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Jonathan Jonah

Targum Jonathan to the Prophets

About this book

Jonah’s Prayer

Chapter 2

1 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights. 2 And Jonah prayed before the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.

3 And he said, “In my distress I prayed before the LORD, and He received my prayer. From the lowest depths I pleaded, You acted on my plea. 4 And You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the sea, and the flood surrounded me. All the⁠ sea’s storms and waves passed over me. 5 And I had said, ‘I have been driven out from before Your Word. Yet I will look again at the holy temple.’

6 The waters surrounded me, threatening death. The depths surrounded me. The⁠ Red Sea hung above my head. 7 I went down to the roots of the mountains. The earth closed over me with its strength forever. And You are near. It is in Your power to bring my life up from destruction, LORD my God.

8 When my soul grew faint within me, I remembered worshiping the LORD, and my prayer came before You, to Your holy temple. 9 I am not like the nations that worship idols. They do not know the source of their well-being. 10 And I, with thankful praise, will offer my sacrifices before You. I will fulfill what I pledged. My life is rescued⁠ through prayer before the LORD!”

11 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spat out Jonah onto dry land.

Continue to Jonathan Micah

Texts in conversation

Compare Jonah 2:3 and Jonathan Jonah 2:4

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

In the Hebrew version of Jonah, the prophet is overwhelmed by God’s waves. In the Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan, he is overwhelmed by the sea’s waves, blaming the sea for his near drowning.

Passages

Jonah 2:3

Hebrew Bible
1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish2 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.
539–332 BCE Read in Jonah

Jonathan Jonah 2:4

Targum · Targum Jonathan to the Prophets
2 And Jonah prayed before the LORD his God from the fish’s belly.3 And he said, “In my distress I prayed before the LORD, and He received my prayer. From the lowest depths I pleaded, You acted on my plea.4 And You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the sea, and the flood surrounded me. All the sea’s storms and waves passed over me.5 And I had said, ‘I have been driven out from before Your Word. Yet I will look again at the holy temple.’6 The waters surrounded me, threatening death. The depths surrounded me. The Red Sea hung above my head.
400–500 CE Read in Jonathan Jonah

References

“... It thus inserts ymJ, "sea," and gives third-person (rather than second-person) suffixes to nhswl, "gale," and to gl, "waves." In harking back to a word, nhswl, that was obtrusively used in 1: 13, the Targum not only reminds the reader of the tempestuous scene of chapter 1, but also faults the sea, rather than God, for nearly drowning the prophet; see Levine 1978: 73-74. The change, however, is misguided for, as we shall soon see, the poet is blaming his lack of rapport with God on his hopeless situation (v 5). In acknowledging that alienation from God is the core of Jonah's difficulty, the poet prepares us better for the reversal of fortunes that God alone can bestow (v 7c-d). ...”
Jack M. Sasson, Jonah: A New Translation with Introduction, Commentary, and Interpretation (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 177.

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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Jonah 2:3 and Jonathan Jonah 2:4

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