So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.
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Jerome
AD 420
LXX: 'and they took Jonah and they threw him into the sea, and the sea became ceased from its agitation'. He did not say, they grabbed him and threw him but they raised him up as if they were carrying him with respect and honour, and they threw him into the sea without him struggling, but rather he went willingly. And the sea ceased because it had found the man it was searching for. Just as when you pursue a fugitive, and running, catch up with him, then stop to grab hold of him; so too the sea was wild without Jonah, and then when it had in its lap what it desired it rejoiced in having him and cherished him, and the calm returned by this joy. If we consider before the suffering of Christ, the confessions of the world, the contrary winds of different opinions, the ship and all human kind, that is all creation to be in danger, then, after the suffering of Christ there is the calm of faith, the peace of the world, universal safety, conversion to God, and we will see how after Jonah has b...
The text does not say they seized him or that they threw him in, but that they took him, carrying him as one [deserving] respect and honor. They discharged him into the sea not in repugnance; rather, he submitted himself of his own volition into their hands. And the sea ceased [its turmoil] because it found what it sought. When one continues as a fugitive and keeps running away as fast as one can, sooner or later he is caught and stops his running, and whatever was chasing him stands still. It is the same way with the sea, which, absent Jonah, was irritated. But as soon as it lays hold of what is at the center of its desire it rejoices to have it, and from that joy it returns to tranquillity. If we will give consideration to the time before the passion of Christ, [we will see that time as one disturbed by] the errors of the world and the headwinds of various opinions. The entire boat of humanity, that is, the creation of the Lord, was in peril. But then, after his passion, we see a wor...
