Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
Parallel translations
- WEB So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
- KJV So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her 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.
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, Yahweh, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves.
- Luke 8:24They came to him, and awoke him, saying, “Master, master, we are dying!” He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and it was calm.
- Ps 107:29He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
- Ps 89:9You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them.
- Ps 65:7who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
- Matt 8:26He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
- Josh 7:24–26Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
- 2 Sam 21:8–9But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.