1:16a

Then the men feared the LORD greatly: The storm stopped suddenly and the sea became calm. This showed the sailors that it was the LORD who controlled the storm. As a result, they feared him greatly. The Hebrew verb yaraʾ can mean “to fear” or “to stand in awe of.” With God as the object, it can also mean “to worship,” as it did in 1:9. However, while any of these meanings are possible here, the majority of English versions understand it to mean “fear” or even “terrified.” The addition of the expression “with a great fear” in the Hebrew text here also suggests that “fear” is the correct meaning.

1:16b

they offered a sacrifice to the LORD: We are not given any details about what kind of sacrifice the sailors made or how it was done. However, the Hebrew verb used here, when it refers to literal sacrifices, is always used in the OT for sacrificing an animal. So they probably killed an animal.

1:16c

made vows to Him: We also do not know what the sailors promised in their vows. They probably promised to be loyal or faithful to the LORD in some way. They may have promised him that they would do something which they felt would please him, or they may have promised to give him another offering once they were safely back to land. Try not to translate in a way that indicates they promised to obey God, since it is unclear what vows they made. You should make your translation as general as possible.

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