Jonah 1:8 (LSB)

Passage

Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

Nearby Context

Jonah 1:6 So the captain came near to him and said to him, “How is it that you are deeply sleeping? Arise, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah 1:7 Then each man said to the other, “Come, let us have the lots fall so we may know on whose account this calamitous evil has struck us.” So they had the lots fall, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Jonah 1:8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

Jonah 1:9 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.”

Jonah 1:10 Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "tell", "whose", "account", "calamitous", "evil", "struck", and "occupation". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "tell", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Then each man said to the other..." into verse 9's "And he said to them I am...", so "said" and "tell" 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 "tell" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.