Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
mariners were afraid—though used to storms; the danger therefore must have been extreme.
cried every man unto his god—The idols proved unable to save them, though each, according to Phœnician custom, called on his tutelary god. But Jehovah proved able: and the heathen sailors owned it in the end by sacrificing to Him (Jonah 1:16).
into the sides—that is, the interior recesses (compare I Samuel 24:3; Isaiah 14:13, Isaiah 14:15). Those conscious of guilt shrink from the presence of their fellow man into concealment.
fast asleep—Sleep is no necessary proof of innocence; it may be the fruit of carnal security and a seared conscience. How different was Jesus' sleep on the Sea of Galilee! (Mark 4:37-39). Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts with the unoffending mariners' alarm. The original therefore is in the nominative absolute: "But as for Jonah, he," etc. Compare spiritually, Ephesians 5:14.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Jonah 1:5:
Jonah 2:8
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