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Writer's picturePaul Scott

To or Unto

Several soldiers in Hawaii, manning a newfangled warning system – later known as RADAR – noticed an unusual occurrence on their device.  It appeared to be a massive armada of airplanes.  Accordingly, they sent an urgent message to the island’s military commander.  The message went unread, sitting in the commander’s in-box; he never received the warning and Pearl Harbor was suddenly attacked.  The warning message was sent to the commander, but it wasn’t sent unto the commander.  Note the prepositions: to and unto.   Unto, unlike to, indicates delivery.


O.E.D.: Unto – Expressing or denoting motion directed towards and reaching (a place, point, or goal).


If you send a letter by first class mail to a person (an address), you’ll not be sure if it actually gets delivered.  However, send a letter by certified mail unto a particular person (an address), and you’ll know if and when it was delivered.  Unto tells you it reached the place, and the mission of sending was accomplished.  Unto gets through and gets it done; to simply indicates direction.


Now, to the point: notice the grammar of God’s first commission to Jonah:


“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it…” - Jonah 1:2.


Go to Nineveh - God knew Jonah would instead go to Joppa, then toward Tarshish.  The preposition used was to (general direction).   God knew he wasn’t going to deliver the message to the Assyrians of Nineveh.


Then, after Jonah’s rebellion, chastening by storm, and salvation by whale, God issues a second, similar, commission:


“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it…” - Jonah 3:2.


God is serious now.  No more wasting time.  Consequently, it’s not enough to simply send a prophet toward Nineveh and stand outside, crying toward it (against).  Now, go unto - reach this people this time!  Get it done.  Jonah obeys, and he actually enters the city a day’s journey before preaching!  Delivered, reached, unto.  God knew (and Jonah also knew)!  Their communication, including a simple preposition deemed archaic by today’s standards, reveals the depth, the exactness, of their mutual understanding, and of God’s fore-knowledge.  Fascinating!

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3 Comments


Simply beautiful. First devising, provoking, the novelesque story. Later, just do what must be done. Thank you.

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Excellent! I never would have thought that such illumination can be found in a simple preposition! Thank you, Lord for the KJB.

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Dido
Dido
Jul 24

Thank you, thank you!

So seemingly trivial, yet quite enlightening!!!

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