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Jonah 2

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1
Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish’s belly. ​
2
And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And thou heardest my voice. ​
3
For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me. ​
4
And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. ​
5
The waters compassed me about, even 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 earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: Yet hast thou 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.
8
They that regard lying vanities 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 spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jonah 2

Verse 1

Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God — Palal, 'prayed', is the verb of Hannah's prayer of thanks, 'And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD' (1 Sam 2:1), and of Jonah's prayer in 4:2. The 'fish' here is dagah, the feminine form, where 1:17 had dag. The prayer that follows (vv.2–9) echoes the Psalms at many points.

Verse 2

out of the belly of hell cried I — 'Hell' is sheol, the place of the dead (cf. Ps 16:10). 'I cried' (qara) is the verb used for 'cry against it' (1:2) and the shipmaster's 'call' (1:6), and 'cried' at the end is shava, a cry for help. 'Heard' is literally 'answered' (anah): 'In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me' (Ps 120:1).

Verse 3

thou hadst cast me into the deep — The sailors had cast Jonah forth with the verb tul (1:12, 15); here he says 'thou', and uses shalak, to throw, of the LORD. 'In the midst of the seas' is literally 'in the heart of the seas'. 'All thy billows and thy waves passed over me' uses the same two nouns as Ps 42:7, 'all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me', in the same order in Hebrew.

Verse 4

cast out of thy sight — Garash, 'cast out', is the verb of Cain's words, 'thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid' (Gen 4:14), and 'sight' is literally 'eyes', as in Ps 31:22, 'I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest'. Prayer 'toward' the temple is that of Ps 5:7 and 1 Kings 8:38.

Verse 6

the bottoms of the mountains — 'I went down' is yarad, the verb of 1:3 and 1:5: Jonah's descent reaches its end here. Qetseb, 'bottoms', is the base of the mountains, and the 'bars' (beriach) are crossbars, as of a gate (Judg 16:3). 'Corruption' is shachath, the pit, the word of Ps 16:10, 'neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption', quoted of Christ in Acts 2:27.

Verse 8

lying vanities — The phrase is that of Ps 31:6, 'I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD'. 'Vanities' (hebel) is the word for idols in Deut 32:21 and 2 Kings 17:15, and 'lying' (shav) is emptiness or falsehood. 'Their own mercy' is chesed, the 'great kindness' of 4:2 and the 'goodness' of Ex 34:6; those who hold to vanities leave it.

Verse 9

Salvation is of the LORD — 'Sacrifice' and 'vowed' are the two things the sailors did in 1:16, and 'thanksgiving' (todah) goes with them as in Ps 50:14, 'Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows'. 'Salvation' (yeshuah) is from yasha, to save, the root of the name Jesus (Matt 1:21); the same clause stands in Ps 3:8, 'Salvation belongeth unto the LORD'.

Verse 10

the LORD spake unto the fish — 'Vomited out' is qi, the verb of Lev 18:25, 'the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants', and of Job 20:15, 'He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again'. 'Dry land' (yabbashah) is the word of 1:9 and 1:13: the LORD who made it (1:9) is the one who sets Jonah on it.