וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ (way·yiq·rə·’ū) in Jonah 1:14: Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ (way·yiq·rə·’ū) in Jonah 1:14
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:14 links the English rendering "So they cried out" with וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ, Strong's H7121, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form shows the sailors addressing the Lord together at the crisis point in Jonah 1.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to show how the grammar identifies a group plea while letting the surrounding narrative describe the sailors' fear and responsibility.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make grammatical masculine plural a theological claim about maleness beyond the verse's identified group.
- Do not make the consecutive imperfect label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use this one form to settle the sailors' full spiritual condition.
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 1:14 determines whether the reader should hear sequence, result, or narrative progress.
This form carries the BSB rendering "So they cried out" within Jonah 1:14. 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 sailors' plea to the Lord in Jonah 1:14
The crisis at sea and the sailors' reluctance to shed innocent blood
It marks the sailors' urgent appeal to the Lord as a group before they act.
The plural form does not by itself define their faith, guilt, or conversion; the narrative supplies the evidence.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form marks the sailors' group appeal to the Lord at the moment before Jonah is cast into the sea.
Waw-consecutive Qal imperfect with plural subject. presents the sailors acting together in urgent prayer. Attached to the So they cried out clause. Governed by the sailors' crisis and appeal to the Lord. The plural identifies the group action; the narrative supplies their fear, plea, and limits.
Who cries out, and why does the plural matter? The sailors cry out together, making the appeal a group action before they throw Jonah overboard.
Direct: The plural form directly supports they cried out.
The masculine plural is grammatical agreement with the group and should not be overread. The consecutive imperfect carries the crisis sequence. The form marks appeal but does not settle the sailors' full spiritual state.
Grammatical gender proves theological or biological claims: The masculine plural marks the group grammatically; the verse context identifies the sailors.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Jonah 1:14 links the English rendering "So they cried out" with וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ, Strong's H7121, and the parsing label Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp.
H7121 is represented here by the lemma קָרָא. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "So they cried out" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The third person masculine plural form identifies the group action of the sailors in context. The consecutive imperfect advances the scene from failed rowing to urgent appeal.
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.
Use this form to show how the grammar identifies a group plea while letting the surrounding narrative describe the sailors' fear and responsibility.
Do not derive a full word study, grammar doctrine, or passage theology from Conj-w | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3mp alone. Jonah 1 supplies the sailors' crisis and appeal.