Jonah 1

to flee to Tarshish — I.e, to a sea named Tarshish, which is outside the Holy Land. He said, “I will flee to the sea, for the Shechinah does not rest outside the Holy Land.” Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, “By your life, I have messengers like you to send after you and fetch you from there.” This is illustrated by an allegory of a priest’s slave who fled from his master and entered a cemetery [making it impossible for his master to retrieve him]. His master said to him, “I have slaves like you to send after you and fetch you from there.” Now what did Jonah see that he did not wish to go to Nineveh? He said, “The gentiles are quick to repent. Should I prophesy to them and they repent, I will be found condemning Israel, who do not heed the words of the prophets.” [from Mechilta, Exodus 12:1]

He paid the fare — in advance, while passengers normally pay the fare only when the ship sails. Moreover, he paid the fare for the whole boat.

in danger of breaking up — it seemed as if she were breaking up.

the sailors — sons of men steering the ship.

each to his own god — from seventy nations of the idolaters, they were there.

They saw that the other ships were sailing in the sea calmly, and [only] theirs was breaking...

You who have brought this misfortune upon us — Against whom have you sinned, that this evil should befall us because of it?

What is your business? Perhaps you were negligent in your work.

Where have you come from? Perhaps a decree has been issued upon the people of that place even if you are not there.

Of what people are you? Perhaps your people have sinned.

Made vows — They converted.

(1) NOW THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO JONAH — Our sages, of blessed memory, said (Jerusalem Talmud 5:1) that Jonah ben Amitai was, on his mother’s side, from the tribe of Asher, and that he was the son of the widow [of Zarephath] who sustained Elijah, and whom Elijah revived; and [our sages said further] that, on his father’s side, Jonah was from the tribe of Zebulun, as it is written in the book of Kings, “Jonah ben Amitai who was from Gath-Hepher” (2 Kings 14:25), and Gath-Hepher was in the territory of Zebulun (Joshua 19:13). And it is explained in the book of Kings (9:1-13) that Jonah was the one who anointed Jehu (Seder Olam Rabbah 18). And he prophesied to Jeroboam ben Joash (2 Kings 14:25) that he [Jeroboam] would restore the boundary of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah. And all of this was to no avail, for Israel did not repent until they were about to go into exile at the hand of the king of Assyria; and [at this time] Assyria was already ruling over them, therefore Hashem said to him [Jonah]:

The questions — we do not find in any text that God would send a prophet of Israel to go to another country to get them to repent. This is specific to Israel, to whom divine providence applies, as our sages said...How was Nineveh different, that God sent Jonah? And why did Jonah not heed God's voice? He should have sprinted joyfully to get human beings to repent from their evil way, and what matter is it that they were not of Israel? And how could Jonah transgress God's command by suppressing his prophecy? A prophet who does this is liable to the death penalty! And why did God say, "Proclaim" without saying what to proclaim, and only specifying the second time "Proclaim that which I shall tell you"?

"Arise, go to Nineveh and proclaim upon it" — so that they repent. Jonah's mission was not for the sake of Nineveh,...but for Israel's sake. After Assyria was assigned to be the rod of God's wrath with Israel for their sins, God wanted to bring them [Assyria] to repentance so that they would be ready to fulfill God's decree...Also, God wanted to show that Assyria had more merit than Israel, because they listened to the words of the prophet and repented, while Israel stiffened their necks. And when Jonah realized that, from this mission, harm would come upon Israel, this is when he began to think about not going. He chose to drown himself in the sea instead of bringing about harm to Israel.

[...]

And because, in the first instance, God only said to "proclaim," without specifying what, this meant proclaiming to them general words of morality and rebuke so that they would repent....God was only sending him to rebuke them, and not to inform them of God's decree on them. Hence, Jonah thought that by not going, he was not guilty of suppressing his prophecy; he wasn't being sent to prophesy at all, and he would be only violating the positive command from God to rebuke them.

The Questions — Why did Jonah flee to Tarshish? If [he fled] so that the word of Hashem would not reach him, then, behold, Hashem had already commanded him [to go to Nineveh] and he refused to go on the mission. What difference does it make if he refuses once or if he refuses twice? And why did he flee to the sea and not to the desert and from there to chutz la’aretz [‘outside the Holy Land’]? For, behold, the sea is suitable for prophecy, as it is written that God appeared to Ezekiel in chutz la’aretz because he was in a place of water (Ezekiel 1:3). And the phrase ‘ba’ah Tarshish,’ ‘arriving Tarshish,’ [appears] incorrect, for it should have said, 'holechet Tarshish,' ‘going [to] Tarshish.’

"And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish" — because he was afraid lest He send him again and place a word of prophecy in his mouth that he go as a prophet, and then he would be compelled to go. Therefore he hurried to flee from before the LORD. And already R.I”A. observed that there is a difference between ‘from the LORD’ and ‘from before the LORD’: ‘from the LORD’ is said about His knowledge and providence — and how could one flee from the providence of the LORD and where from His presence could he flee? — but ‘before the LORD’ comes about closeness and the resting of the Shechinah, when he is standing and walking before the LORD and cleaving to Him. And he wanted to flee to outside the Land, where the Shechinah does not dwell, and from there He would not send him to prophesy. And behold, he chose to go down by sea and not to flee to outside the Land by way of the wilderness, because prophecy sometimes rests also in outside the Land when the spirit had already once rested on him in the Land of Israel, as it is said about what is said in Ezekiel ‘the word of the LORD was indeed’ — that he prophesied in outside the Land because he had already prophesied in the Land; and Elijah, when fleeing the wilderness from Jezebel, saw visions of God at Mount Horeb. Therefore he went up to the ship, thinking that while he would be on the ship the spirit of the LORD would not rest on him, whether because seafarers’ minds are unsettled from the suffering of the sea until their coming to dry land, as our Sages said, or because then he would not be in seclusion, since there were on the ship idol-worshippers — all this would prevent the Shechinah from resting upon him — and thus it says:

"And he went down into it to go with them to Tarshish" — for he wanted to go with them in their company. And our Sages have already explained that he paid the fare of the whole ship, as it says, ‘and he paid its fare,’ and this is clarified by what it says:

“And he found a ship coming from Tarshish" — it should have said ‘a ship going to Tarshish,’ but the ship had now come from Tarshish. And the custom of the shipowners is not to return immediately on the day of their arrival, but to remain several days until they find the full number of people crossing the sea on that route who will cover the hire of the ship. And Jonah hurried to pay the fare of the whole ship, and he had in this two intentions: either that it should depart immediately, or that there would not be many souls on the ship — for since he knew that the passengers on the ship would be in danger, he did not want many souls to be lost.