The Meaning of Jonah 1:6 Explained

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.

YLT: And the chief of the company draweth near to him, and saith to him, 'What -- to thee, O sleeper? rise, call unto thy God, it may be God doth bethink himself of us, and we do not perish.'

Darby: And the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, sleeper? arise, call upon thy God; perhaps God will think upon us, that we perish not.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Jonah 1:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

It took a presumably pagan sea captain to remind Jonah of his duty. The words the captain used are the same as the ones God had used ( Jonah 1:2, Heb. qum lek). Jonah should have been praying instead of sleeping in view of the imminent danger that he and his companions faced (cf. Luke 22:39-46). The normal reaction to danger, even among pagans, is to seek divine intervention, but this is precisely what Jonah wanted to avoid. Jonah did not care if he died ( Jonah 1:12).
"It is well known how often sin brings insensibility with it also. What a shame that the prophet of God had to be called to pray by a heathen." [1]
What the captain hoped Jonah"s God would do, He did. He is the only true God, and He does show concern for people (cf. Jonah 4:2; Jonah 4:11). This demonstration of Yahweh"s concern for people in danger is one of the great themes of this book. God showed compassion for the Ninevites and later for Jonah , but Jonah showed little compassion for the Ninevites, for these sailors, or even for himself.
Whereas the first pericope of the story ( Jonah 1:1-3) illuminates the lack of compassion that characterized the prophet, this second one ( Jonah 1:4-6) reinforces it and implies, in contrast, that God is compassionate. Not only was Jonah fleeing from God"s presence, but he was also displaying a character that was antithetical to God"s. Such is often the case when God"s people turn their backs on Him and run from His assignments.

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 1:6 mean?

So came to him the captain the captain and said to him what do you mean sleeper Arise call on your God perhaps will consider your God us so that not we may perish
וַיִּקְרַ֤ב אֵלָיו֙ רַ֣ב הַחֹבֵ֔ל וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ מַה־ לְּךָ֣ ؟ נִרְדָּ֑ם ק֚וּם קְרָ֣א אֶל־ אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אוּלַ֞י יִתְעַשֵּׁ֧ת הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים לָ֖נוּ וְלֹ֥א נֹאבֵֽד

וַיִּקְרַ֤ב  So  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קָרַב  
Sense: to come near, approach, enter into, draw near.
אֵלָיו֙  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
רַ֣ב  the  captain 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
הַחֹבֵ֔ל  the  captain 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹבֵל  
Sense: sailor, seaman.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
ל֖וֹ  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
לְּךָ֣  do  you  mean 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
؟ נִרְדָּ֑ם  sleeper 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רָדַם  
Sense: (Niphal) to be asleep, be unconscious, be in heavy sleep, fall into heavy sleep, be fast asleep.
ק֚וּם  Arise 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
קְרָ֣א  call 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
אוּלַ֞י  perhaps 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אוּלַי  
Sense: perhaps, peradventure.
יִתְעַשֵּׁ֧ת  will  consider 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשַׁת 
Sense: (Qal) to be smooth, be shiny, gleam.
הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים  your  God 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לָ֖נוּ  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
וְלֹ֥א  so  that  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
נֹאבֵֽד  we  may  perish 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: אָבַד  
Sense: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed.