Jonah 2:1-8

1 And Ionas prayed vnto ye lord his god out of ye bowels of the fish.

2 And he sayde: in my tribulacion I called vn to the lorde and he answered me: out of the bely of hell I cried ad thou herdest my voyce.

3 For thou hadest cast me downe depe in the middes of the se: and the floud copased me aboute: and all thy waues and rowles of water wet ouer me:

4 and I thought yt I had bene cast awaye out of thy sight. But I will yet agayne loke towarde thy holy temple.

5 The water copased me eue vn to the very soule of me: the depe laye aboute me: ad the wedes were wrappte aboude myne heed.

6 And I wet downe vn to the botome of the hylles and was barred in with erth on euery syde for euer. And yet thou lorde my God broughtest vp my life agayne out of corrupcion.

7 When my soule faynted in me I thought on the lorde: and my prayer came in vn to the euen in to thy holy temple.

8 They yt obserue vayne vanities haue forsake him that was mercifull vn to them.

Jonah 2:1-8 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.