The Meaning of Jonah 1:14 Explained

Jonah 1:14

KJV: Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

YLT: And they cry unto Jehovah, and say, 'We pray Thee, O Jehovah, let us not, we pray Thee, perish for this man's life, and do not lay on us innocent blood, for Thou, Jehovah, as Thou hast pleased, Thou hast done.'

Darby: And they cried unto Jehovah and said, Ah, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.

ASV: Wherefore they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore they cried  unto the LORD,  and said,  We beseech thee,  O LORD,  we beseech thee, let us not perish  for this man's  life,  and lay  not upon us innocent  blood:  for thou, O LORD,  hast done  as it pleased  thee. 

What does Jonah 1:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The sailors also voiced their belief in God"s sovereignty, which Jonah had denied by his behavior. They requested physical deliverance and forgiveness from guilt since they anticipated that Jonah would die because of their act. They believed that God"s sovereignty was so strongly obvious that He might forgive them. Jonah"s innocent death seemed inevitable to them try as they did to avoid it. Still they could not be sure that they were doing God"s will and feared that He might punish them for taking the life of His servant. From their viewpoint Jonah was innocent (Heb. naqi) of death because he had not committed any of the crimes for which people suffered death at the hands of their fellowmen. Yet nothing less than death was what he deserved for sinning against God ( Ezekiel 18:4; Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23).

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 1:14 mean?

Therefore they cried out to Yahweh and said we pray Yahweh not please do let us perish for life of man this and not do charge us with blood innocent for You Yahweh as it pleased You have done
וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ אֶל־ יְהוָ֜ה וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ אָנָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ אַל־ נָ֣א נֹאבְדָ֗ה בְּנֶ֙פֶשׁ֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֔ה וְאַל־ תִּתֵּ֥ן עָלֵ֖ינוּ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֑יא כִּֽי־ אַתָּ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר חָפַ֖צְתָּ עָשִֽׂיתָ

וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ  Therefore  they  cried  out 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
יְהוָ֜ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אָנָּ֤ה  we  pray 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אָנָּא 
Sense: ah now! I/we beseech you, oh now!, pray now! (participle of entreaty usually followed by the imperative verb).
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
נָ֣א  please 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
נֹאבְדָ֗ה  do  let  us  perish 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common plural
Root: אָבַד  
Sense: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed.
בְּנֶ֙פֶשׁ֙  for  life 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.
הָאִ֣ישׁ  of  man 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
הַזֶּ֔ה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
וְאַל־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַל  
Sense: not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference).
תִּתֵּ֥ן  do  charge 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
עָלֵ֖ינוּ  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
דָּ֣ם  with  blood 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.
נָקִ֑יא  innocent 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: נָקִי 
Sense: clean, free from, exempt, clear, innocent.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
חָפַ֖צְתָּ  it  pleased  You 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: חָפֵץ 
Sense: to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with.
עָשִֽׂיתָ  have  done 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.