Bible Strands
Jonah 1:5
The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The sailors respond to a violent storm sent by the LORD that threatens to break their ship apart, while Jonah rests below deck in the lowest part of the vessel.
The words — The text highlights וַֽ/יִּזְעֲקוּ (va/i.yiz.'a.Ku, "they cried out") and אֱלֹהָי/ו֒ ('e.lo.Ha/v, "his gods"), showing each man calling upon his own deities for deliverance.
The thread — The narrative of desperate cries to various deities during a sea storm parallels the pattern in Jeremiah 2:28, while the act of jettisoning cargo mirrors the sailors in Acts 27:18.
Why it lands — The passage contrasts the frantic efforts of the crew with Jonah’s unconsciousness, demanding a reader to observe how human panic and divine sovereignty operate simultaneously in the same vessel.
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
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.
- Acts 27:18 We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo.
- 1 Kings 18:26 And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
- Judges 16:19 And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
- Isaiah 45:20 Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
- Jonah 1:6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Luke 22:45 When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
- 1 Samuel 24:3 Soon Saul came to the sheepfolds along the road, where there was a cave, and he went in to relieve himself. And David and his men were hiding in the recesses of the cave.
- Job 2:4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Isaiah 44:17 From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”