Text -- Jonah 1:13 (NET)

1:13 Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jon 1:13

¹ sn The word translated row is used in Ezekiel to describe digging through a wall (Ezek 8:8; 12:5, 7, 12). Its use in Jonah pictures the sailors digging into the water with their oars as hard as they could.

² sn The word for land here is associated with a Hebrew verb meaning “to be dry” and is the same noun used in v. 9 of dry ground in contrast with the sea, both made by the Lord (see also Gen 1:9-10; Exod 4:9; 14:16, 22, 29; Jonah 2:10).

³ tn Heb “but they were not able.” The phrase “to do so” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “the sea was walking and storming.” See the note on the same idiom in v. 11.