Jonah 1:9

Easy-to-Read Version

Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the land and the sea."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land."

King James Version (1611)
And hee said vnto them, I am an Hebrew, and I feare the Lord the God of heauen, which hath made the sea, and the dry land.

King James Version
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord , the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

English Standard Version
And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

New American Standard Bible
So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land."

New Century Version
Then Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."

Amplified Bible
So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he answered them, I am an Ebrewe, and I feare the Lord God of heauen, which hath made the sea, and the dry lande.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land."

Legacy Standard Bible
And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Berean Standard Bible
"I am a Hebrew," replied Jonah. "I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land."

Contemporary English Version
Jonah answered, "I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Complete Jewish Bible
He answered them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear Adonai , the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land."

Darby Translation
And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of the heavens, who hath made the sea and the dry [land].

George Lamsa Translation
And Jonah said to them, I am a Hebrew; and I worship the LORD the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

Good News Translation
"I am a Hebrew," Jonah answered. "I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made land and sea."

Lexham English Bible
And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Literal Translation
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew. And I fear Jehovah, the God of Heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

American Standard Version
And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.

Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he said unto them: 'I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.'

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he aunswered them: I am an Hebrue, and I feare the Lorde God of heauen, which hath made the sea, and the drye lande.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry land.

English Revised Version
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

World English Bible
He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, Y am an Ebrew, and Y drede the Lord God of heuene, that made the see and the drie lond.

Update Bible Version
And he said to them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, I [am] a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry [land].

New English Translation
He said to them, "I am a Hebrew! And I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

New King James Version
So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

New Living Translation
Jonah answered, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."

New Life Bible
Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven Who made the sea and the dry land."

New Revised Standard
"I am a Hebrew," he replied. "I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he said unto them, A Hebrew, am I, - and, Yahweh, the God of the heavens, do, I, revere, him who made the sea, and the dry land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, and the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.

Revised Standard Version
And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Young's Literal Translation
And he saith unto them, `A Hebrew I [am], and Jehovah, God of the heavens, I am reverencing, who made the sea and the dry land.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He answered them: I am an Ebrue, and I feare the LORDE God of heauen, which made both the see and drie londe.

THE MESSAGE
He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship God , the God of heaven who made sea and land."

Contextual Overview

⁴ But the Lord brought a great storm on the sea. The wind made the sea very rough. The storm was very strong, and the boat was ready to break apart. ⁵ The men wanted to make the boat lighter to stop it from sinking, so they began throwing the cargo into the sea. The sailors were very afraid. Each man began praying to his god. Jonah had gone down into the boat to lie down, and he went to sleep. ⁶ The captain of the boat saw Jonah and said, "Wake up! Why are you sleeping? Pray to your god! Maybe your god will hear your prayer and save us!" ⁷ Then the men said to each other, "We should throw lots to find out why this is happening to us." So the men threw lots. The lots showed that the troubles came to them because of Jonah. ⁸ Then the men said to Jonah, "It is your fault that this terrible thing is happening to us. Tell us, what have you done? What is your job? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?" ⁹ Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord , the God of heaven, who made the land and the sea." ¹⁰ Jonah told the men he was running away from the Lord . The men became very afraid when they learned this. They asked Jonah, "What terrible thing did you do against your God?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I am: Genesis 14:13, Genesis 39:14, Philippians 3:5

and I: 2 Kings 17:25, 2 Kings 17:28, 2 Kings 17:32-35, Job 1:9, Hosea 3:5, Acts 27:23, Revelation 15:4

the Lord: or, Jehovah

the God: Ezra 1:2, Ezra 5:11, Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:13, Nehemiah 1:4, Nehemiah 2:4, Psalms 136:26, Daniel 2:18, Daniel 2:19, Daniel 2:44, Revelation 11:13, Revelation 16:11

which: Nehemiah 9:6, Psalms 95:5, Psalms 95:6, Psalms 146:5, Psalms 146:6, Acts 14:15, Acts 17:23-25

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:9 - General Genesis 3:8 - hid Genesis 24:7 - Lord Esther 3:4 - he had told Mark 4:41 - feared Acts 16:17 - the servants Romans 10:14 - shall they 1 Corinthians 8:6 - one God

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
God created the sky and the earth. At first,

Genesis 1:2
the earth was completely empty. There was nothing on the earth. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit moved over the water.

Genesis 1:5
God named the light "day," and he named the darkness "night." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.

Genesis 1:6
Then God said, "Let there be a space to separate the water into two parts!"

Genesis 1:8
God named that space "sky." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.

Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear." And it happened.

Genesis 1:11
Then God said, "Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth." And it happened.

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 1:29
God said, "I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food.

Job 26:7
God stretched the northern sky over empty space. He hung the earth on nothing.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said unto them, I [am] an Hebrew,.... He does not say a Jew, as the Targum wrongly renders it; for that would have been false, since he was of the tribe of Zebulun, which was in the kingdom of Israel, and not of Judah; nor does he say an Israelite, lest he should be thought to be in the idolatry of that people; but a Hebrew, which was common to both; and, besides, it not only declared what nation he was of, but what religion he professed, and who was his God:

and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry [land]; this answers to the other question, what was his occupation or business? he was one that feared the Lord, that served and worshipped him; a prophet of the great God, as Josephus g expresses and so Kimchi; the mighty Jehovah, that made the "heavens", and dwells in them; and from whence that storm of wind came, which had so much distressed the ship, and still continued: and who made the "sea", which was now so boisterous and raging, and threatened them with ruin; and "the dry land", where they would be glad to have been at that instant. By this description of God, as the prophet designed to set him forth in his nature and works, so to distinguish him from the gods of Heathens, who had only particular parts of the universe assigned to them, when his Jehovah was Lord of all; but where was the prophet's fear and reverence of God when he fled from him, and disobeyed him? it was not lost, though not in exercise.

g Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I am an Hebrew - This was the name by which Israel was known to foreigners. It is used in the Old Testament, only when they are spoken of by foreigners, or speak of themselves to foreigners, or when the sacred writers mention them in contrast with foreigners . So Joseph spoke of his land Genesis 40:15, and the Hebrew midwives Exodus 1:19, and Moses’ sister Exodus 2:7, and God in His commission to Moses Exodus 3:18; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 9:1 as to Pharaoh, and Moses in fulfilling it Exodus 5:3. They had the name, as having passed the River Euphrates, “emigrants.” The title might serve to remind themselves, that they were “strangers” and “pilgrims,” Hebrews 11:13. whose fathers had left their home at God’s command and for God , “passers by, through this world to death, and through death to immortality.”

And I fear the Lord - , i. e., I am a worshiper of Him, most commonly, one who habitually stands in awe of Him, and so one who stands in awe of sin too. For none really fear God, none fear Him as sons, who do not fear Him in act. To be afraid of God is not to fear Him. To be afraid of God keeps men away from God; to fear God draws them to Him. Here, however, Jonah probably meant to tell them, that the Object of his fear and worship was the One Self-existing God, He who alone is, who made all things, in whose hands are all things. He had told them before, that he had fled “from being before Yahweh.” They had not thought anything of this, for they thought of Yahweh, only as the God of the Jews. Now he adds, that He, Whose service he had thus forsaken, was “the God of heaven, Who made the sea and dry land,” that sea, whose raging terrified them and threatened their lives. The title, “the God of heaven,” asserts the doctrine of the creation of the heavens by God, and His supremacy.

Hence, Abraham uses it to his servant Genesis 24:7, and Jonah to the pagan mariners, and Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:37, Daniel 2:44; and Cyrus in acknowledging God in his proclamation 2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:2. After his example, it is used in the decrees of Darius Ezra 6:9-10 and Artaxerxes Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:21, Ezra 7:23, and the returned exiles use it in giving account of their building the temple to the Governor Ezra 5:11-12. Perhaps, from the habit of contact with the pagan, it is used once by Daniel Daniel 2:18 and by Nehemiah Nehemiah 1:4-5; Nehemiah 2:4, Nehemiah 2:20. Melchizedek, not perhaps being acquainted with the special name, Yahweh, blessed Abraham in the name of “God, the Possessor” or “Creator of heaven and earth” Genesis 14:19, i. e., of all that is. Jonah, by using it, at once taught the sailors that there is One Lord of all, and why this evil had fallen on them, because they had himself with them, the renegade servant of God. “When Jonah said this, he indeed feared God and repented of his sin. If he lost filial fear by fleeing and disobeying, he recovered it by repentance.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 9. I fear the Lord — In this Jonah was faithful. He gave an honest testimony concerning the God he served, which placed him before the eyes of the sailors as infinitely higher than the objects of their adoration; for the God of Jonah was the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, and governed both. He also honestly told them that he was fleeing from the presence of this God, whose honourable call he had refused to obey. See John 1:10.