John Trapp on Jonah 1:3

Verſe 3. But Jonah roſe up to flee &c.] i. e. He made haſt (more haſt then good ſpeed) to diſobey God. Homo eſt inverſus decalogus. The naturall man ſtandeth acroſſe to the will of God: being abominable, diſobedient, and to every good work reprobate Tit. 1.16. Jonas was a ſpirituall man; and ſhould have diſcerned all things 1 Cor. 2.15. But this ſpiritual man was mad Hoſ. 9.7. (as they that are cured of a frenſy, will yet have their freakes, and frantick tricks ſometimes) he caſt off the yoke, and turned, for the time, runnagate from the Lord; who met him at half-turn, and brought him back againe, though by weeping-croſſe. Of the black-birds dung is made the lime whereby he is taken: ſo here. They that would excuſe Jonas, and ſay that he ſinned not, Dei ſcriptis injuriam faciunt, ſaith Luther, they wrong the ſcriptures. The beſt have their infirmities: as the ſnow-like ſwan hath black legs: and as no pomegranate is without ſome rotten graines. David ſaw ſuch volumes of corruptions, and ſo many Errata's in all that he did, that he cries out, Who can underſtand his errours? Cleanſe thou me from ſecret faultes, Joſeph. Antiq. lib. 9. cap. 11. Pſal. 19.12.

to flee unto Tarſhiſh] Tarſus in Cilicia, St. Paules countrey Act. 21.39. and 23.3. rather then the city Tunis in Afrike, as Vatablus will have it, or the Eaſt-Indies, as others. Tarſhiſh ſometimes ſignifieth the maine Ocean, as Pſal. 48.8. (whence ſome take it here for the ſea) but that may be by a metonymie of the adjunct: becauſe Tarſus ſtood upon the Ocean-ſhore, and was a fit haven whence to hoiſe up ſaile into ſundry countries.

from the preſence of the Lord] Ab ante Domini from the ſpeciall and ſpirituall preſence of God wherein he had hitherto ſtood and miniſtred. For from Gods generall preſence (whereby he filleth all places) and is not farr from any one of us Act. 17.27. (not ſo farr ſurely, as the bark is from the tree, the skin from the fleſh, or the fleſh from the bones) Jonas knew he could not flee. Blind Nature ſaw and could ſay. —quaſcunque acceſſeris oras, Sub Jove ſemper eris.— God is a circle, ſaid Empedocles, whoſe center is every where, whoſe circumference is no where. Why the Prophet fled, many cauſes are aſſigned by Interpreters: as Amor patriae, timor humanus &c. his feare of the Ninevites, his love to his Iſraelites, his conceit that it would be to little purpoſe to preach to heathens, ſith he had prevailed ſo little at home &c. The very cauſe was that which we find chap. 4.2. I fled to Tarſhiſh: for I knew that thou art a gratious God &c. and I feared, leſt I ſhould thereupon be counted a falſe Prophet. So much there is of Self found in the beſt: who when once they are got out of Gods way, they may run they know not whither, and return they know not when.

and went down to Ioppa] Heb. Iapho; a ſea-town in the tribe of Dan. Ioſh. 19.46. diſtant about 50. miles from Geth-Hepher (Jonas his town 2 King. 14.25.) which was in the tribe of Zabulon toward the lake of Tiberias. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Sinners are no ſmall paines-takers. There is the ſame Hebrew and Greek word for wickedneſſe and toileſomeneſſe. Would ſinners be at the ſame paines for heaven, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that they are at for hell, they could not lightly miſs of it.

and he found a ſhip going to Tarſhiſh] They that have a mind to commit ſin, ſhall eaſily meet with an occaſion: the Tempter, who feeleth their pulſes and knoweth which way they beat, will ſoon fit them a penniworth: He hath a wedge of gold to ſet before Achan, a Cozbi before Zimri. Indeed it is the juſt mans happineſſe, that no evill ſhall happen to him Prov. 12.21. that is (as Mercer interpreteth it) non parabitur ei; & dabitur occaſio iniquitatis, Non cauſabi [illegible: 1 letter]ur, aptabitur. God ſhall cut off from him the occaſions of ſin, remove ſtumbling-blocks out of his way; either not lead him into temptation, or not leave him in it.

ſo he paid the fare thereof] Forſan ut citiùs navie ſolveret: Mercer. perhaps to make the marriners haſten the more. Jonas might better have obeyed God and gone to Nineveh on free-coſt. But wit is beſt when 'tis bought, they ſay. How many be there, who periſh at their own charge; as Phocion the Athenian payd for the poyſon that diſpatched him.

to go with them to Tarſhiſh from the preſence &c.] i. e. out of Gods bleſſing, into the worlds warme Sun. All wilfull ſinners are runnagates from the Lord; factique ſunt à corde ſuo fugitivi, ſaith Teritullian: faine they would alſo run (if they knew how, or whither) from their own conſciences. But if they belong to God, Conſcience ſhall be awakened to do its office: and they ſhall one day ſay with her, I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home againe empty, why then call ye me Naomi; call me Marah: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me Ruth 1.20, 21.