Jonah 2:2-9

2 "In my distress, O Lord, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.

3 You threw me down into the depths, to the very bottom of the sea, where the waters were all around me, and all your mighty waves rolled over me.

4 I thought I had been banished from your presence and would never see your holy Temple again.

5 The water came over me and choked me; the sea covered me completely, and seaweed wrapped around my head.

6 I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, brought me back from the depths alive.

7 When I felt my life slipping away, then, O Lord, I prayed to you, and in your holy Temple you heard me.

8 Those who worship worthless idols have abandoned their loyalty to you.

9 But I will sing praises to you; I will offer you a sacrifice and do what I have promised. Salvation comes from the Lord!"

Jonah 2:2-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 2

This chapter contains the prayer of Jonah, when in the fish's belly; the time when he prayed, the person he prayed unto, and the place where, are suggested in Jon 2:1; and the latter described as a place of great straitness and distress, and even as hell itself, Jon 2:2; The condition he was in, when cast into the sea, and when in the belly of the fish, which is observed, the more to heighten the greatness of the deliverance, Jon 2:3-6. The different frame of mind he was in, sometimes almost in despair, and ready to faint; and presently exercising faith and hope, remembering the goodness of the Lord, and resolving to look again to him, Jon 2:4,7. The gracious regards of God to him, in receiving, hearing, and answering his prayer, and bringing up his life from corruption, Jon 2:2,6,7. His resolution, let others do what they would, to praise the Lord, and give him the glory of his salvation, Jon 2:8,9; and the chapter is concluded with the order for his deliverance, and the manner of it, Jon 2:10.

Footnotes

• [a]. the land whose gates lock shut forever: [A reference to the world of the dead (see 2.2).]