Jonah 2:2-9

2 He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.

3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.

4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’

5 The engulfing waters threatened me,^[a]the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.

6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit.

7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.

9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘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.

Cross References

• 1. Lamentations 3:55
• 2. Psalms 18:6; Psalms 120:1
• 3. Psalms 86:13
• 4. S Psalms 88:6
• 5. S 2 Samuel 22:5
• 6. S Psalms 42:7
• 7. Psalms 31:22; Jeremiah 7:15
• 8. S 1 Kings 8:48
• 9. Psalms 69:1-2
• 10. Job 28:9
• 11. S Job 17:16; S Job 33:18; S Psalms 30:3
• 12. Psalms 77:11-12
• 13. 2 Chronicles 30:27
• 14. S Psalms 11:4; Psalms 18:6
• 15. S Deuteronomy 32:21; S 1 Samuel 12:21; 2 Kings 17:15; Jeremiah 10:8
• 16. S Psalms 42:4
• 17. Psalms 50:14,23; Hosea 14:2; Hebrews 13:15
• 18. S Numbers 30:2; Psalms 116:14; S Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
• 19. S Exodus 15:2; S Psalms 3:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "waters were at my throat"