Jonah's Flight, the Storm, and the Great Fish
Jonah 1:1-17
Jon.1.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמתי: ADV
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- 1 Kings 17:2 (verbal): Uses the same prophetic formula 'And the word of the LORD came to...'—both introduce a divine commission to a named prophet (Elijah) in a similar syntactic pattern.
- Jeremiah 1:4 (verbal): Directly parallels the call narrative formula ('Now the word of the LORD came unto me') and introduces a prophetic vocation and divine instruction to an identified prophet.
- Ezekiel 1:3 (verbal): Begins with the same declaration that 'the word of the LORD came' to a named prophet (Ezekiel), linking Jonah’s opening to the conventional prophetic call formula in the prophetic books.
- Jonah 3:1 (structural): Internal parallel within the book: a second occurrence of the exact formula 'And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah,' marking a subsequent divine commission and framing the narrative’s turn.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
- And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:
Jon.1.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- קום: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- נינוה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הגדולה: ADJ,f,sg,def
- וקרא: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- כי: CONJ
- עלתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- רעתם: NOUN,f,sg,suff-3mp
- לפני: PREP
Parallels
- Jonah 3:2 (verbal): A near-verbatim reprise of the same commission — 'Arise, go to Nineveh' — repeating the imperative to warn the city.
- Nahum 1:1 (thematic): Nahum is the canonical oracle against Nineveh; it treats the same city’s guilt and impending divine judgment that Jonah is told to proclaim.
- Ezekiel 33:7 (structural): Frames the prophet’s role: God appoints a watchman/prophet to warn a city of impending death — similar functional commission to warn Nineveh.
- Genesis 18:20 (verbal): God acts because the sin of a city has come to His attention — 'the outcry... has become great' echoes Jonah’s 'their wickedness has come up before me.'
Alternative generated candidates
- Arise; go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it, for their evil has come up before me.
- Rise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.
Jon.1.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקם: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לברח: VERB,qal,inf
- תרשישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מלפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- וירד: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- יפו: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וימצא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- אניה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- באה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- תרשיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שכרה: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3fs
- וירד: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- לבוא: VERB,qal,inf
- עמהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- תרשישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מלפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 139:7-10 (thematic): Direct thematic contrast: Jonah attempts to flee 'from the presence of the LORD,' while Psalm 139 insists one cannot escape God's presence—'Where can I go from your Spirit? ... even there your hand shall lead me.'
- 1 Kings 19:3-4 (thematic): Parallel motif of a prophet fleeing in the face of a Divine summons or threat. Like Jonah, Elijah flees (to the wilderness) after his commission faces opposition, illustrating prophetic flight from God’s will.
- Genesis 3:8 (allusion): Earliest narrative image of humans attempting to hide from God—'they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD'—which Jonah’s flight echoes as a motif of avoidance of divine presence and responsibility.
- Matthew 12:39-41 (allusion): Jesus invokes Jonah as a paradigmatic figure (the 'sign of Jonah') and the Ninevites' response; while Matthew uses Jonah for typology, it presupposes Jonah’s initial flight and subsequent mission to Nineveh referenced in 1:3–2:1.
- Jonah 2:1 (structural): Immediate structural parallel within the book: Jonah's flight in 1:3 is directly followed by his cry from the fish in ch.2. The contrast between fleeing (1:3) and divine deliverance/prayer (2:1) frames the book’s movement from disobedience to repentance.
Alternative generated candidates
- But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish—away from the LORD.
- But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of Yahweh.
Jon.1.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הטיל: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- גדולה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- סער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גדול: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- בים: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והאניה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- חשבה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- להשבר: VERB,nif,inf
Parallels
- Acts 27:14-15 (verbal): Paul's voyage encounters a 'violent storm' and the ship is in danger of breaking—language and seafaring crisis closely parallel Jonah's 'great wind' and ship threatened with breaking.
- Psalm 107:23-30 (thematic): Description of sailors caught in a storm who cry to the LORD and are delivered—themes of divine control over storms and human distress at sea echo Jonah 1:4.
- Matthew 8:24-26 (thematic): The disciples' boat is caught in a violent storm and Jesus calms the wind and sea—shared motif of a life-threatening tempest and divine authority over the sea.
- Nahum 1:3-4 (allusion): God is depicted as punishing and controlling the sea and storms (rebuking the sea, drying up rivers), reflecting the theological basis for Yahweh’s sending a great wind in Jonah.
- Jonah 2:3 (structural): Jonah later describes being cast into the deep and surrounded by floods—this links the storm of 1:4 structurally to Jonah's subsequent drowning-and-deliverance experience.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was in danger of breaking.
- Then Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was in danger of breaking.
Jon.1.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וייראו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- המלחים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ויזעקו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- אלהיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ויטלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- הכלים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- באניה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- להקל: INF,qal
- מעליהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- ויונה: CONJ+NOUN,prop,m,sg
- ירד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- ירכתי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- הספינה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וישכב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- וירדם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 107:23-28 (thematic): Both depict seafarers in peril who cry out to God in their distress and experience fear at sea; theme of sailors turning to deity amid a storm.
- Mark 4:38-40 (verbal): Parallel motif of a person asleep in the boat while others are terrified by a storm; contrasts the sleeping figure with the crew's panic and calling out to God.
- Acts 27:18-20, 27:38 (structural): Narrative parallels of a violent sea voyage where crew jettison cargo to lighten the ship and are driven to fear and desperate measures during a storm.
- Jonah 1:6 (structural): Immediate intra-book parallel: the sailors react to Jonah's sleeping by waking him and demanding he call on his God, linking their fear and his sleep directly.
Alternative generated candidates
- The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god; and they cast the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it. Jonah, however, had gone down into the inner parts of the ship, lay down and fell fast asleep.
- And the sailors feared greatly; each cried out to his god, and they threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it. Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and lay down and fell asleep.
Jon.1.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקרב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- רב: ADJ,m,sg
- החבל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- נרדם: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- קום: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- קרא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- אולי: ADV
- יתעשת: VERB,hitpael,imperfect,3,m,sg
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- נאבד: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,_,pl
Parallels
- Jonah 1:5 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel: the sailors react to the storm by crying to their gods and throwing cargo overboard—background to the captain’s appeal to Jonah to call on his God.
- Jonah 1:14 (structural): Direct follow-up in the same episode: after the lot falls on Jonah the sailors call on the LORD and make vows, fulfilling the captain’s hope that God might be entreated to spare them.
- Mark 4:38 (verbal): Close verbal/scene parallel: Jesus is asleep in the stern during a storm and the disciples wake him—shared motif of a sleeping person on a boat amid life‑threatening peril and others urgently seeking divine help.
- Matthew 8:25 (thematic): The disciples’ cry 'Lord, save us! We are perishing' in the storm echoes the sailors’ plea for divine intervention and the captain’s exhortation to Jonah to call on his God.
- Acts 27:23-25 (thematic): Paul’s shipwreck narrative: an angelic reassurance that no lives will be lost and the call to take courage parallels the theme of peril at sea and reliance on divine compassion to avert disaster.
Alternative generated candidates
- The captain of the watch came to him and said, What do you mean, sleeper? Arise; call upon your God—perhaps God will take thought of us, that we perish not.
- Then the ship's captain came to him and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Rise, call upon your God; perhaps the God will take notice of us, and we shall not perish."
Jon.1.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- רעהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- לכו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- ונפילה: VERB,qal,cohort,1,_,pl
- גורלות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ונדעה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,pl
- בשלמי: PREP+PRON,rel,3,_,sg
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- ויפלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- גורלות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ויפל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הגורל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 16:33 (thematic): Both passages depict the use of casting lots to decide human affairs while acknowledging that ultimate disposition rests with God (lot as means of discerning responsibility/outcome).
- Acts 1:23-26 (structural): The apostles cast lots to determine which man should take Judas’ place; parallels Jonah’s narrative use of lots to identify the person responsible for the calamity.
- 1 Samuel 14:41-42 (thematic): Saul orders the casting of lots to determine who has sinned, similar to the sailors casting lots to discover who caused the storm (casting lots to assign guilt).
- Matthew 27:35 (verbal): Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ garments; both passages show lots used in crisis moments to determine fate or possession, highlighting decisive, seemingly random allocation.
Alternative generated candidates
- And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
- And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Jon.1.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- הגידה: VERB,piel,imp,2,m,sg
- נא: PART
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- באשר: CONJ
- למי: PREP,interr
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- מה: PRON,int
- מלאכתך: NOUN,f,sg,cons+2ms
- ומאין: CONJ+ADV,whence
- תבוא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- ארצך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואי: CONJ+INT
- מזה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עם: PREP
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Jonah 1:6 (structural): Immediate context: the sailors already address Jonah and ask what to do with him—this verse continues the crew’s interrogation about cause and culpability in the crisis.
- Jonah 1:9 (verbal): Direct verbal follow-up/answer: Jonah identifies his nation and God in response to the sailors’ questions about his origin and the reason for the disaster.
- Judges 19:17 (verbal): The traveler/host asks identical questions of strangers—'Whence come ye?'—showing the common ancient Near Eastern motif of inquiring a visitor’s origin and purpose.
- 1 Kings 18:17 (thematic): Ahab’s charge to Elijah—'Art thou he that troubleth Israel?'—echoes the tendency to blame an individual for national calamity, similar to the sailors’ demand to know who is responsible for the storm.
- Acts 27:21–24 (thematic): A New Testament sea-storm scene where shipboard passengers and crew anxiously seek the cause and counsel for survival; thematically parallels the mariners’ interrogation of Jonah about the calamity and its remedy.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then they said to him, Tell us now on whose account this calamity is upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?
- Then they said to him, "Tell us now for whose cause this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And from where do you come? What is your country, and of what people are you?"
Jon.1.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- עברי: ADJ,m,sg
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- השמים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- ירא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- ואת: CONJ
- היבשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Psalm 95:5 (verbal): Both verses explicitly ascribe the sea and the dry land to God: 'the sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land,' echoing Jonah's 'who made the sea and the dry land.'
- Genesis 1:1 (thematic): Jonah's declaration that the LORD, God of heaven, made sea and land reflects the creation theme—God as creator of heavens and earth introduced in Genesis 1.
- Nehemiah 9:6 (verbal): Nehemiah's liturgical confession names God as creator of heaven, earth, sea, and all hosts—paralleling Jonah's concise creedal formula identifying Yahweh as creator of sea and dry land.
- Genesis 39:14 (allusion): The term 'Hebrew' appears in a foreign context in Genesis when Potiphar's household labels Joseph a 'Hebrew'; Jonah's self-identification 'I am a Hebrew' similarly marks ethnic identity before non‑Israelites (the sailors).
Alternative generated candidates
- He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
- He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
Jon.1.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וייראו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- האנשים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- יראה: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- גדולה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- עשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- ידעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- האנשים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- כי: CONJ
- מלפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- ברח: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הגיד: VERB,hifil,perf,3,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Jonah 1:7 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel: the sailors cast lots to discover who was responsible for the storm, which leads directly to the question and fear expressed in 1:10.
- Mark 4:41 (thematic): Disciples react with fear and astonishment at Jesus' authority over wind and sea (‘What manner of man is this?’), paralleling the sailors' fear when confronted by a divine-caused storm.
- Judges 13:22 (thematic): Manoah's terrified response on seeing the angel of the LORD (‘We shall surely die’) parallels the profound fear produced when humans perceive the presence/agency of God.
- Exodus 14:31 (thematic): After the Red Sea crossing the Israelites 'feared the LORD' on witnessing God's mighty act—similar language and theological motif of fear in response to Yahweh's direct intervention.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the men were seized with great fear and said to him, Why have you done this? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
- Then the men were greatly afraid and said to him, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he had fled from Yahweh, because he had told them.
Jon.1.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- נעשה: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- וישתק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- מעלינו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- כי: CONJ
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- הולך: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- וסער: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 107:23-30 (verbal): Describes sailors in a violent sea who cry out to the LORD and whose prayers result in the storm being stilled—language and motif of a raging sea calmed by divine action parallels the sailors’ concern in Jonah.
- Mark 4:35-41 (thematic): Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea, calming a violent storm while his frightened companions ask what will happen—shares the theme of a life-threatening storm requiring supernatural intervention.
- Matthew 8:23-27 (thematic): Synoptic parallel to Mark: the disciples’ alarm at a tempest and Jesus’ authority over the sea mirrors Jonah’s crisis on the ship and the question of how to make the sea calm.
- Acts 27:20-26 (thematic): Paul’s voyage in a deadly storm where crew and passengers despair and seek a course of action; the collective struggle of shipboard travelers and decisions affecting survival echoes the situation in Jonah’s ship.
Alternative generated candidates
- They said, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm for us? For the sea was growing more tempestuous against them.
- And they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm for us?" For the sea was growing more tempestuous.
Jon.1.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- שאוני: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl,1,sg(obj)
- והטילני: VERB,hiph,imp,2,m,pl,1,sg(obj)
- אל: NEG
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- וישתק: VERB,qal,yiqtol,3,m,sg
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- מעליכם: PREP+PRON,2,pl
- כי: CONJ
- יודע: VERB,qal,ptc,ms,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- כי: CONJ
- בשלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- הסער: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הגדול: ADJ,m,sg,def
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
Parallels
- Jonah 1:15 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel: the sailors heed Jonah’s command and throw him into the sea, and the sea grows calm—direct continuation/resolution of 1:12.
- Psalm 107:23-30 (thematic): Describes sailors endangered by a storm who cry to the LORD and are delivered when he calms the winds and waves—shares the motif of a storm stilled after divine intervention.
- Mark 4:39 (verbal): Jesus rebukes the wind and sea (‘Peace! Be still!’) and the storm ceases. Verbal and thematic parallel to the sudden cessation of the sea’s fury in Jonah.
- Nahum 1:4 (allusion): Speaks of God rebuking the sea and making it dry up—an image of divine authority over the sea that resonates with the calming of the waters after Jonah is cast overboard.
Alternative generated candidates
- He said to them, Take me up and cast me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you; for I know that on my account this great tempest has come upon you.
- He said to them, "Take me up and cast me into the sea; then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest has come upon you."
Jon.1.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויחתרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- האנשים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- להשיב: VERB,qal,inf
- אל: NEG
- היבשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ולא: CONJ
- יכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- הולך: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- וסער: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Acts 27:13-20 (structural): Luke's shipwreck episode: the crew try to make headway/return but cannot as a violent storm drives the ship; shares narrative structure of sailors helpless before a raging sea.
- Mark 4:35-41 (cf. Matt 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25) (thematic): Jesus stills a storm after the disciples are unable to control the boat—the same motif of human inability to master the sea and the need for divine intervention.
- Psalm 107:23-30 (thematic): Sailors at sea are in desperate peril and cannot save themselves until the LORD calms the storm—closely parallels the helplessness of Jonah's companions and God's control over the sea.
- Psalm 89:9 (verbal): Declares that God rules the swelling sea and stills its waves—a succinct theological parallel to the depiction of the sea's tempest and the LORD's dominion over it.
Alternative generated candidates
- Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea was growing ever more stormy against them.
- Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to rage against them.
Jon.1.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אל: NEG
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- אנה: ADV,interrog
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- נא: PART
- נאבדה: VERB,niphal,impf,1,pl
- בנפש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- האיש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- תתן: VERB,qal,imprf,2,_,sg
- עלינו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- דם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נקיא: ADJ,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כאשר: CONJ
- חפצת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- עשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Matthew 27:24 (thematic): Pilate declares himself innocent of 'this man's blood' and washes his hands to avoid responsibility for the crucifixion—parallel concern with avoiding culpability for another's death and the language of innocent blood.
- Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (structural): Law for dealing with an unsolved killing, including ritual to absolve a community of 'innocent blood'—shares the legal/religious concern in Jonah's sailors about being held guilty for a man's death.
- Numbers 35:33 (thematic): Law warning that shedding innocent blood pollutes the land and creates blood-guilt—connects to the sailors' plea not to bear guilt for 'innocent blood.'
- Daniel 4:35 (verbal): Affirms God's absolute sovereignty—'he does according to his will'—echoes the sailors' recognition that 'you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.'
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore they cried to the LORD and said, O LORD, let us not perish for the life of this man, and lay not on us innocent blood; for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.
- Then they cried out to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, we pray, do not let us perish for the life of this man, and do not lay innocent blood upon us; for you, Yahweh, have done as you pleased."
Jon.1.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויטלהו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl+3,m,sg(obj)
- אל: NEG
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- ויעמד: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- מזעפו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg(suf)
Parallels
- Jonah 1:12 (structural): Jonah himself told the sailors to cast him into the sea so the storm would cease; 1:15 narrates the fulfillment of that prediction.
- Psalm 107:29 (verbal): Psalmist speaks of God 'making the storm be still' and calming the sea — language and theme closely parallel the sea's cessation of rage in Jonah 1:15.
- Mark 4:39 (thematic): Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea ('Peace! Be still!') and the storm calms, a thematically similar demonstration of divine authority over the sea.
- Exodus 14:21-22 (thematic): God's sovereign control over the sea is displayed when He parts and stills the waters at the Red Sea — an ancient motif of divine mastery over chaotic waters echoed in Jonah 1:15.
Alternative generated candidates
- So they took Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
- So they took up Jonah and cast him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.
Jon.1.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וייראו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- האנשים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- יראה: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- גדולה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויזבחו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- זבח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- וידרו: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,pl
- נדרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Jonah 1:14 (structural): Immediate context: the sailors cry out to the LORD in the storm (v.14); v.16 reports their subsequent fear, sacrifice, and vows—directly linked moments in the same narrative.
- Psalm 107:23-31 (verbal): Describes seafarers who cry to the LORD in danger and, after deliverance, give thanks and offer sacrifices of thanksgiving (cf. v.22)—parallels the sailors’ fear, sacrificial act, and vows in Jonah.
- Jonah 3:5-10 (thematic): The Ninevites (Gentiles) repent, fast, and make supplication so that God relents—similar theme of non‑Israelite fear of YHWH and responsive vows/rituals leading to divine mercy.
- 2 Kings 5:17-18 (thematic): Naaman, a foreigner, confesses there is no God but Israel’s God and seeks to offer sacrifices/observances—parallels the motif of a non‑Israelite recognizing YHWH and intending to perform vows or offerings.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the men feared the LORD with a great fear; and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
- And the men feared Yahweh greatly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:
Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it; for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, paid its fare, and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD.
The LORD sent a great wind upon the sea, and there arose a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break.
The sailors were filled with fear; each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it, while Jonah had gone down into the innermost part of the vessel, lay down and fell asleep.
Then the captain came to him and said, 'What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call upon your God; perhaps God will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.'
They said to one another, 'Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.' So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then they said to him, 'Tell us now: on whose account is this evil upon us? What is your trade? From where do you come? What is your country? Of what people are you?'
He said to them, 'I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.'
Then the men were seized with a great fear and said to him, 'What is this that you have done?' For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
They said to him, 'What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?' For the sea continued to grow more and more tempestuous.
He said to them, 'Lift me up and cast me into the sea; then the sea will be calm for you. For I know that on my account this great tempest has come upon you.'
Nevertheless the men rowed to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew ever more tempestuous against them.
Then they cried to the LORD, 'O LORD, we beseech you, do not let us perish for the life of this man, and lay not innocent blood upon us; for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.' So they took Jonah and cast him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.
Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly; they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.