This verse recapitulates verse 12 in that, as a result of carrying out Jonah’s advice and throwing him into the sea, the storm ceases. The sea is personified here, since the word “raging” (New English Bible) is used elsewhere only of human beings or of God. So “the sea was no longer angry” (Bible in Basic English). Jonah makes no protest and submits to his fate.

In translating they picked Jonah up, it is important to avoid an expression that would suggest that Jonah had been lying down. It is preferable in a number of languages to say “they grabbed hold of Jonah” or “they took hold of Jonah” or “they took hold of Jonah and lifted him up.”

It calmed down at once must be expressed in some languages as a reference to the “waves,” therefore “the waves stopped at once.” But in a number of languages it is important to place the temporal expression first, for example, “and at once the sea became calm” or “… without waves.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Jonah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .