1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, "I called to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice. 3 For thou didst cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all thy waves and thy billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, 'I am cast out from thy presence; how shall I again look upon thy holy temple?' 5 The waters closed in over me, the deep was round about me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet thou didst bring up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to thee, into thy holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their true loyalty. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to thee; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the LORD!" 10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Commentary on Jonah 2
2:2 belly of Sheol: Jonah fulfilled a type of our Savior when he prayed from the belly of the fish and said, ‘I cried for help from the belly of Hell.’ He was in fact in the whale, yet he says that he is in Hell. For he manifestly prophesies in the Person of Christ. For he typified Christ, who went down into the heart of the earth Mt. 12:40. (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
2:8 my life from the Pit: When this purgative contemplation oppresses a man, he feels very vividly indeed the shadow of death, the sighs of death, and the sorrows of Hell, all of which reflect the feeling of God’s absence, of being chastised and
rejected by Him, and of being unworthy of Him, as well as the
object of His anger. The soul experiences all this and even |
more, for now it seems that this affliction will last forever. (St. John of the Cross)
2:9 I will pay: And promising these things, the blessed Jonah fulfilled them and transmitted them all in writing, so that not only the people of that time might learn about the events which happened to him, but also the ones who came after him. The blessed David has made a written record of his sin, proclaiming the mercy of God and indicating the cure for sinners by repentance. So also the revered Jonah has written down in a narrative his flight, the punishment which was laid upon him, and the salvation freely granted. (Theodoret of Cyrus) |
|
|