College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Jonah 2:1-6
GOD'S MESSENGER RUNNING TO GODTHE PRAYER OF JONAH
TEXT: Jonah 2:1-6
1
Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish's belly.
2
And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And thou heardest my voice.
3
For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
4
And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head.
6
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever; Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.
QUERIES
a.
How could Jonah pray while in the belly of the fish?
b.
Where is Sheol?
c.
What does Jonah mean by the bottoms of the mountains?
PARAPHRASE
Then Jonah turned his heart and mind to the Lord his God and prayed from his heart in the belly of this great fish. He prayed, It was my affliction which caused me to call upon the Lord, and the Lord heard me! When I was in the embrace of death and the very grave itself I cried unto the Lord and You, O Lord, heard my plea. You cast me down into the very depths of the sea and I was surrounded by the waters. The raging waves and billows you sent to arrest me, Lord, passed over me. Then I realized that I had been banished from Your protecting love and care because of my sin; yet in faith I look forward to the hope that I would once again come into Your presence to worship You in Your holy temple. Yes, I was so sure that the sea was my grave that I despaired even in my soul. I sank beneath the waves and death was very near. The waters closed above me; the seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank to the very bottom of the sea where the foundations of the mountains are found. The way back to the earth was barred to me as a door of escape is bolted; yes, O Lord, My God, you rescued my life and brought me up from the very grave itself!
SUMMARY
Jonah's soul was sorrowful even unto death (cf. Matthew 26:38) and he despaired even of life itself (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:8). He was so close to death that he considered himself actually dead. Yet the Lord delivered him back to life.
COMMENT
According to the destructive higher critics of the Old Testament this book we know as the book of Jonah was written by an unknown composer who took legends and mythological fairy-tales and formed it into the present book of Jonah. In the course of time this composition is supposed to have received certain changes, the most notable of which was the inclusion of the thanksgiving song (Jonah 2:3-10) with Jonah 2:2 as an introduction to this song. Those who believe that chapter 2 contains a psalm from a different source than the rest of the book of Jonah give the following arguments:
a.
In Jonah 2:1 it is said that Jonah prayed, but what actually follows is not a prayer but a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance. And furthermore, they say, this psalm which suggests its connection with Jonah's experiences. One critic was sure that Jonah 2:5 excluded the idea that Jonah was in the fish's belly, because weeds do not grow in a whale's belly.
b.
The critics say, lastly, that the text reads smoothly without this psalm, if Jonah 2:10 be placed immediately after Jonah 2:1, this proves it is not a part of the original.
Dr. Edward J. Young, in Introduction To The Old Testament, pp. 280-282, gives a conclusive defense of the unity of the book of Jonah. We include here his defense of chapter 2:
a.
In the first place, if Jonah 2:2-9 be removed from the book of Jonah, the symmetry of the book is most certainly destroyed.
b.
There is no conflict between the statement that Jonah prayed, and a psalm of thanksgivingfor is not thanksgiving of the very essence of prayer??
c.
Of course weeds do not grow in whale's bellies, but this is not a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance from a whale's belly, but of deliverance from drowning in the depths of the sea.
d.
The prayer does not take place before the deliverance when we realize Jonah was saved when he was swallowed by the great fish and that his prayer was made then.
e.
That there is nothing in the psalm which connects it with Jonah's experience is so absurd as to merit no answer!
There are some who explain the prayer as simply a fragmented collection of the book of Psalms interpolated here in Jonah's book by an unknown redactor (editor). Moeller makes the following comparisons:
Psalm
Psalms 18:17; Psalms 30:4; Psalms 103:4
Psalms 142:4; Psalms 143:4; Psalms 18:7; Psalms 5:8
Psalms 88:3; Psalms 31:7; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 50:14; Psalms 50:23; Psalms 42:5; Psalms 116:17
This is no evidence, whatsoever, for an unknown redactor interpolating excerpts from the book of Psalms into the book of Jonah. It is evidence that Jonah, the prophet of God, was a student of the Hebrew Scriptures and had written the word of God upon his heart and when in extreme circumstances was able to lift himself up by having hidden this Word of God in his heart.
Jonah 2:1-2 THEN JONAH PRAYED. I CALLED BY REASON OF MINE APPLICATION UNTO JEHOVAH. AND HE ANSWERED ME. It was because of his affliction that Jonah was led to cry unto God. This is the purpose of chastening. Our Heavenly Father knows that we have need of chastening and of endurance (cf. Hebrews 10:32-39; Hebrews 12:3-11). We should rejoice when it comes (cf. James 1:2-4). It is a school wherein we are trained (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:3-11). It is only when we see our own helplessness and hopelessness that we are able to turn to God (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). It is when we are made weak that we become strong (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). The salvation of Jonah was the affliction the Lord placed upon him.
Prayer is an act of worship which covers all the attitudes of the soul in its approach to God. Some think there are certain postures necessary for prayer but the Bible shows by example that men may pray in any posture; kneeling (1 Kings 8:54; Ezra 9:5); standing (Nehemiah 9:5; Luke 18:13); bowing down upon the earth with face between the knees (1 Kings 18:42); lying in a sick bed and turning the face to the wall (2 Kings 20:2); falling prostrate upon the ground (Matthew 26:39); walking along or standing in public (John 11:41-42; John 12:28). Prayer is more an attitude than it is a formula or a ritual. Jonah could easily have prayed in the belly of the great fish without even opening his mouth. We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and the only way this can be done is to be in an attitude of praise, thanksgiving, supplication and dependence upon God at all times whether, silent or aloud, whether lying down, sitting up or standing, wherever we may be.
Sheol is the Hebrew word usually translated in the Old Testament hell. It is also translated pit or grave. The context helps to determine the best translation. The etymology is uncertain. It may have been derived from a root word meaning a hollow place, Sheol means underworld, or nether-world, and is equivalent to Hades in the New Testament. In fact, the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, uses the word Hades in Jonah 2:2. Jonah cried out from the very grave!
Jonah 2:3-4. THOU DIDST CAST ME INTO THE DEPTH. THE FLOOD WAS ROUND ABOUT ME. I AM CAST OUT FROM BEFORE THINE EYES; YET I WILL LOOK AGAIN TOWARD THY HOLY TEMPLE. Jonah was as good as dead! He had resigned himself to it! As far as he was concerned there was no possibility of saving himself. And this is exactly where God wanted him! One of the great paradoxes of God is that we must die before we can live (cf. John 12:20-26).
Jonah had first to realize his estrangement from the Father before he could in all humility and dependent faith turn to the Father for help. Jonah, the Prodigal, recognized this when he said, I am cast out from before thine eyes. But then Jonah's heart turned to God's Word for its great and exceeding precious promises and in faith cried out that he would, God willing, be restored to the presence of Jehovah.
Jonah 2:5-6 THE WATERS COMPASSED ME ABOUT, EVEN TO THE SOUL. THE WEEDS WERE WRAPPED ABOUT MY HEAD. BOTTOMS OF THE MOUNTAINS. EARTH. BARS CLOSED UPON ME. YET HAST THOU BROUGHT UP MY LIFE FROM THE PIT. The weeds are probably the reeds and grass, the vegetation on the very bottom of the sea. Jonah was down as far as one could go! The word translated bottoms is from a verb which means to cut off, or to shear. It signifies the extreme end. Jonah was at the very bottom of the sea where it seems as if the very foundations of the earth are to be found. That he lived through this experience is indeed a miracle when one considers the short time it takes to drown and the death that can come from extreme pressures of the oceanic depths. The bars of the earth had clanged into place and he would not be permitted access there now. Jonah thought of the earth as a walled city with its gate shut and locked with a bar, preventing him from ever again entering. From all outward appearances, and as far as he could determine, he would never again see the earth.
Yet the Lord did bring up his life. He was resurrected from the gravesaved out from death, Thus he became a sign to his generation and a type of the Messiah Who was a Sign to His generation and all generations. We shall deal more with Jonah's typical relation to the Messiah later.
QUIZ
1.
Show that chapter 2 is not an interpolation by an unknown editor.
2.
Why is it possible that Jonah's words may be quotations of the Psalms?
3.
What purpose does affliction serve?
4.
What is Sheol?
5.
How extreme was the condition of Jonah in the sea?