Bible Strands
Jonah 1:15
Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative describes the sailors acting at the moment Jonah instructs them to throw him overboard. They comply immediately after praying to the LORD and acknowledging His sovereign will.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּשְׂאוּ (va/i.yis.'U) literally means "they picked up," while וַ/יַּעֲמֹד (va/i.ya.'a.Mod) means "it stopped" or "it stood still." These terms mark the transition from Jonah’s removal to the sea’s sudden stillness.
The thread — This motif of God silencing turbulent waters appears in Psalms 89:9 and Psalms 93:3, where divine authority calms the raging sea. The same power to rebuke wind and waves is later demonstrated by Jesus in Luke 8:24.
Why it lands — The text records an immediate cessation of the storm upon Jonah’s removal, demonstrating that the chaos was divinely directed. The reader must recognize that obedience to God’s will ends the turmoil He permitted.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Cross-references
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Luke 8:24 The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm.
- Psalms 89:9 You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
- Psalms 107:29 He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
- Psalms 65:7 You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Matthew 8:26 “You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
- Joshua 7:24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
- 2 Samuel 21:8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.