, in which live as many as twelve people, who have not known their right hand below their shui, and kill many of them? O incomparable and incomprehensible mercy! What word will be sufficient to glorify him? and with what lips can we offer songs of thanksgiving to the Merciful and the Good, for He removes “our iniquities from us” and further (Psalm 102:12). See how He shows that Jonah was saddened at the wrong time and for what he should not have, while the saint should have praised and glorified the Master. If you, he says, were saddened, or better yet, brought to extreme grief by the fact that your pumpkin plant withered, which both grew in one night and died, then how could I not feel sorry for a crowded city in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not have the opportunity, from time and age, to recognize which is their right hand and which is their left? After all, this is not yet discerned by infants, who, as if they had not sinned in anything, should have shown humanity before others. In fact, someone who does not yet recognize his own hands could be burdened with sins? If He also names animals and deigns them to be pitied; He does this too as a result of His great goodness. After all, if “the righteous man has mercy on the souls of his cattle” (Prov. 12:10) - and this serves as his praise - then what is surprising if the God of all things Himself has pity and compassion for them? Thus Christ saved everyone, giving Himself as a ransom for the small and the great, the wise and the unwise, the rich and the poor, Jew and Greek. One can rightly say to him: “Lord, save men and animals. For Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God: but the sons of mankind have hope in Thy wing's shelter" (Psalm 35:7-8). In Greek, δέδωκα, Vulg. do. Greek πέλεκυς (option: πέλυξ) κόπτων - cutting ax, but Slavic, like the Vulgate, is closer to Hebrew, malleus conterens. Red or Red Sea. That is, the nature of each object is determined by nothing other than the Will of the Creator. Καταρρο φεῖν - to absorb prey, destroying it. God's gracious protection. At St. Cyril, as in some ancient lists, the following is omitted: ὁδοῦ – paths. Instead of: λεγόντων - “speaking”, as in some publications, in St. Cyril, according to the ancient codes: λέγων – verb. In Slavic and Greek. var. then follow the words: “even verbs” - ὁύς ἐυάλησα, which Cyril does not have, as well as in some Greek publications. In Slavic, ἐϰεῖ - tamo is omitted, and instead of ἀυτῷ - to him, as in Cyril and others, it is read: ἑαυτῷ - to himself, as in others. At St. Cyril, as in some, added: “Lord” - Κύριος. In Slavic, as in some languages, it is omitted: ἐπ’ ἀυτήν or ἐπ’ ἀυτῆς - above it. You might be interested in: