Jonah 1:13

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
men	הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים ha.'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
hard	וַיַּחְתְּר֣וּ vai.yach.te.Ru	H2864	to force a passage · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
bring	לְהָשִׁ֛יב le.ha.Shiv	H7725	to turn back (hence · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
land	הַיַּבָּשָׁ֖ה hai.ya.ba.Shah	H3004	dry ground · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
could	יָכֹ֑לוּ ya.Kho.lu	H3201	to be able · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
sea	הַיָּ֔ם hai.Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wrought	הוֹלֵ֥ךְ ho.Lekh	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
tempestuous	וְסֹעֵ֖ר ve.so.'Er	H5590	to rush upon · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
Job 34:29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nati…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jonah 1:11–end

It is plain that Jonah is the man for whose sake this evil is upon them, but the discovery of him to be so was not sufficient to answer the demands of this tempest; they had found him out, but something more was to be done, for still the sea wrought and was tempestuous (Jon 1:11), and again (Jon 1:13), it grew more and more tempestuous (so the margin reads it); for if we discover sin to be the cause of our troubles, and do not forsake it, we do but make bad worse. Therefore they went on with the prosecution. I. They enquired of Jonah himself what he thought they must do with him (Jon 1:11): What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm to us? They perceived that Jonah is a prophet of…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 1:13

they could not-- (). Wind and tide--God's displeasure and God's counsel were against them.

Adam Clarke on Jonah 1:13

The men rowed hard - Were very unwilling to proceed to this extremity, and thought they would risk every thing rather than cast this disobedient prophet into the great deep.

John Gill on Jonah 1:13

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring it to the land, but they could not,.... Or, "they digged" (l); that is, the waters of the sea with their oars; not by casting anchor, as Abendana; they used all their skill and exerted all their strength; they laboured with all their might and main, as a man digs in a pit; they ploughed the ocean, and furrowed the sea, as the Latins speak, but all in vain; they rowed against wind and tide; God, his purposes and providence, were against them; and it was not possible for them to make land, and get the ship ashore, which they were desirous of, to save the life of Jonah, as well as their own; for, seeing him penitent, they had compassion on him; his cha…

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The Church Fathers

"Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them." LXX: 'and the sailors strive to turn the ship to dry land but they cannot, for the sea swelled up against them'. The prophet has pronounced sentence against himself; but the sailors do not dare touch him because they have learned that he is a follower of God. They were striving to return to the dry land, to get out of this danger; they refused to shed blood, preferring rather to die than kill. O how changed are they now! The people that had served God [Deut. 10:12] saying, "crucify him, crucify him" [Lk. 23:21]. They are ordered to kill him: the sea is raging, the storm commands this, and they forget their own danger and only think to save another. Therefore the phrase of the Septuagint is appropriate: parebiazonto, they wanted to use all their force and conquer nature so as not to offend the prophet of God. If the sailors rowed to regain the land, it was because they believed they could deliver the ship from danger without realising what Jonah, who ought to have suffered, had said. All the while Jonah was in the sea the ship sat safely in the water.
— Jerome, Commentary on Jonah, Chapter 1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Jonah · Di — Di
Ship · Oars — Oars
Ships · Often impelled by oars — Often impelled by oars
Superstition · .The sailors who threw Jonah into the sea — .The sailors who threw Jonah into the sea
Unselfishness · .Jonah — .Jonah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Jonah 1:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jonah 1:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 1:13

Adam Clarke on Jonah 1:13

John Gill on Jonah 1:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Jonah 1:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jonah 1:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 1:13

Adam Clarke on Jonah 1:13

John Gill on Jonah 1:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Jonah 1:13-14

Keil & Delitzsch on Jonah 1:13-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Jonah 1:13-14

Rashi on Jonah 1:13