So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Parallel translations
- WEB So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
- BSB At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.
- NKJV So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
- NASB So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
- NLT Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
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
They throw Jonah into the sea, and it immediately becomes calm. It matters because the sudden calm confirms that Jonah was indeed the cause and that God's word through him was true.
Overview
The instant stilling of the sea displays God's complete mastery over the storm He had sent. It vindicates Jonah's confession and signals that judgment, once satisfied, gives way to peace. The picture of a tempest quieted when the appointed man is given over points ahead to the peace secured when Christ was delivered up for sinners.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 93:3–4The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
- Luke 8:24And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
- Ps 107:29He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
- Ps 89:9Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
- Ps 65:7Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
- Matt 8:26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
- Josh 7:24–26And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
- 2 Sam 21:8–9But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
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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 1:15 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.