Jonah Series: Jonah 1:5-The Crew Cries Out To Their Gods While Jonah Is Sound Asleep
Doctrinal Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 14, 2025
Jonah Series: Jonah 1:5-The Crew Cries Out To Their Gods While Jonah Is Sound Asleep
Lesson # 8
Jonah 1:5 records the crew members crying out to their gods and flinging the ship’s cargo overboard in an attempt to appease their gods while Jonah is sound asleep down below the ship’s deck.
Jonah 1:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. (NIV84)
“The sailors” refers to individuals who work on a sea vessel as a sailor or transport worker and refers to the crew of the ship, which Jonah had paid for the services of to take him to Tarshish.
The Scriptures do not identify the nationality of the sailors but they must have been Phoenicians who were renowned mariners (1 Kings 10:22) and were also well known for their worship of the sea god, Yam and the god Baal.
“Became afraid” is the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) (יָרֵא), which means “to be terrified” as a result of a threat to one’s life and refers to being in a state of great distress and anxiety and deep concern of losing one’s life due to an adverse circumstance.
“Each cried out to his god” indicates that each and every member of the crew of the ship was crying out to his god for deliverance at the height of this great and powerful storm caused by the Lord.
“To his god” refers to the idolatry of these heathen sailors.
Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols.
Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.
Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
1 John 5:21, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
The idolatry of these heathen sailors is an expression of their total depravity (Romans 1:18-23; 3:9-18).
“They threw” is the verb ṭûl (טוּל), which is used of the sailors of the ship Jonah hired to take him to Tarshish “hurling” the cargo of the vessel into the sea to lighten its load in the hopes of saving the ship.
“The cargo” denotes the equipment, containers, tools, goods, pertaining to the function of the ship, its maintenance and goods it was carrying to Tarshish.
The verb qā∙lǎl (קָלַל) means “to ease a burden” and does not means “lighten” in the sense of reducing the weight of the ship but rather, it means “to reduce a burden” upon the soul indicating that the sailors by throwing the cargo overboard are attempting to appease the Canaanite sea god so as to “ease the burden” upon their souls (See BDB, page 886; cf. Exodus 18:22).
“But Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep” presents a contrast between the crew’s frantic actions and Jonah’s lack of action and refers as it did in verse 4 to Jonah going down into the galley of this merchant ship.
It indicates the second stage in Jonah’s downward journey of refusing to obey the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against it and the first stage is Jonah going down from Jerusalem to Joppa.
The noun sep̄î∙nā(h) (סְפִינָה) refers to an ancient ship large enough for cargo on the open seas, with limited sleeping holds, though not necessarily “cabins” and the noun yerē∙ḵā(h) refers to the area below the deck of the ship or the interior and most isolated part of the ship.
“Fell into a deep sleep” reflects the third stage in Jonah’s descent in his rebellion against the Lord.
The verb rā∙ḏǎm (רָדַם) “generally describes a trancelike state or deep sleep, such as experienced by Daniel when he had his visions of the end time interpreted to him by angelic figures.” (Dan 8:18; 10:9) (Concordia Commentary: Jonah, page 104)
To summarize, Jonah 1:5 contrasts the frantic efforts of the crew to save their ship and their lives with that of Jonah’s indifference.
Undoubtedly, he must have been exhausted not only because of the journey to Joppa and seeking out a ship going to Tarshish but also he must have been exhausted and thus psychologically depressed by his determination to rebel against the command of the Lord to go to Nineveh.
Jonah Series: Jonah 1:5-The Crew Cries Out To Their Gods While Jonah Is Sound Asleep
Doctrinal Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 14, 2025
Jonah Series: Jonah 1:5-The Crew Cries Out To Their Gods While Jonah Is Sound Asleep
Lesson # 8
Jonah 1:5 records the crew members crying out to their gods and flinging the ship’s cargo overboard in an attempt to appease their gods while Jonah is sound asleep down below the ship’s deck.
Jonah 1:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. (NIV84)
“The sailors” refers to individuals who work on a sea vessel as a sailor or transport worker and refers to the crew of the ship, which Jonah had paid for the services of to take him to Tarshish.
The Scriptures do not identify the nationality of the sailors but they must have been Phoenicians who were renowned mariners (1 Kings 10:22) and were also well known for their worship of the sea god, Yam and the god Baal.
“Became afraid” is the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) (יָרֵא), which means “to be terrified” as a result of a threat to one’s life and refers to being in a state of great distress and anxiety and deep concern of losing one’s life due to an adverse circumstance.
“Each cried out to his god” indicates that each and every member of the crew of the ship was crying out to his god for deliverance at the height of this great and powerful storm caused by the Lord.
“To his god” refers to the idolatry of these heathen sailors.
Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols.
Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.
Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
1 John 5:21, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
The idolatry of these heathen sailors is an expression of their total depravity (Romans 1:18-23; 3:9-18).
“They threw” is the verb ṭûl (טוּל), which is used of the sailors of the ship Jonah hired to take him to Tarshish “hurling” the cargo of the vessel into the sea to lighten its load in the hopes of saving the ship.
“The cargo” denotes the equipment, containers, tools, goods, pertaining to the function of the ship, its maintenance and goods it was carrying to Tarshish.
The verb qā∙lǎl (קָלַל) means “to ease a burden” and does not means “lighten” in the sense of reducing the weight of the ship but rather, it means “to reduce a burden” upon the soul indicating that the sailors by throwing the cargo overboard are attempting to appease the Canaanite sea god so as to “ease the burden” upon their souls (See BDB, page 886; cf. Exodus 18:22).
“But Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep” presents a contrast between the crew’s frantic actions and Jonah’s lack of action and refers as it did in verse 4 to Jonah going down into the galley of this merchant ship.
It indicates the second stage in Jonah’s downward journey of refusing to obey the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against it and the first stage is Jonah going down from Jerusalem to Joppa.
The noun sep̄î∙nā(h) (סְפִינָה) refers to an ancient ship large enough for cargo on the open seas, with limited sleeping holds, though not necessarily “cabins” and the noun yerē∙ḵā(h) refers to the area below the deck of the ship or the interior and most isolated part of the ship.
“Fell into a deep sleep” reflects the third stage in Jonah’s descent in his rebellion against the Lord.
The verb rā∙ḏǎm (רָדַם) “generally describes a trancelike state or deep sleep, such as experienced by Daniel when he had his visions of the end time interpreted to him by angelic figures.” (Dan 8:18; 10:9) (Concordia Commentary: Jonah, page 104)
To summarize, Jonah 1:5 contrasts the frantic efforts of the crew to save their ship and their lives with that of Jonah’s indifference.
Undoubtedly, he must have been exhausted not only because of the journey to Joppa and seeking out a ship going to Tarshish but also he must have been exhausted and thus psychologically depressed by his determination to rebel against the command of the Lord to go to Nineveh.