Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.
- KJV Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
- BSB Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.
- NKJV Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.
- NASB However, the men rowed desperately to return to land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sailors first try desperately to row back to land rather than throw Jonah overboard. It matters because these pagans show a striking regard for human life even at their own peril.
Overview
Their hard rowing reveals reluctance to shed Jonah's blood, a mercy that contrasts with Jonah's later hardness toward Nineveh. But the sea only grows wilder, teaching that human effort cannot avert what God has determined. The verse highlights both the compassion God can stir in unbelievers and the futility of resisting His sovereign hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Prov 21:30There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.
- Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.
How Jonah 1:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.