Jonah 1:4
What does Jonah 1:4 mean?
A plain-English look at Jonah 1:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Jonah 1:4 means
Jehovah answers Jonah’s flight with purposeful power. He hurls a great wind onto the sea, and the resulting tempest threatens to tear the ship apart. This is no random squall; it is God’s sovereign response to a prophet on the run. The storm reveals that God’s authority extends beyond Israel’s borders and that He will not let His call be ignored. It also shows how one person’s rebellion can endanger others. Yet even this severe mercy is aimed at rescue, not ruin. The same God who sends the storm will soon calm it, demonstrating that judgment and salvation both serve His wise purposes.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Jehovah hath cast a great wind on the sea, and there is a great tempest in the sea, and the ship hath reckoned to be broken;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752But the Lord sent a great wind to the sea: and a great tempest was raised in the sea, and the ship was in danger to be broken.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest upon the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Context
Following Jonah’s escape attempt, the narrative immediately displays God’s active pursuit. The sea becomes the stage where divine sovereignty confronts human disobedience. The storm forms the backdrop for the sailors’ desperate actions and the exposure of Jonah’s guilt. Next, we will see how the pagan crew reacts—praying, throwing cargo, and searching for answers—while Jonah, astonishingly, sleeps below deck. This contrast highlights Jonah’s spiritual condition and prepares for the crew’s confrontation with him.
v.3But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.
v.4This passage
v.5Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Numbers 11:31
And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
- Amos 4:13
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth—Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
- Exodus 10:19
And Jehovah turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt.
- Matthew 8:24
And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
- Exodus 10:13
And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
- Psalms 107:23
They that go down to the sea in ships, That do business in great waters;
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