(9) But I will.—The prophet, however, is not among such. He has sinned, but is still a member of the covenant people, and by sacrifice can be formally restored to that favour which repentance has regained.Salvation is of the Lord.—Or, Deliverance is Jehovah’s. (Comp. Psalms 3:8.) read more
Renewed Confidence Jonah 2:4 The Prophet is a picture of the backslider, of the man who has somehow failed to fulfil his vows of obedience and loyalty to God. Sometimes it is by reason of cowardice when confronted by duty, as in the case of Jonah; or again, by wilful sin when compelled to choice, as in the case of Judas; or yet again by neglect when enjoined by the necessities of the case as well as by the Divine Word to wholeheartedness, as with Peter, that men depart from God. No experience... read more
THE GREAT FISH AND WHAT IT MEANS-THE PSALMJonah 2:1-10AT this point in the tale appears the Great Fish. "And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."After the very natural story which we have followed, this verse obtrudes itself with a shock of unreality and grotesqueness. What an anticlimax! say some; what a clumsy intrusion! So it is if Jonah be taken as an individual. But if we keep in mind that he stands here, not... read more
CHAPTER 2 Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance 1. The prayer (John 2:1-9 ) 2. The deliverance (John 2:10 ) John 2:1-9 . Some expositors have called attention to the fact that the prayer is not one offered up for deliverance, but it is a thanksgiving for the accomplished deliverance. But this is answered by the opening verse of this chapter, in which we are told that he prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. When he found that he had escaped the death he anticipated and that the... read more
A MISGUIDED PATRIOT LEARNS OBEDIENCE There is only one instance of Jonah’s prophesying to his own people of Israel, 2 Kings 14:25 . There he made a prediction concerning the restoration of the coasts of Israel, which was fulfilled in the reign of Jeroboam 2 about 800 B.C., showing that he lived earlier than that date. Of his personal history nothing further is known than what is found in this book. Jonah 1:0 Nineveh (Jonah 1:2 ) was the capital of Assyria, and the reason Jonah sought to... read more
The words of Jonah are very remarkable when he saith, though he was cast out of the Lord's sight, yet he would look again. A plain proof that he had looked before. But what I particularly beg the Reader to notice in Jonah's resolution of looking again is, that he would look towards the Lord's holy temple. Everyone knows that reads the Bible, that this temple was the type of Christ. God in Christ, is, and was, the sum and substance of the whole temple, and of the whole furniture. Hence Jonah,... read more
Mercy. He alludes to the sailors. (Theodoret) --- Hebrew also, "let them forsake their worship," (Drusius, Leviticus xx. 17.) or they are guilty of impiety. They neglect their vows, ver. 10., and chap. i. 16. (Calmet) read more
1-9 Observe when Jonah prayed. When he was in trouble, under the tokens of God's displeasure against him for sin: when we are in affliction we must pray. Being kept alive by miracle, he prayed. A sense of God's good-will to us, notwithstanding our offences, opens the lips in prayer, which were closed with the dread of wrath. Also, where he prayed; in the belly of the fish. No place is amiss for prayer. Men may shut us from communion with one another, but not from communion with God. To whom he... read more
Jonah's Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise. The words, as here recorded, are not a prayer for deliverance, but a thanksgiving to the Lord for the deliverance already effected. From this we see, as Luther also remarks, that the thoughts which Jonah had during his confinement in the belly of the sea-monster were afterwards edited by him to form the powerful hymn of worship which we here have before us. v. 1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord, his God, out of the fish's belly, these thoughts... read more
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John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:1-10
His Prayer of ThanksgivingThis beautiful song of deliverance shows clearly the familiarity of the writer with earlier Psalms. It reflects very plainly the horror inspired by the sea in the minds of an inland people. It is not necessary, on the interpretation adopted, to argue whether or not it is suitable to Jonah’s position. Advocates of the national view of the book think it specially suitable to describe the sorrows of the people when drowning in the deep gulf of exile. If so, the references... read more