Verse Lens · Context pointer
Jonah 1:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse begins the crew's inquiry by casting lots, which identify Jonah within this narrated crisis.
Read It With
- Jonah 1:7–10
Read Jonah 1:7–10 together. This verse begins the crew's inquiry by casting lots, which identify Jonah within this narrated crisis. Read Jonah 1:7–10 as one complete scene: The sailors' lot identifies Jonah; under questioning he calls himself a Hebrew who fears the LORD, maker of sea and dry land, and the crew becomes exceedingly afraid because he has fled that God.
Why It Needs Context
This line performs one step inside Jonah 1:7–10; isolating it would detach that step from the scene's cause, response, and outcome. Specifically, this verse begins the crew's inquiry by casting lots, which identify Jonah within this narrated crisis.
Read Jonah 1:7–10 together
Why these verses belong together: The lot, questions, identity confession, and intensified fear form one discovery sequence.
Verse 7. 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
Verse 8. 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
Verse 9. 9 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.
Verse 10. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jonah 1:7–10 — The Lot, Jonah's Confession, and the Sailors' FearSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The reported lot identifies Jonah in this story but does not establish a transferable guilt-finding method.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Jonah 1:7–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jonah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew forms, morphology, repeated roots, clause relationships, names, and the base wording behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jonah.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 1:7–10
Open source ↗