Jonah 1:8-10

Amplified Bible

⁸Then they said to him, “Now tell us! ^[a]Who is to blame for this disaster? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country?” ⁹So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, ^[b]who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰Then the men became extremely frightened and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, ^[c]because he had told them.

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Footnotes

Jonah 1:8 The questions asked indicate that the sailors were afraid of Jonah even before he confessed his worship of the Lord (v 9). The lot had already confirmed that he was responsible, but instead of acting on that they gave him the option of blaming someone else. The other questions are typical of what one would ask any stranger.
Jonah 1:9 This was an important addition to Jonah’s description of God, because most people who believed in pagan gods had different deities for different regions of the created world, and often they also worshiped deities of their own localities. Jonah was affirming that there is only one true God.
Jonah 1:10 Jonah probably had informed them when he first boarded (cf v 3) but they may not have taken him seriously, or perhaps they were just indifferent to his reason for the voyage. Now that they were in mortal danger, they believed him.