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Jonah

About this book
Chapter 2

1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish⁠ 2 and said, “I called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out for help,⁠ and you heard my prayer. 3 You threw me into the deep waters, into the middle of the sea; the ocean current engulfed me; all the mighty waves you sent swept over me.⁠ 4 I thought I had been banished from your sight and that I would never again see your holy temple.⁠ 5 Water engulfed me up to my neck; the deep ocean surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.⁠ 6 I went down to the very bottoms of the mountains; the gates of the netherworld barred me in forever,⁠ but you brought me up from the Pit,⁠ O Lord, my God.⁠ 7 When my life was ebbing away, I called out to the Lord. And my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.⁠ 8 Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.⁠ 9 But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration of praise; I will surely do what I have promised.⁠ Salvation belongs to the Lord!”⁠ 10 Then the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 30:3 and Jonah 2:6

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Jonah describes sinking to the base of the mountains behind the bars of the earth before being raised from the pit. The language echoes Psalm 30’s rescue from Sheol and presents Jonah’s time in the sea creature as a descent to death and return to life.

Passages

Psalm 30:3

Hebrew Bible
1 A psalm, a song used at the dedication of the temple; by David. I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up and did not allow my enemies to gloat over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. 3 O Lord, you pulled me up from Sheol; you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. 4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers of his; give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment, and his good favor restores one’s life. One may experience sorrow during the night, but joy arrives in the morning.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Jonah 2:6

Hebrew Bible
4 I thought I had been banished from your sight and that I would never again see your holy temple. 5 Water engulfed me up to my neck; the deep ocean surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the very bottoms of the mountains; the gates of the netherworld barred me in forever, but you brought me up from the Pit, O Lord, my God. 7 When my life was ebbing away, I called out to the Lord. And my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. 8 Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonah

References

"... Jonah 2:6 brings a major turning point in the song as the psalmist recounts his descent and deliverance. The psalmist describes the lowest point imaginable, again using the metaphorical language of the underworld (compare 2:2), by referring to his descent to the roots of the mountain and to the bars of the earth that had closed around him forever. This imagery depicts the psalmist at death’s door. He could go no lower. This metaphorical descent to the underworld typifies psalms in which mortal distress is depicted by references to Sheol (Psalm 30:3), the pit (88:4; 143:7), or the like. Conveniently, Jonah 2:6 provides the final reference to the verb descend in Jonah, a verb that played a significant role in the narrative flow of Jonah 1:3, 5. Despite significant tensions between the poem and the narrative, the preexisting thanksgiving song also contains several motifs that allow it to function meaningfully within Jonah. The psalmist reaches the point of no return, but YHWH intervenes to deliver him from death. Jonah 2:6b recounts this deliverance as a testimony directed to God (“You brought up my life from the pit”) using a personal epithet (“YHWH my God”) ..."
James Nogalski, The Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Hosea-Jonah (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2011), 431.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 30:3 and Jonah 2:6

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