Jonah 1:12 (DRB)

Passage

And he said to them: take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

Nearby Context

Jonah 1:10 And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him: Why hast thou done this? (For the men knew that he fled from the face of the Lord: because he had told them.)

Jonah 1:11 And they said to him: What shall we do with thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea flowed and swelled.

Jonah 1:12 And he said to them: take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

Jonah 1:13 And the men rowed hard to return the land, but they were not able: because the sea tossed and swelled upon them.

Jonah 1:14 And they cried to the Lord, and said: We beseech thee, O Lord let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, oh Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "take", "cast", "shall", "calm", "sake", "great", and "tempest". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "take", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And they said to him What shall..." into verse 13's "And the men rowed hard to return...", so "said" and "take" belong inside that flow. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "take" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.