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Jonah
Chapter Two
Jonah’s Prayer (v.1~10)
New King James Version (NKJV)
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 Jonah 2:1; and the
latter described as a place of great straitness and distress
and even as hell
itself
Jonah 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
Jonah 2:3. 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
Jonah 2:4. The
gracious regards of God to him
in receiving
hearing
and answering his
prayer
and bringing up his life from corruption
Jonah 2:2. His
resolution
let others do what they would
to praise the Lord
and give him the
glory of his salvation
Jonah 2:8; and the
chapter is concluded with the order for his deliverance
and the manner of it
Jonah 2:10.
Jonah 2:1 Then
Jonah prayed to the Lord
his God from the fish’s belly.
YLT
1And Jonah prayeth unto
Jehovah his God from the bowels of the fish.
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly. Though Jonah
had been a praying man
being a good man
and a prophet of the Lord
yet it
seems he had not prayed for some time; being disobedient to the will of God
he
restrained prayer before him; all the while he was going to Joppa he prayed
not; and how indeed could he have the face to pray to him
from whose face he
was fleeing? and as soon as he was in the ship he fell asleep
and there lay
till he was waked by the shipmaster
who called upon him to arise
and pray to
his God; but whether he did or no is not said; and though it is very probable
he might
when convicted of his sin
and before he was cast into the sea
and
as he was casting into it; his not recorded; but when he was in the fish's
belly
"then he prayed"; where it is marvellous he should
or
could; it was strange he should be able to breathe
and more strange to breathe
spiritually; it was very wonderful he should have the exercise of his reason
and more that he should have the exercise of grace
as faith and hope
as it
appears by the following prayer he had. Prayer may be performed any where
on a
mountain
in a desert
in the caves and dens of the earth
and in a prison
as
it has been; but this is the only time it ever was performed in such a place.
Jonah is the only man that ever prayed in a fish's belly: and he prayed unto
the Lord as "his God"
not merely by creation
and as the God of
nature and providence
the God of his life
and of his mercies; but as his
covenant God and Father; for though he had sinned against the Lord
and had
been sorely chastised by him
yet he did not take his lovingkindness from him
nor suffer his faithfulness to fail
or break his covenant with him; covenant
interest and relation still continued; and Jonah had knowledge of it
and faith
in it; and as this is an argument the Lord makes use of to engage backsliders
to return unto him
it is a great encouragement to them so to do
Jeremiah 3:14. In
this Jonah was a type of Christ
who
amidst his agonies
sorrows
and
sufferings
prayed to his Father
and claimed his interest in him as his God
Hebrews 5:7. What
follows contains the sam and substance of the prophet's thoughts
and the
ejaculations of his mind
when in the fish's belly; but were not put up in this
form
but were reduced by him into it after he was delivered; as many of
David's psalms were put into the form and order they are after his deliverance
from troubles
suitable to his thoughts of things when he was in them; and
indeed the following account is an historical narration of facts
which were
before and after his prayer
as well as of that itself.
Jonah 2:2 2 And
he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction
And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried
And You heard my
voice.
YLT
2And he saith: I called
because of my distress
to Jehovah
And He doth answer me
From the belly of
sheol I have cried
Thou hast heard my voice.
And said
.... Not unto the Lord in prayer
but to others
to whom he
communicated what passed between God and him in this time of distress; how he
prayed to him
and was heard by him; what a condition he had been in
and how
he was delivered out of it; what was his frame of mind while in it
sometimes
despairing
and sometimes hoping; and how thankful he was for this salvation
and was determined to praise the Lord for it:
I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord
and he heard
me; or
"out of my strait"F1מצרה
"ex angustia mea"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator; "ex arcto
mihi"
Cocceius. ; being straitened in his body
and as it were in a
prison in the fish's belly; and straitened in his soul
being between hope and
despair
and under the apprehensions of the divine displeasure. A time of
affliction is a time for prayer; it brings those to it that have disused it; it
made Jonah cry to his God
if not with a loud voice
yet inwardly; and his cry
was powerful and piercing
it reached the heavens
and entered into the ears of
the Lord of hosts
though out of the depths
and out of the belly of a fish
in
the midst of the sea:
out of the belly of hell cried I
and thou heardest my
voice; or
"out of the belly of the grave"F2מבטן שאול "e ventre
sepulchri"
Calvin
Piscator
Liveleus; "e ventre sepulchrali"
Junius & Tremellius. ; out of the midst of it; that is
out of the belly of
the fish
which was as a grave to him
as Jarchi observes; where he lay as out
of the land of the living
as one dead
and being given up for dead: and it may
also respect the frame of his mind
the horror and terror lie was in
arising
from a sense of his sins
and the apprehensions he had of the wrath of God
which were as a hell in his conscience; and amidst all this he cried to God
and he heard him; and not only delivered him from he fish's belly
but from
those dreadful apprehensions he had of his state and condition; and spoke peace
and pardon to him. This is a proof that this prayer or thanksgiving be it
called which it will
was composed
as to the form and order of it
after his
deliverance; and these words are an appeal to God for the truth of what he had
said in the preceding clause
and not a repetition of it in prayer; or
expressing the same thing in different words.
Jonah 2:3 3 For
You cast me into the deep
Into the heart of the seas
And the floods
surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
YLT
3When Thou dost cast me
[into] the deep
Into the heart of the seas
Then the flood doth compass me
All Thy breakers and Thy billows have passed over me.
For thou hadst cast me into the deep
in the midst of the seas
.... Though
the mariners did this
yet Jonah ascribes it to the Lord; he knew it was he
whom he had sinned against and offended; that he was he that sent the storm
after him into the sea; that determined the lot to fall upon him; that it was
not only by his permission
but according to his will
that he should be east
into it
and overcame the reluctance of the men to it
and so worked upon them
that they did it; and therefore Jonah imputes it to him
and not to them; nor
does he complain of it
or murmur at it; or censure it as an unrighteous
action
or as hard
cruel
and severe; but rather mentions it to set off the
greatness of his deliverance: and by this it appears
that it was far from
shore when Jonah was cast into the sea
it was the great deep; and which also
is confirmed by the large fish which swallowed him
which could
not swim but
in deep waters; and because of the multitude of the waters
called
"seas"
and "in the heart"F3כלבב
"in corde"
V. L. Cocceius; "in cor"
Montanus
Drusius. of
them
as it may be rendered; and agreeably Christ the antitype of Jonah lay in
the heart of the earth
Matthew 12:40;
and the floods compassed me about; all thy billows and thy waves
passed over me; which was his case as soon as cast into the sea
before the fish
had swallowed him
as well as after: this was literally true of Jonah
what
David says figuratively concerning his afflictions
and from whom the prophet
seems to borrow the expressions
Psalm 42:7; and
indeed he might use them also in a metaphorical sense
with a view to the
afflictions of body
and sorrows of death
that compassed him; and to the
billows and waves of divine wrath
which in his apprehension lay upon him
and
rolled over him.
Jonah 2:4 4 Then
I said
‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your
holy temple.’
YLT
4And I -- I said: I have
been cast out from before Thine eyes
(Yet I add to look unto Thy holy temple!)
Then I said
I am cast out of thy sight
.... Or
"from before thine eyes"F4מנגד עיניך "e regione oculorum tuorum"
Montanus
Piscator; "a coram oculis tuis"
Drusius
Burkius. ; the Targum
from
before thy Word; as David also said in his distress
Psalm 31:22; not
but that he knew he was in the reach and under the eye of his omniscience
which saw him in the fish's belly
in the depths of the sea
for nothing can
hide from that; but he thought he was no longer under the eye of his
providence; and that he would no more care for him
but leave him in this
forlorn condition
and not deliver him; and especially he concluded that he
would no more look upon him with an eye of love
grace
and mercy
pity and
compassion: these are the words of one in despair
or near unto it; and yet a
beam of light
a ray of hope
breaks in
and a holy resolution is formed
as
follows:
yet I will look again toward thy holy temple; not the
temple at Jerusalem
towards which men used to look when they prayed
being at
a distance from it
1 Kings 8:29;
though there may be an allusion to such a practice; for it can hardly be
thought that Jonah
in the fish's belly
could tell which way the temple stood;
and look towards that; but he looked upwards and heavenwards; he looked up to
God in his holy temple in heaven; and though he was afraid he would not look
down upon him in a way of grace and mercy
he was resolved to look up to God in
the way of prayer and supplication; and particularly
for the further
encouragement of his faith and hope
he looked to the Messiah
the antitype of
the temple
ark
and mercy seat
and for whose sake he might hope his prayers
would be heard and answered.
Jonah 2:5 5 The
waters surrounded me
even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds
were wrapped around my head.
YLT
5Compassed me have waters
unto the soul
The deep doth compass me
The weed is bound to my head.
The waters compassed me about
even to the soul
.... Either
when he was first cast into the sea
which almost suffocated him
and just
ready to take away his life
could not breathe for them
as is the case of a
man drowning; or these were the waters the fish drew into its belly
in such
large quantities
that they compassed him about
even to the endangering of his
life there. So the Targum
"the
waters surrounded me unto death.'
In
this Jonah was a type of Christ in his afflictions and sorrows
which were so
many and heavy
that he is said to be "exceeding sorrowful"
or
surrounded with sorrow
"even unto death"
Matthew 26:38; see
also Psalm 69:1;
the depth closed me round about; the great deep
the
waters of the sea
both when he fell into it
and while in the belly of the
fish: thus also Christ his antitype came into deep waters
where there was no
standing
and where floods of sin
and of ungodly men
and of divine wrath
overflowed him; see Psalm 18:4;
the weeds were wrapped about my head; the sea
weeds
of which there are great quantities in it
which grow at the bottom of
it
to which Jonah came
and from whence he rose up again
before swallowed by
the fish; or these weeds were drawn into the belly of the fish
along with the
water which it took in
and were wrapped about the head of the prophet as he
lay there; or the fish went down with him into the bottom of the sea
and lay
among those weeds; and so they may be said to be wrapped about him
he being
there
as follows. The Targum is
"the
sea of Suph being over my head;'
the
same with the Red sea
which is so called
Psalm 106:9; and
elsewhere
and that from the weeds that were in it; and R. Japhet
as Aben Ezra
observes
says the sea of Suph is mixed with the sea of Joppa; that is
as a learned
manF5Texelius
Phoenix
l. 3. c. 6. p. 242
243
244
228
229.
observes
by means of the river Rhinocorura
through which the lake of Sirbon
mingles with the great sea; and which lake itself is so called from the weeds
in it; yea
was anciently called Suph
and the sea of Suph
or "mare
Scirpeum"
hence Sirbon: and the same writer thinks that the father of
Andromede
said to be devoured by a whale about Joppa
had his name of Cepheus
from hence.
Jonah 2:6 6 I
went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed
behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit
O Lord
my God.
YLT
6To the cuttings of
mountains I have come down
The earth
her bars [are] behind me to the age. And
Thou bringest up from the pit my life
O Jehovah my God.
I went down to the bottom of the mountains
.... Which are
in the midst of the sea
whither the fish carried him
and where the waters are
deep; or the bottom of rocks and promontories on the shore of the sea; and such
vast rocks hanging over the sea
whose bottoms were in it
it seems are on the
shore of Joppa
near to which Jonah was cast into the sea
as EgesippusF6"De
excidio"
Urb. Hieros. l. 3. c. 20. relates:
the earth with her bars was about me for ever; that is
the
earth with its cliffs and rocks on the seashore
which are as bars to the sea
that it cannot overflow it; these were such bars to Jonah
that could he have
got clear of the fish's belly
and attempted to swim to shore
he could never
get to it
or over these bars
the rocks and cliffs
which were so steep and
high:
yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption
O Lord my God;
notwithstanding these difficulties
which were insuperable by human power
and
these seeming impossibilities of
deliverance; yet the Lord brought him out of
the fish's belly
as out of a grave
the pit of corruption
and where he must
otherwise have lain and rotted
and freed his soul from those terrors which
would have destroyed him; and by this also we learn
that this form of words was
composed after he came to dry land: herein likewise he was a type of Christ
who
though laid in the grave
was not left there so long as to see corruption
Psalm 16:10.
Jonah 2:7 7 “When
my soul fainted within me
I remembered the Lord; And my prayer
went up to You
Into Your holy temple.
YLT
7In the feebleness within me
of my soul Jehovah I have remembered
And come in unto Thee doth my prayer
Unto Thy holy temple.
When my soul fainted within me
.... Covered with grief;
overwhelmed with sorrow; ready to faint and sink at the sight of his sins; and
under a sense of the wrath and displeasure of God
and being forsaken by him:
I remembered the Lord; his covenant and
promises
his former mercies and lovingkindness
the gracious experiences he
had had of these in times past; he remembered he was a God gracious and
merciful
and ready to forgive
healed the backslidings of his people
and
still loved them freely
and tenderly received and embraced them
when they
returned to him:
and my prayer came in unto thee
into thine holy temple; into heaven
itself
the habitation of God's holiness
the temple where he dwells
and is
worshipped by holy angels and glorified saints; the prayer the prophet put up
in the fish's belly
encouraged to it by remembering the mercy and goodness of
God
ascended from thence
and reached the ears of the Lord of hosts in the
highest heavens
and met with a kind reception
and had a gracious answer; see Psalm 3:4.
Jonah 2:8 8 “Those
who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.
YLT
8Those observing lying
vanities their own mercy forsake.
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. They that
worship idols
who are nothing
mere vanity and lies
and deceive those that
serve them
these forsake the God of their lives
and of their mercies; and so
do all such who serve divers lusts and pleasures
and pursue the vanities of
this life; and also those who follow the dictates of carnal sense and reason
to the neglect of the will of God
and obedience to his commands; which was
Jonah's case
and is
I think
chiefly intended. The Targum
Syriac version
and so Jarchi
and most interpreters
understand it of worshippers of idols in
general; and Kimchi of the mariners of the ship Jonah had been in; who promised
to relinquish their idols
but did not; and vowed to serve the Lord
and sacrifice
to him
but did not perform what they promised. But I rather think Jonah
reflects upon himself in particular
as well as leaves this as a general
instruction to others; that should they do as he had done
give way to an evil
heart of unbelief
and attend to the suggestions of a vain mind
and consult
with flesh and blood
and be directed thereby
to the disregard of God and his
will; they will find
as he had done to his cost
that they forsake that God
that has been gracious and merciful to them
and who is all goodness and mercy
Psalm 144:3; which
to do is very ungrateful to him
and injurious to themselves; and now he being
sensible of his folly
and influenced by the grace and goodness of God to him
resolves to do as follows:
Jonah 2:9 9 But
I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
YLT
9And I -- with a voice of
thanksgiving -- I sacrifice to Thee
That which I have vowed I complete
Salvation [is] of Jehovah.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving
.... Not only
offer up a legal sacrifice in a ceremonial way
when he came to Jerusalem; but
along with it the spiritual sacrifice of praise
which he knew was more
acceptable unto God; and thus Christ
his antitype
upon his deliverance from
his enemies
Psalm 22:22;
I will pay that I vowed; when he was in distress;
as that he would sacrifice after the above manner
or behave in a better manner
for the future than he had done; and particularly would go to Nineveh
if the
Lord thought fit to send him again:
salvation is of the Lord; this was the ground of
the faith and hope of Jonah when at the worst
and the matter of his present
praise find thanksgiving. There is one letter more in the word rendered
"salvation"F7ישועתה. than usual
which increases the sense; and denotes
that all kind of salvation is of the
Lord
temporal
spiritual
and eternal; not only this salvation from the
devouring waves of the sea
and from the grave of the fish's belly
was of the
Lord; but his deliverance from the terrors of the Lord
and the sense he had of
his wrath
and the peace and pardon he now partook of
were from the Lord
as
well as eternal salvation in the world to come
and the hope of it. All
temporal salvations and deliverances are from the Lord
and to him the glory of
them belongs; and his name should be praised on account of them; which Jonah
resolved to do for himself: and so is spiritual and eternal salvation; it is of
Jehovah the Father
as to the original spring and motive of it
which is his
grace
and not men's works
and is owing to his wisdom
and not men's
for the
plan and form of it; it is of Jehovah the Son
as to the impetration of it
who
only has wrought it out; and it is of Jehovah the Spirit
as to the application
of it to particular persons; and therefore the glory of it belongs to all the
three Persons
and should be given them. This is the epiphonema or conclusion
of the prayer or thanksgiving; which shows that it was
as before observed
put
into this form or order
after the salvation was wrought; though that is
related afterwards
as it is proper it should
and as the order of the
narration required.
Jonah 2:10 10 So
the Lord
spoke to the fish
and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
YLT
10And Jehovah saith to the
fish
and it vomiteth out Jonah on the dry land.
And the Lord spake unto the fish
.... Or gave orders to
it; he that made it could command it; all creatures are the servants of God
and do his will; what he says is done; he so ordered it by his providence
that
this fish should come near the shore
and be so wrought upon by his power
that
it could not retain Jonah any longer in its belly. It may be renderedF8So
ו is sometimes used
and is so rendered
Psal.
lxxviii. 34. Job x. 10. See Noldius
p. 308
309.
"then the Lord
spake"
&c. after Jonah had finished his prayer
or put up those
ejaculations
the substance of which is contained in the above narrative:
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land; not upon the
shore of the Red sea
as some; much less upon the shore of Nineveh
which was
not built upon the seashore
but upon the river Tigris; and the fish must have
carried him all round Africa
and part of Asia
to have brought him to the
banks of the Tigris; which could not have been done in three days' time
nor in
much greater. JosephusF9Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2. says it was
upon the shore of the Euxine sea; but the nearest part of it to Nineveh was one
thousand six hundred miles from Tarsus
which the whale
very slow in swimming
cannot be thought to go in three days; besides
no very large fish swim in the
Euxine sea
because of the straits of the Propontis
through which they cannot
pass
as BochartF11Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 12. col. 744. from
various writers has proved. It is more likely
as others
that it was on the
Syrian shore
or in the bay of Issus
now called the gulf of Lajazzo; or near
Alexandria
or Alexandretta
now Scanderoon. But why not on the shore of
Palestine? and
indeed
why not near the place from whence they sailed? HuetiusF12Demonstr.
Evangel. prop. 4. p. 294. and others think it probable that this case of Jonah
gave rise to the story of Arion
who was cast into the sea by the mariners
took up by a dolphin
and carried to Corinth. Jonah's deliverance was a type of
our Lord's resurrection from the dead on the third day
Matthew 12:40; and
a pledge of ours; for
after this instance of divine power
why should it be
thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead?
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》