Jonah 1:11
in Jonah 1Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
KJV
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
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This verse in Jonah 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What shall we do unto thee? - They knew him to be a prophet; they ask him the mind of his God. The lots had marked out Jonah as the cause of the storm; Jonah had himself admitted it, and that the storm was for “his” cause, and came from “his” God . “Great was he who fled, greater He who required him. They dare not give him up; they cannot conceal him. They blame the fault; they confess their fear; they ask “him” the remedy, who was the author of the sin.
This site's exposition
Why hast thou done this?
on Jonah 1:10-11
Why hast thou done this? follows the moment Jonah's own words confirm what the lot had already shown, and the men's fear turns exceeding not merely at the storm but at learning a prophet has fled from his own God. The sea keeps working and growing more tempestuous even as they put the next question to him, what shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us, so that the remedy must come from the fugitive himself rather than from anything they can do. Barnes and Jamieson Fausset and Brown both read the sailors' restraint here, still asking rather than acting on their own, as evidence the narrative means them to be seen as decent men caught inside another man's judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Jonah surely teaches us that the sea and stars are moved under God's control. By vainly seeking to flee from God the controller of all things whom none can escape, he aroused the anger of both sky and sea. Nature, which belongs to the almighty …
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 5:3.8 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Tell me, are you running away from the master? Then wait a little bit and you will learn from the state of affairs themselves that you will be unable to escape even from the hands of his servant, the ocean. For as soon as Jonah set foot on the ship, the ocean raised its waves up high and raised itself to a great height. And just as a considerate handmaid, discovering that her fellow slave has run away because he stole something of her master's, does not revolt as previously mentioned but submits the individuals who captured him to myriads of troubles until she seizes him and brings him back, likewise, the ocean found her fellow slave and recognized him.
"Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous." LXX: 'then they said to him, what should we do with you, so that the sea is calm for us? For the sea was surging its waves more and more'. It is because of you, you say, that the winds, the waves, the sea and swells have been unleashed. You have revealed the cause of this wickedness, now tell us how to stop it.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee,....
Or, perhaps, thus they would show how plain the case was, that there was no remedy but he must be thrown overboard; let him be his own judge as he had been his own accuser, and he himself will say so. Note, When sin has raised a storm, and laid us under the tokens of God's displeasure, we are concerned to enquire what we shall do that the sea may be calm; and what shall we do?
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What shall we do unto thee?--They ask this, as Jonah himself must best know how his God is to be appeased. "We would gladly save thee, if we can do so, and yet be saved ourselves" (Jon 1:13, 14).
What shall we do unto thee - In these poor men there was an uncommon degree of humanity and tender feeling.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“What is this that you have done?” —Why have you done this, to flee from before such a Ruler?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָיו֙ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| נַּ֣עֲשֶׂה | naaseh | will we do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּ֔ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| וְיִשְׁתֹּ֥ק | veyishtok | so it may be calm | H8367 → | |
| הַיָּ֖ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| מֵֽעָלֵ֑ינוּ | mealeinu | from on <the> us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הַיָּ֖ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הוֹלֵ֥ךְ | holekh | [was] going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְסֹעֵֽר׃ | vesoer | and storming | H5590 → |
וַיֹּאמְר֤וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵלָיו֙to him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
נַּ֣עֲשֶׂהwill we do
naasehH6213 →2628 times
לָּ֔ךְto <the> you
lakh
וְיִשְׁתֹּ֥קso it may be calm
veyishtokH8367 →
הַיָּ֖םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
מֵֽעָלֵ֑ינוּfrom on <the> us
mealeinuH5921 →5755 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הַיָּ֖םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
הוֹלֵ֥ךְ[was] going
holekhH1980 →1546 times
וְסֹעֵֽר׃and storming
vesoerH5590 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Jonah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jonah, Chapter 1; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 5:3.8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Paulinus of Nola, POEM 22.