and the mariners are afraid, and cry each unto his god, and cast the goods that <FI>are<Fi> in the ship into the sea, to make <FI>it<Fi> light of them; and Jonah hath gone down unto the sides of the vessel, and he lieth down, and is fast asleep.
Jonah 1:3 And Jonah riseth to flee to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah, and goeth down <FI>to<Fi> Joppa, and findeth a ship going <FI>to<Fi> Tarshish, and he giveth its fare, and goeth down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah.
Jonah 1:4 And Jehovah hath cast a great wind on the sea, and there is a great tempest in the sea, and the ship hath reckoned to be broken;
Jonah 1:5 and the mariners are afraid, and cry each unto his god, and cast the goods that <FI>are<Fi> in the ship into the sea, to make <FI>it<Fi> light of them; and Jonah hath gone down unto the sides of the vessel, and he lieth down, and is fast asleep.
Jonah 1:6 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.'
Jonah 1:7 And they say each unto his neighbour, `Come, and we cast lots, and we know on whose account this evil <FI>is<Fi> on us.' And they cast lots, and the lot falleth on Jonah.
The verse centers on "light", "mariners", "afraid", "each", "cast", "goods", "ship", and "make". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "mariners", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And Jehovah hath cast a great wind..." into verse 6's "And the chief of the company draweth...", so "light" and "mariners" 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 "light" and "mariners" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.