And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
All Commentaries on Jonah 1:7 Go To Jonah 1
Jerome
AD 420
LXX: 'and they said to each other: come, let us draw lots to see who it is that has brought this wickedness upon us. And they drew lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.' They knew the ways of the sea and knew the causes of the storms and winds in such weather. Without a doubt they had seen the waves rise up as usual, and as they must have seen many times before, but they must never before have found the person to blame for the shipwreck, and through him tried to avoid certain danger. We should not be driven by this example to believe in fate, or to believe that this text should be connected to that of the Acts of the Apostles where Matthias is chosen by lot, because personal privileges do not make common law. For just as an old lady speaks up for the condemning of Balaam, as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, in their own judgement, knew the future through dreams and yet do not see that there is a divine judgement in this, like Caiaphas prophesies unknowing, that it is better for one to die for all: just as this fugitive is betrayed by fate, not by the powers of the fates, above all the powers of the pagan fates, but by the will of hi who controlled uncertain fate. With regard to the meaning of the expression "to know by whom this wickedness had come upon us", we ought to take 'wickedness' as a synonym of affliction, of disaster, as in this passage: "every day his wickedness was enough", and in the prophet Amos: "is there wickedness in a town without God being the author?". And in Isaiah: "It is I the Lord, who make goodness and wickedness". But in other places too wickedness can be seen to be the opposite of virtue, as in the passage of our prophet that we have read above: "the cry of their wickedness went up to me"
