Jonah 2:2-10

2 and he said: I cried by reason of my distress unto Jehovah, and he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I: thou heardest my voice.

3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, into the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me: All thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me.

4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes, Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple.

5 The waters encompassed me, to the soul: The deep was round about me, The weeds were wrapped about my head.

6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The bars of the earth [closed] upon me for ever: But thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.

7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, Into thy holy temple. ^[a]

8 They that observe lying vanities ^[b] forsake their own mercy.

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah commanded the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry [land].

Jonah 2:2-10 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]. Or 'palace.'
• [b]. Or 'vain idols:' see Ps. 31.6.
• [c]. Chesed, 'grace,' 'favour.'