Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea raged, and was tempestuous against them.
All Commentaries on Jonah 1:13 Go To Jonah 1
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Although the ocean condemned him and the lot exposed him, when he implicated himself and confessed his flight, they still were not in a hurry to annihilate the prophet, rather, they demonstrated toleration and contraint and did everything possible to keep him from the fury of the ocean after such proof of his guilt.
However, the ocean did not permit even this, or better yet, God did not allow this to happen, because he wanted to sober him through the sailors in the same way as through the whale. (Homily on Repentance 3:8)
