Jonah 1:6 kjv
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
Jonah 1:6 nkjv
So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."
Jonah 1:6 niv
The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish."
Jonah 1:6 esv
So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."
Jonah 1:6 nlt
So the captain went down after him. "How can you sleep at a time like this?" he shouted. "Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives."
Jonah 1 6 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 107:28-29 | Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm... | Prayer in severe distress brings divine deliverance. |
| Ps 50:15 | Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. | Divine invitation to prayer in tribulation and promised deliverance. |
| Mk 4:38 | But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion... | Jesus sleeping during a storm, but in divine control, unlike Jonah's spiritual slumber. |
| Eph 5:14 | Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." | Spiritual call to awaken from slumber, mirroring the captain's physical demand for Jonah. |
| Rom 13:11 | Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. | Urgency for believers to be spiritually alert and active. |
| Lam 3:55-56 | I called on Your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; You heard my plea... | A cry for help from a desperate situation is heard by the LORD. |
| Jon 3:9 | Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. | Echoes the captain's 'perhaps' (אוּלַי) and the hope of averting destruction through divine mercy. |
| Gen 18:25 | Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked... | A pagan leader appeals for mercy based on the justice of a God, showing recognition of divine character. |
| 1 Kgs 18:27 | And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing... or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." | Elijah mocks Baal prophets to cry louder, ironically similar to captain urging Jonah. |
| Joel 2:13-14 | ...return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful... Who knows? He may turn and relent... | Similar 'perhaps' (אוּלַי) motif regarding divine relenting based on repentance. |
| Ps 89:9 | You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them. | Affirmation of God's supreme power and control over the forces of nature, specifically the sea. |
| Acts 14:15 | ...preaching the good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God... | Paul speaking to Gentiles who were accustomed to worshipping other deities. |
| Jer 5:22 | Do you not fear me? declares the LORD... I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea... | God's direct question emphasizing His awe-inspiring power over creation, including the sea. |
| Isa 44:24-25 | Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer... who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners... | God's sovereignty over pagan practices and beliefs. |
| Jn 4:19 | The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet." | The recognition of divine connection from someone outside the direct covenant. |
| Acts 27:23-24 | For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship... | A reference to Paul acknowledging his personal relationship with his God while others around him were in peril. |
| Ps 78:65 | Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. | Anthropomorphic depiction of God's powerful awakening to intervene, contrasting Jonah's inaction. |
| Is 56:10 | His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark... | A criticism of spiritual leaders who are negligent, illustrating a negative parallel to Jonah's slumber. |
| 1 Cor 15:34 | Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and stop sinning... | A call to spiritual wakefulness and righteous living. |
| Mt 12:41 | The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah... | Highlights the ultimate repentance of Nineveh, contrasting Jonah's initial disobedience and the pagans' readiness to call upon God. |
Jonah 1 verses
Jonah 1 6 Meaning
Jonah 1:6 records the ship captain's urgent plea to Jonah, who is found deep in sleep amidst a violent storm. The captain demands that Jonah awaken and call upon his own specific deity. The underlying hope is that Jonah’s God might intervene to deliver them from the imminent danger of perishing. This highlights a desperate reliance on divine power for rescue, even from a pagan perspective, and presents a striking contrast to the prophet's own spiritual apathy.
Jonah 1 6 Context
Jonah chapter 1 depicts the prophet Jonah fleeing from the Lord’s command to preach to Nineveh. Instead of obeying, he boards a ship bound for Tarshish, seeking to escape God’s presence. The narrative emphasizes God's sovereign hand as He sends a great wind, causing a violent storm at sea. The desperate pagan sailors, trying to lighten the ship and crying out to their own various gods, discover Jonah in the ship's hold, fast asleep. This verse occurs when the captain, a polytheistic mariner, encounters the prophet in this state of deep, seemingly oblivious slumber, while the very ship carrying them is on the verge of destruction due to God's direct intervention against Jonah's disobedience. The historical and cultural context is one where maritime travel was dangerous, and sailors would commonly invoke deities for protection, often attributing storms to divine displeasure. The captain's actions reflect this pagan worldview, but also reveal an intuitive understanding that personal responsibility for divine appeasement lies with each individual.
Jonah 1 6 Word analysis
- So the captain approached him: This immediate action signifies the urgency and leadership role of the captain (רַב־חֹבֵל – rav-chōḇēl, meaning 'chief of the mariners' or 'skipper'). His proactive search indicates responsibility.
- and said, 'How can you sleep?': The captain's astonishment and rhetorical question ("מַה־לְּךָ֙ נִרְדָּ֔ם" - mah-ləḵā nirdām lit. 'What to you, slumberer?') underline Jonah's profound disconnect. "נִרְדָּם" (nirddām) describes a deep, heavy sleep, possibly induced by exhaustion or a form of spiritual apathy. This highlights the ironic contrast: a prophet of the true God is in deep spiritual slumber while pagans are desperately active.
- 'Get up!' (קוּם – qūm): An imperative command meaning 'arise!' or 'stand up!'. This word carries both a literal meaning to physically awaken, but within a biblical context, often signifies a spiritual awakening or call to action (e.g., Qoh 12:4, Hab 2:19). Here, it's a direct challenge to Jonah's inaction.
- and call upon your God! (קְרָא אֶל־אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ – qərā el-’ĕlōheḵā): A critical phrase. "קְרָא" (qərā) is an urgent summons or appeal. The captain directs Jonah to his specific God ("אֱלֹהֶיךָ" – ’ĕlōheḵā - "your God"), acknowledging a personal connection between Jonah and his deity. This implies a polytheistic understanding where each person has their own god to invoke. The irony is that the pagan sailor instinctively recognizes the need for Jonah to pray to the one true God, while the prophet is trying to escape Him.
- Perhaps (אוּלַי – ’ûlay): This Hebrew particle expresses a strong possibility or hopeful uncertainty, implying desperation ("maybe," "it may be," "who knows?"). It does not signify doubt in God's power, but rather acknowledges the uncertainty of a positive outcome given the severity of their plight. This pagan mariner grasps the biblical truth of divine sovereignty—God may choose to act, or He may not, but there is hope if one appeals to Him (Jon 3:9, Joel 2:14).
- God (הָאֱלֹהִים – hā’ĕlōhîm): The use of the generic "the God" or "God" here, without the specific covenant name Yahweh, shows the captain's polytheistic perspective, where Jonah's personal god might be the powerful deity in this particular instance. This contrasts with "your God" (Yahweh) which Jonah serves.
- will give some thought to us, (יִתְעַשֵּׁת – yiṯ‘aššēt - from the root עשת – ‘āśat, meaning 'to take thought', 'consider', 'devise', 'act'): This is a plea for divine intervention based on a deity's active consideration. It’s a hopeful expression that Jonah's God might remember them, show concern, and consequently act to rescue them.
- so that we will not perish (וְלֹא נֹאבֵד – wəlo’ nōḇēḏ): The ultimate goal. "נֹאבֵד" (nōḇēḏ) means 'to be lost,' 'destroyed,' or 'perish'. The immediate context is physical death by drowning, emphasizing the profound existential threat.
- 'How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God!': This segment vividly contrasts the dire physical and spiritual situation. The captain is utterly perplexed by Jonah's apathy and urges immediate, decisive action. It’s an urgent spiritual wakeup call coming from an unexpected source.
- 'Perhaps God will give some thought to us, so that we will not perish.': This phrase encapsulates the desperate hope of the mariners and highlights the pagan captain’s surprisingly biblically aligned theological understanding. He grasps the idea that the specific deity of a person may have power, and that divine consideration and intervention are necessary for survival in such dire straits. This 'perhaps' reflects both human helplessness and a glimmer of faith in divine mercy.
Jonah 1 6 Bonus section
The captain’s plea, particularly his use of "your God," also hints at the ancient polytheistic concept of territorial or tribal deities, where one's own god might hold particular sway or power over a situation impacting their worshipper. This pagan worldview inadvertently validates the true God's particular connection to His prophet, even in Jonah’s disobedient state. The ship itself becomes a microcosmic arena where the true God’s sovereignty is revealed, forcing polytheists to confront the singular, overwhelming power of the Lord who controls both land and sea. The urgency of the captain's words further highlights Jonah's deliberate defiance: everyone else on board, despite their diverse backgrounds and deities, is acutely aware of the imminent danger, while Jonah alone seems detached, wrapped in a stupor of spiritual neglect caused by his rebellion.
Jonah 1 6 Commentary
Jonah 1:6 serves as a powerful illustration of divine irony and human paradox. The very prophet commissioned by the Most High is found in deep, defiant slumber, a symbol of his spiritual evasion. While the ship threatens to break apart from a God-sent storm, Jonah’s chosen retreat signifies profound indifference or perhaps deliberate spiritual anaesthesia to his disobedience. Conversely, the pagan ship captain, navigating a world of many gods, intuitively grasps a profound theological truth: that a divine being is behind their peril and only divine intervention can save them. His imperative "Get up and call upon your God!" is both a practical instruction for survival and a piercing spiritual indictment of Jonah's negligence. It highlights that even outside of explicit covenant, an awareness of a higher power’s judgment and the need for petition exists. The captain's "Perhaps God will give some thought to us" (אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים) foreshadows the "who knows?" (אוּלַי) of the Ninevites in Jonah 3:9, indicating that divine mercy, even upon the unworthy, is always a possibility. This moment exposes Jonah's profound failure and positions the pagan sailors as spiritually more attuned, setting the stage for their dramatic conversion later in the chapter. This also implies that God can work through any individual, regardless of their current beliefs, to achieve His purposes.