The Meaning of Jonah 1:10 Explained

Jonah 1:10

KJV: Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

YLT: And the men fear a great fear, and say unto him, 'What is this thou hast done!' for the men have known that from the face of Jehovah he is fleeing, for he hath told them.

Darby: Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this thou hast done? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of Jehovah: for he had told them.

ASV: Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

Discover Jonah 1:10

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Jonah 1:10?

MEANING: What does Jonah 1:10 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Jonah 1:10 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Jonah 1:10?

What is the context of Jonah 1:10?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

What does Jonah 1:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The sailors" exclamation (rather than question, cf. Genesis 4:10) expressed their incredulity at Jonah"s navet in trying to run away from the God who created the sea by taking a sea voyage. Surely Jonah must have known, they thought, that Yahweh would make their journey perilous. Evidently Jonah had previously told them that he was fleeing from the Lord (cf. Jonah 1:3, where "from the presence of the LORD" occurs twice), but they did not then understand that the Lord was the creator of the sea. Had they known this they probably would not have sold him passage. In the polytheistic ancient Near East people conceived of a multitude of gods each with authority over a particular area of life. A god of the mountains, for example, would have little power on the plains (cf. 1 Kings 20:23).

Before, the mariners had feared the storm, but now they feared the Lord, recognizing the Creator above the creation. ^[1]

"This is the storyteller"s ironic view of the person who thinks he can escape Yahweh. And yet this irony, with all its exaggeration, is slyly absurd rather than bitter." ^[2]

This pericope, like the previous two, builds to a climax that stresses Jonah"s failure. He did not fear his God though, again ironically, the pagan sailors did. Jonah professed faith in a sovereign God, yet by trying to escape from the Lord he denied his belief in God"s sovereignty. One cannot flee or hide from a sovereign God.

Context Summary

Jonah 1:1-16 - Fleeing From God And Duty

Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. He was clearly very patriotic, and did not despair of his country in its darkest days. This commission to Nineveh was therefore not to his taste, because he had no desire to see the great heathen city brought to her knees. Another century would have to pass before Isaiah and Micah would proclaim that the heathen world would turn to God, Micah 4:1; Isaiah 2:2.

Rather than go upon this errand of mercy, Jonah hurried down to the one seaport, that he might escape his duty. Sin is always a descent; we always have to pay heavily in tolls and fares when we take our own way instead of God's, and we must never reckon that opportunity implies permission.

Weary with excitement and travel, the prophet is oblivious to the weighing of the anchor. The disasters that block the way of disobedience are harder than our difficulties in performing God's bidding. Note the divine agency in our lives: the word of the Lord came; the Lord hurled forth a great wind; the Lord prepared a great fish. There were, in these heathen sailors, beautiful traits which ought to have abashed the prophet. Their prayer to their idols and their endeavor to save this stranger Jew are as instructive as remarkable. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jonah 1

¹ Jonah, sent to Nineveh, flees to Tarshish
⁴ He is betrayed by a great storm;
¹¹ thrown into the sea;
¹⁷ and swallowed by a fish

What do the individual words in Jonah 1:10 mean?

And were afraid the men afraid exceedingly and said to him why this have you done for knew the men that from the presence of Yahweh he fled because he had told them

וַיִּֽירְא֤וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙ יִרְאָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֔ה וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ אֵלָ֖יו מַה־ ؟ זֹּ֣את עָשִׂ֑יתָ כִּֽי־ יָדְע֣וּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים כִּֽי־ מִלִּפְנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ ה֣וּא בֹרֵ֔חַ כִּ֥י הִגִּ֖יד לָהֶֽם

וַיִּֽירְא֤וּ	And were afraid
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural Root: יָרֵא Sense: to fear, revere, be afraid.
הָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙	the men
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural Root: אֱנׄושׁ Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
יִרְאָ֣ה	afraid
Parse: Noun, feminine singular Root: יָרֵא Sense: fearing, reverent, afraid.
גְדוֹלָ֔ה	exceedingly
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular Root: גָּבֹול Sense: great.
וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ	and said
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural Root: אָמַר Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֵלָ֖יו	to him
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular Root: אֶל Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
מַה־	why
Parse: Interrogative Root: לָמָּה Sense: what, how, of what kind.
؟ זֹּ֣את	this
Parse: Pronoun, feminine singular Root: זׄאת Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
עָשִׂ֑יתָ	have you done
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular Root: עָשָׂה Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
יָדְע֣וּ	knew
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural Root: דָּעָה Sense: to know.
הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים	the men
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural Root: אֱנׄושׁ Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
כִּֽי־	that
Parse: Conjunction Root: כִּי Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
מִלִּפְנֵ֤י	from the presence
Parse: Preposition-m, Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct Root: לִפְנֵי Sense: face.
יְהוָה֙	of Yahweh
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular Root: יהוה Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
בֹרֵ֔חַ	fled
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular Root: בָּרַח Sense: to go through, flee, run away, chase, drive away, put to flight, reach, shoot (extend), hurry away.
כִּ֥י	because
Parse: Conjunction Root: כִּי Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
הִגִּ֖יד	he had told
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular Root: נָגַד Sense: to be conspicuous, tell, make known.

What are the major concepts related to Jonah 1:10?

Loading Information...

Similar Scriptures for Jonah 1:10

		Jonah 1:3 [4]
		Job 27:22 [3]
		Joshua 7:25 [2]
		2 Samuel 24:3 [2]
		Daniel 5:6-9 [2]
		John 19:8 [2]