Jonah, told to go east to Nineveh, has instead fled west into the Mediterranean, where he has been tossed overboard in the midst of a storm. There God provides a great fish to save Jonah. Jonah is in the belly of the fish for three days.
Jonah 2:1-3, Into the deep
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me.
In the depth of the sea and in the depth of the fish, Jonah prays. Surely this is a prayer that is recited later -- it is elegant and poetic, with little of the panicky despair of a drowning man. It includes many poetic phrases common to the psalms. (Verse 2 is similar to Psalm 30:3; verses 3 and 5 cry out in words similar to those of Psalm 18:4-5.)
The Hebrew in verse 2, translated here "from the depths of the grave" is more literally "from the belly of Sheol". From the belly of Sheol, Jonah was transferred into the belly of the fish, and for that he is grateful.
Jonah 2:4-6, Wrapped in seaweed
I said, `I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.
Jonah recalls an event much worse than being in the fish -- the panic of being wrapped in seaweed in the depths, at the "roots" of the mountains.
Salvation from death and the pit is a common theme in the psalms, see Psalm 49:15, Psalm 56:13 and Psalm 103:4 for example.
Jonah 2:7-9, Prayer rising to You
"When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
Jonah's last thoughts are to "remember" YHWH, offering prayers towards His temple, possibly with a promise or hope to later offer sacrifices. Even deep in the ocean, Jonah is very much a Jew, still very aware of his charge -- as he begs for help, he condemns worshiping worthless fake gods. In his very act of dying, he will pray to the True God.
The "grace" forfeited in verse 8 is my favorite Hebrew word hesed.
Jonah 2:10, Dry land
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
The chapter ends, after Jonah's song of praise, with Jonah vomited onto a beach. It does not take much thoughtful reading to recognize that this chapter, often portrayed as a cute Vacation Bible School story told to children, is really a frightening, messy bit of horror.
The text gives us no clues as to the geographical location of Jonah (and the fish's vomit) at the end of this chapter. Despite this, many Jewish and Christian commentators have come up with imaginative suggestions. According to some, the fish vomited Jonah onto dry land close to Nineveh, magically saving him the long trek (a thousand miles) from the Mediterranean shoreline to Nineveh. That type of speculation merely displays a certain creative romance with the story "Jonah and the Whale" and ignores the prophetic message of the ancient Hebrew text.
First published July 9, 2025; updated July 9, 2025
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