Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryJonah 2

Jonah prayed. The prayer describes the experience of Jonah while in the body of the fish. It acknowledges deliverance as an accomplished fact. The passages that speak of answered prayer and of deliverance are probably expressions of Jonah’s strong faith in deliverance and of the divine assurance that may have been given him that his life was to be spared. In Jonah’s prayer there are allusions to certain psalms. Most modern scholars assign to these psalms a postexilic date; accordingly they have given a postexilic date to the book of Jonah. However, those who hold to a pre-exilic authorship of these psalms (see the introductions to the psalms concerned; also Vol. III, p. 617) find no difficulty in dating the book of Jonah in or before the time of Jeroboam II (see p. 995), when, according to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah lived. The allusions show that Jonah, as a devout Israelite, was familiar with the wording of the psalms. Whenever they are in need the children of God have the precious privilege of appealing to Him for help. It matters not how unsuitable the place may be, God’s ear of

mercy is open to their cry. However desolate and dark the place may be, it can be turned into a veritable temple by the praying child of God.

By reason of mine affliction. Or, “out of my affliction.” Compare the psalmist’s cry (Ps. 18:6; 120:1). Like the prodigal son (Luke 15:17), Jonah, in his miserable and desperate condition, was brought “to himself,” to the recognition of his utter helplessness, to his folly in rebelling against the will of God, and to his need of divine deliverance. He heard me. Compare Ps. 50:15; 107:6. Hell. Heb. she’ol, the figurative dwelling place of the dead (see on Prov. 15:11). Thou heardest. See on v. 1.

Hadst cast. Or, “didst cast.” Into the deep. Jonah is giving a vivid poetic description of his harrowing experience. Thy billows. Compare Ps. 42:7; 88:6, 7

I said. Compare Ps. 31:22. Yet I will look. The LXX puts this in the form of a question, “Shall I indeed look again toward thy holy temple?” A change in vowel pointing yields the same reading in the Hebrew. The question seems preferable inasmuch as the context indicates that at this point hope had not yet established itself. Toward thy holy temple. Compare 1 Kings 8:30; Ps. 18:6; 28:2; Dan. 6:10.

Soul. Heb. nephesh, here perhaps used in the sense of “life” (see on Ps. 16:10). That is, the waters compassed him almost to the point of taking his life (cf. Ps. 69:1, 2). Weeds were wrapped. It is doubtful that the highly poetic language here should be interpreted so literally. Jonah is describing the fate of one consigned to the depths, and thus with dramatic vividness pictures him adorned with a turban of seaweeds.

The bottoms. Literally, “the cuttings off,” probably meaning the foundations. Earth. Heb. ’ereṣ, which is translated “land” more often than “earth.” Jonah may here be designating the land of she’ol (see on v. 2), which closes its bars around those who enter there. To him it appeared that he would be there “for ever.” This does not imply that Jonah did not believe in a future resurrection. The word here translated “for ever,” le‘olam, denotes time extended into the indefinite future. Sometimes it means eternity; at other times the duration is limited by circumstances (see on Ex. 21:6). The LXX attaches le‘olam to “bars,” “I went down into the earth, whose bars are the everlasting barriers.” Corruption. Heb. shachath, “pit,” often used synonymously with she’ol to represent the realm of the dead (see on Prov. 15:11).

Lying vanities. Jonah contrasts his happy experience with the fate of those who worship idols (see Ps. 31:6). Mercy. Heb. chesed (see Additional Note on Psalm 36). According to some, Jonah refers to the one true God Himself; according to others, he refers to God’s works of goodness and loving-kindness, which He reveals to all men (see Ps. 145:8, 9; Isa. 55:3; Acts 14:15–17).

Sacrifice. See Ps. 50:14; Eccl. 5:4, 5. Salvation. Compare Ps. 3:8; Rev. 7:10.

Spake. God is in control of the creatures He has made. The knowledge of this fundamental fact fortifies against false theories of God, which either make Him subject to

natural law or make Him an inseparable, inescapable part of nature itself. The scriptural conception of God is that He is nature’s Creator, the One who, apart from it, directs and sustains the universe, the One who is over all things (see Job 38; 39; Ps. 19; Col. 1:12– 17; Rev. 14:7).