Jonah 2

Jonah prays from inside the great fish, and his prayer is mostly thanksgiving for a rescue he has already begun to experience. He describes sinking into the sea as a descent toward death, and he tells how God heard him and lifted him up. The chapter closes with the central truth, ‘Salvation is from the LORD,’ and God’s command that sets Jonah on dry land.

Jonah 2:1

Jonah is alive inside the fish, and he turns at last to prayer. He calls the LORD ‘his God,’ even after running from Him. The fish is the place where he finally speaks to God instead of fleeing. God can be reached from any place.

BSA: prayed (“cried out, made supplication”): This was an urgent, earnest appeal, not a calm and polished prayer.

See also: Jonah 1:17.

Jonah 2:2

Jonah sums up his story: he cried out in trouble and God answered. ‘Sheol’ is the realm of the dead, and Jonah uses it to describe how close to death he felt. Even from there, God heard his voice.

BSA: distress (“affliction, trouble”): The word points to a tight, pressing trouble that left him no way out. Sheol (“the underworld, place of the dead”): Jonah says he felt as if he were already in the grave.

See also: Psalm 18:6; Psalm 130:1-2.

Jonah 2:3

Jonah says that ‘You cast me’ into the sea. He sees God’s hand behind the storm, even though the sailors threw him over. The waves seem to belong to God Himself. His own disobedience is behind it, yet he speaks as one who knows God is in control.

BSA: breakers (“waves, billows”): They are wave after wave, rolling over him with no break.

See also: Psalm 42:7.

Jonah 2:4

Jonah felt driven out of God’s sight, cut off from the place where God meets His people. Yet he did not give up. He resolved to look again toward the temple in Jerusalem, the place of prayer and mercy. Hope returned even in his lowest hour.

BSA: banished (“sent away, cast out”): He felt expelled from God’s presence because of his own flight.

See also: 1 Kings 8:38-39; Psalm 31:22.

Jonah 2:5

Here Jonah describes sinking: the water closes in over him, the depths surround him, and seaweed wraps his head. Every detail shows a man at the very edge of death, unable to save himself.

BSA: engulfed (“surrounded me, compassed me about”): The water encircled him on every side, leaving no escape.

Hebrew: נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, H5315) — “life, soul, throat.” The word means the whole living person, and also the throat. The water reached ’to the nefesh,’ meaning it threatened his very breath and life.

Jonah 2:6

Jonah reaches the lowest point: the very roots of the mountains, with the earth’s ‘bars’ shut behind him like prison gates. Then comes the turning point: ‘But You.’ God Himself lifted his life out of the pit. Where Jonah could not climb, God raised him.

BSA: roots (“bottoms, bases”): The ocean floor is pictured as the foundation under the mountains. raised (“brought up, rescued”): God lifted him up from the depths, as a rescuer pulls someone from a pit.

See also: Psalm 30:3.

Jonah 2:7

When Jonah’s strength was almost gone, he remembered the LORD. Turning his thoughts to God was the beginning of his recovery. His prayer rose beyond the waves and reached God’s holy dwelling. Nothing in the deep could block it.

BSA: remembered (“kept in mind, thought about”): He deliberately turned his thoughts to God when all else was failing.

See also: Psalm 18:6.

Jonah 2:8

Jonah contrasts his own turning to God with those who cling to idols. Idols are empty and cannot rescue anyone. By trusting them, people walk away from the steadfast love that God freely offers. Jonah has learned this lesson the hard way.

BSA: loving devotion (“own mercy, kindness, covenant faithfulness”): It is God’s faithful, covenant love, which is the very thing idol-worshipers give up.

Hebrew: חַסְדָּם (chasdām, H2617) — “their loyal love, their mercy.” The Hebrew word chesed means God’s faithful, covenant love. The phrase can be read as ’their own mercy,’ meaning the love that could have been theirs in God.

See also: Jeremiah 2:13.

Jonah 2:9

Jonah ends with thanks and a promise. He will offer sacrifice and keep his vow. His last words are the heart of the whole book: salvation belongs to the LORD. We cannot rescue ourselves, and God is free to rescue whom He will.

BSA: Salvation (“deliverance, rescue”): Rescue is something God does; Jonah can only receive it.

Hebrew: יְשׁוּעָתָה (yeshuʿata, H3444) — “salvation, deliverance.” This word comes from the same root as the name Yeshua, or Jesus, meaning ’the LORD saves.’.

See also: Psalm 3:8; Psalm 50:14.

Jonah 2:10

The LORD speaks, and the fish obeys. The creature does what Jonah would not do at first. God’s word reaches even sea creatures, and Jonah is set safely on dry land, ready to hear God’s call a second time.

BSA: commanded (“spoke to, gave orders to”): God’s word alone was enough to direct the fish.

See also: Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40.