Jonah 2: Summary and Commentary

Verse 1

2:1-9 Realizing that the Lord had graciously delivered him by sending the fish, Jonah composed this psalm-like prayer. Its careful structure, conforming to the pattern of an individual song of thanksgiving, suggests that it may have been composed after the event, as Jonah recalled his emotions and concerns.

Verse 2

2:2 Jonah’s psalm-prayer opens by recalling a previous prayer that was not so polished yet was all the more fervent—his cry for help while on the verge of drowning. • from the land of the dead (literally from the belly of Sheol): Sheol was thought to be the abode of the dead (see Isa 14:15; Ezek 31:15-17). The belly metaphor for Sheol is found nowhere else in the Old Testament; it pictures Jonah’s experience of being delivered from Sheol through the belly of a fish.

Verse 4

2:4 On the brink of drowning, Jonah called out for help, for life, and for God’s renewed presence. It is ironic that Jonah spoke of God as driving Jonah from his presence, for that was Jonah’s own aim in fleeing to Tarshish (1:3). • I will look once more: Either Jonah was confident that he would be rescued and thus worship again in the Temple in Jerusalem, or he was calling to the Lord in his Temple from the sea (cp. 2:7).

Verse 6

2:6 Jonah’s metaphors (roots of the mountains; imprisoned in the earth) reflect ancient concepts of the underworld, with the dead being deep within the earth (see also 2:2). At one point Jonah felt hopelessly doomed to death’s prison. • But: The transition is powerful. Jonah, though certain of his own death, was not beyond God’s gracious reach. • the jaws of death (literally the pit): The Hebrew term normally denotes the habitat of the dead. Jonah’s language again makes it clear that at this point he considered himself as good as dead.

Verse 7

2:7 I remembered the Lord: In this context, Jonah’s statement means “I turned my thoughts to the Lord in prayer.” • earnest prayer . . . holy Temple: The Temple was God’s special dwelling place in Israel’s worship, even though God is present everywhere at all times (Ps 139:7-10; Jer 23:23-24).

Verse 8

2:8-9 The conclusion to Jonah’s psalm-prayer bears similarity to 1:16: The sailors also responded to the Lord’s power to save and acts of mercy with sacrifices and vows.

Verse 2

His prayer is partly descriptive and precatory, partly eucharistical. Jonah incorporates with his own language inspired utterances familiar to the Church long before in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; ; in , ; in , , and . Jonah, an inspired man, thus attests both the antiquity and inspiration of the Psalms. It marks the spirit of faith, that Jonah identifies himself with the saints of old, appropriating their experiences as recorded in the Word of God (). Affliction opens up the mine of Scripture, before seen only on the surface.

out of the belly of hell—Sheol, the unseen world, which the belly of the fish resembled.

Verse 3

thou hadst cast . . . thy billows . . . thy waves—Jonah recognizes the source whence his sufferings came. It was no mere chance, but the hand of God which sent them. Compare Job's similar recognition of God's hand in calamities, ; ; and David's, .

Verse 4

cast out from thy sight—that is, from Thy favorable regard. A just retribution on one who had fled "from the presence of the Lord" (). Now that he has got his desire, he feels it to be his bitterest sorrow to be deprived of God's presence, which once he regarded as a burden, and from which he desired to escape. He had turned his back on God; so God turned His back on him, making his sin his punishment.

toward thy holy temple—In the confidence of faith he anticipates yet to see the temple at Jerusalem, the appointed place of worship (), and there to render thanksgiving [HENDERSON]. Rather, I think, "Though cast out of Thy sight, I will still with the eye of faith once more look in prayer towards Thy temple at Jerusalem, whither, as Thy earthly throne, Thou hast desired Thy worshippers to direct their prayers."

Verse 5

even to the soul—that is, threatening to extinguish the animal life.

weeds—He felt as if the seaweeds through which he was dragged were wrapped about his head.

Verse 6

bottoms of . . . mountains—their extremities where they terminate in the hidden depths of the sea. Compare , "the foundations of the hills" ().

earth with her bars was about me—Earth, the land of the living, is (not "was") shut against me.

for ever—so far as any effort of mine can deliver me.

yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption—rather, "Thou bringest . . . from the pit" [MAURER]. As in the previous clauses he expresses the hopelessness of his state, so in this, his sure hope of deliverance through Jehovah's infinite resources. "Against hope he believes in hope," and speaks as if the deliverance were actually being accomplished. Hezekiah seems to have incorporated Jonah's very words in his prayer (), just as Jonah appropriated the language of the Psalms.

Verse 7

soul fainted . . . I remembered the Lord—beautifully exemplifying the triumph of spirit over flesh, of faith over sense (; ). For a time troubles shut out hope; but faith revived when Jonah "remembered the Lord," what a gracious God He is, and how now He still preserves his life and consciousness in his dark prison-house.

into thine holy temple—the temple at Jerusalem (). As there he looks in believing prayer towards it, so here he regards his prayer as already heard.

Verse 8

observe lying vanities—regard or reverence idols, powerless to save ().

mercy—Jehovah, the very idea of whom is identified now in Jonah's mind with mercy and loving-kindness. As the Psalmist () styles Him, "my goodness"; God who is to me all beneficence. Compare , "the God of my mercy," literally, "my kindness-God." Jonah had "forsaken His own mercy," God, to flee to heathen lands where "lying vanities" (idols) were worshipped. But now, taught by his own preservation in conscious life in the fish's belly, and by the inability of the mariners idols to lull the storm (), estrangement from God seems estrangement from his own happiness (; ). Prayer has been restrained in Jonah's case, so that he was "fast asleep" in the midst of danger, heretofore; but now prayer is the sure sign of his return to God.

Verse 9

I will sacrifice . . . thanksgiving—In the believing anticipation of sure deliverance, he offers thanksgivings already. So Jehoshaphat () appointed singers to praise the Lord in front of the army before the battle with Moab and Ammon, as if the victory was already gained. God honors such confidence in Him. There is also herein a mark of sanctified affliction, that he vows amendment and thankful obedience ().

Verse 10

upon the dry land—probably on the coast of Palestine.

Next: Jonah Chapter 3