69 JONAH’S SAILORS THEIR LOT CASTING AND The first consideration is that the literary setting of the story would seem to suggest that, given the severity of the storm, it would not have been either the time or place to engage in divinatory practices, even hasty ones 10. The first chapter of Jonah repeatedly emphasizes that all aspects of the storm were “mighty/great” (lwdg/hlwdg), “tempestuous” (r[s), even “ dreadful/evil ” (h[r) — so much so that even the ship itself thought it would break up (see 1,4.5.7.11.12.13; cf. also “raging” π[z in v. 15). Correlatively, one might well wonder if sailors would have normally used lots or had them on hand 11, and/or precisely what kinds of lots they would have used — especially if they did not have “standard” lots readily available 12. Then again, “lots” (twlrwg) are so notoriously unspecific in the claims about Jonah’s precise generic intent (which I would argue is polyvalent at any rate), but I do believe that such literary artistry — “rhetoric” in Muilenburg’s understanding of the term — often serves to delight an audience (among other things). On the latter point, cf. Cicero’s famous description of the “ supreme orator” as “one whose speech instructs, delights and moves the minds of his audience” (De optimo genere oratorum, 1.3; 5.16) — Cicero, De inventione. De optimo genere oratorum. Topica (LCL 386; Cambridge, MA 1949) 356-357, 366-367. BRODY, “ Each Man Cried Out to His God”, 75-77, 82, 100-101, 10 discusses religious practices under duress at various points in his work. Unfortunately, however, virtually all of the evidence he cites is later and classical in provenience (see 77, 81), as, for example, in the case of the Greek legend preserved in Diodorus (V 58.2), which “tells how the Phoenician prince . Cadmus called upon ‘Poseidon’ to protect him during several storms on his voyage from Phoenicia to Greece” (BRODY, “ Each Man Cried Out to His God ”, 82). BRODY’S only Semitic textual data comes from the book of Jonah itself (82, 84) — though he also cites Ps 107,23-20 in passing (82, n. 53). I.e., because such means are often associated with cult/worship and 11 therefore with cultic experts (see esp. CRYER, Divination in Ancient Israel, passim). But then again, Jonah’s sailors prove to be particularly pious! For religiosity among Levantine sailors more generally, see BRODY, “ Each Man Cried Out to His God”, esp. 73-85. He also cites Periplus of Hanno § 14, which indicates that “soothsayers” (Greek manteis) were taken on a particular voyage from Carthage along the coast of Africa — see K. MÜLLER, Geographi Graeci Minores (Paris 1882) I, 10-12. Unfortunately, no further information about these diviners or their work on board a ship is provided by Periplus — BRODY, “ Each Man Cried Out to His God”, 84. See BRODY, “ Each Man Cried Out to His God”, 84, who notes that 12 “ astragali, or sheep’s knucklebones, were rolled like dice to determine omens . . . . One actual astragal was uncovered from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, and hints at attempts of the crew to determine the future fortunes of the vessel, which was eventually lost beneath the waves.” While the find is evocative, BRODY’s conclusion must remain tentative. Cf. J.M. SASSON, Jonah. A New Translation with Introduction, Commentary, and Interpretation (AB 24B; New