וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ (way·yî·rə·’ū) in Jonah 1:5: Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ (way·yî·rə·’ū) in Jonah 1:5
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:5 links the English rendering "were afraid" with וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ, Strong's H3372, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form marks the first stage of the sailors' fear, setting up the chapter's movement from storm panic toward fear of the Lord.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to trace the narrative progression of fear across Jonah 1 rather than treating each fear statement as identical.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make the imperfect label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for the whole Hebrew lemma.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Conjunctive waw
Qal
Consecutive imperfect
Third person
Masculine
Plural
The consecutive imperfect form participates in the verse's movement; Jonah 1:5 determines whether the reader should hear sequence, result, or narrative progress.
This form carries the BSB rendering "were afraid" within Jonah 1:5. Jonah 1 follows the prophet's flight, the storm at sea, and the sailors' growing fear as disobedience is exposed.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The action or phrase rendered "were afraid" in Jonah 1:5
The form is governed by the storm scene, where the sailors respond to immediate danger before they understand Jonah's guilt.
It marks the sailors' first fear in the storm, before Jonah's guilt is known and before their later fear of the Lord.
The form does not by itself settle every use of H3372, every possible translation, or the whole doctrine connected to this passage.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The form marks the sailors' initial fear in the storm and prepares the later escalation in Jonah 1.
Waw-consecutive Qal imperfect marking initial fear. shows the sailors responding to immediate danger. Attached to the sailors were afraid clause. Governed by the storm-threat narrative. The verb advances the fear response; later verses clarify how that fear changes as the sailors learn more.
What is the sailors' first response to the storm? They are afraid and cry out before Jonah's role is known.
Direct: The form directly supports were afraid.
This occurrence should be distinguished from Jonah 1:16, where the fear is directed to the Lord after deliverance. Waw-consecutive marks narrative movement and should not be treated as a bare tense label.
Same fear word means the same response in every verse: The narrative stage determines whether fear is panic, moral alarm, or reverent response.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:5 links the English rendering "were afraid" with וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ, Strong's H3372, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp.
H3372 is represented here by the lemma יָרֵא. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "were afraid" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The consecutive imperfect carries the sailors' fear forward as a narrative response to danger at sea.
Jonah 1 follows the prophet's flight, the storm at sea, and the sailors' growing fear as disobedience is exposed.
The form fits Scripture's witness to mercy, repentance, prophetic obedience, and God's compassion for the nations.
When teaching Jonah 1:5, show that this fear belongs to the storm setting and precedes the more informed fear later in the chapter.
Do not make Qal or consecutive imperfect define fear as worship here. The immediate storm context marks the initial panic.