Jonah

CHAPTER 2

Jonah’s Prayer. 1But the LORD sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.^a 2Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God, from the belly of the fish:

3^* Out of my distress I called to the LORD,

and he answered me;

From the womb of Sheol^* I cried for help,

and you heard my voice.^b

4You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,

and the flood enveloped me;

All your breakers and your billows

passed over me.^c

5Then I said, “I am banished from your sight!

How will I again look upon your holy temple?”^d

6The waters surged around me up to my neck;

the deep enveloped me;

seaweed wrapped around my head.^e

7I went down to the roots of the mountains;

to the land whose bars closed behind me forever,

But you brought my life up from the pit,

O LORD, my God.^f

8When I became faint,

I remembered the LORD;

My prayer came to you

in your holy temple.^g

9Those who worship worthless idols

abandon their hope for mercy.^h

10But I, with thankful voice,

will sacrifice to you;

What I have vowed I will pay:

deliverance is from the LORD.ⁱ

11Then the LORD commanded the fish to vomit Jonah upon dry land.

* [2:3–10] These verses, which may have originally been an independent composition, are a typical example of a song of thanksgiving, a common psalm genre (e.g., Ps 116; Is 38:9–20). Such a song is relevant here, since Jonah has not drowned, and the imagery of vv. 4, 6 is appropriate.

* [2:3] Sheol: c.f. note on Ps 6:6.

a. [2:1] Mt 12:40; 16:4; Lk 11:30; 1 Cor 15:4.

b. [2:3] Ps 18:7; 120:1.

c. [2:4] Ps 42:8.

d. [2:5] Ps 31:23; Is 38:11.

e. [2:6] Ps 18:5; 69:2.

f. [2:7] Ps 16:10; 30:4.

g. [2:8] Ps 5:8; 18:7; 88:3.

h. [2:9] Ps 31:7.

i. [2:10] Ps 50:14.