Jonah 2 explained: A Prayer from the Deep

Praying inside the fish (vv. 1-2)

Jonah says he called out from Sheol, the Hebrew name for the shadowy place of the dead, because he felt that close to death. Much of his prayer echoes lines from older psalms, as if he reached for familiar words in his crisis.

Thrown into the sea (vv. 3-4)

The sailors threw him overboard, but Jonah sees God's hand behind the storm and waves. He had run from God's presence, and now feeling cut off from it frightens him most, yet he still turns toward the temple in Jerusalem, where his people directed their prayers.

Sinking to the bottom (vv. 5-6)

Seaweed around his head and the roots of the mountains picture him sinking beyond hope, with the earth shut behind him like a barred gate. Then the turn comes: God brought his life up from the pit, which many readers take to mean the fish itself was the rescue.

Remembering God (v. 7)

As his life was slipping away, Jonah remembered the LORD. He pictures his prayer reaching God's temple, as if already heard.

Idols and a promise (vv. 8-9)

Jonah contrasts people who cling to useless idols, and so turn away from the steady love God offers, with himself, who promises sacrifice and kept vows. His last line, that rescue comes from the LORD, sums up the prayer.

Back on dry land (v. 10)

At God's command the fish spits Jonah out, probably on the coast of Israel, though the text does not say where. Christians later read his three days in the fish as a picture of Jesus' death and rising, since Jesus spoke of 'the sign of Jonah.'

Key verse: Jonah 2:9

Where Christians differ

Readers differ on whether this prayer shows a real change of heart in Jonah or mainly grateful relief, since he never mentions his own running away and later resents God's mercy to others.

Something to think about

Jonah gives thanks for his rescue but never mentions how he ended up in the sea; can a person be truly grateful without facing their own part in the trouble?