“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
Parallel Translations
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“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
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When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
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(2-8) When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thy holy temple.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Jonah 2:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
- 2 Chronicles 30:27 Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.
- 1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
- Psalms 11:4 Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
- Psalms 143:5 I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.
- Psalms 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
- Psalms 77:10-11 Then I thought, “I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.
- Psalms 42:11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
- Psalms 65:4 Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near, that he may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
- Lamentations 3:21-26 This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.” Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
- 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
- Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
- Psalms 42:5 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
- Psalms 43:5 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.
- Psalms 119:81-83 My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word. My eyes fail for your word. I say, “When will you comfort me?” For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.
- Isaiah 50:10 Who among you fears Yahweh and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
- Jonah 2:4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
- Micah 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
- Habakkuk 2:20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
- Hebrews 12:3 For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here Jonah comprehends in one verse what he had…
Here Jonah comprehends in one verse what he had previously said, — that he had been distressed with the heaviest troubles, but that he had not yet been so cast down in his mind, as that he had no prospect of God’s favor to encourage him to pray. He indeed first confesses that he had suffered some kind of fainting, and that he had been harassed by anxious and perplexing thoughts, so as not to be able by his own efforts to disengage himself.
As to the word עטף, otheph, it means in Hebrew to hide, to cover; but in Niphal and Hithpael (in which conjugation it is found here) it signifies to fail: but its former meaning might still be suitably retained here; then it would be, ‘My soul hid or rolled up itself,’ as it is in Psalm 102:1, ‘The prayer of the afflicted, when he rolled up himself in his distress.’ They who render it, he multiplied prayers, have no reason to support them. I therefore doubt not but that Jonah here means, either that he had been overcome by a swoon, or that he had been so perplexed as not to be able without a violent struggle to raise up his mind to God. However it may have been, he intended by this word to express the anxiety of his mind. While then we are tossed about by divers thoughts, and remain, as it were, bound up in a hopeless condition, then our soul may be said to roll or to fold up itself within us. When therefore the soul rolls up itself, all the thoughts of man in perplexity recoil on himself. We may indeed seek to disburden ourselves while we toss about various purposes, but whatever we strive to turn away from us, soon comes back on our own head; thus our soul recoils upon us. We now perceive what Jonah meant by this clause, When my soul infolded itself, or failed within me, I remembered, he says, Jehovah. We hence learn that Jonah became not a conqueror without the greatest difficulties, not until his soul, as we have said, had fainted: this is one thing. Then we learn, also, that he was not so oppressed with distresses but that he at length sought God by prayer. Jonah therefore retained this truth, that God was to be sought, however severely and sharply he treated him for a time; for the remembering, of which he speaks, proceeded from faith. The ungodly also remember Jehovah, but they dread him, for they look on him as a judge; and whenever a mention is made of God, they expect nothing but destruction: but Jonah applied the remembrance of God to another purpose, even as a solace to ease his cares and his anxieties.
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For it immediately follows, that his prayer had penetrated unto God, or entered before him. We then see that Jonah so remembered his God, that by faith he knew that he would be propitious to him; and hence was his disposition to pray. But by saying that his prayer entered into his temple, he no doubt alludes to a custom under the law; for the Jews were wont to turn themselves towards the temple whenever they prayed: nor was this a superstitious ceremony; for we know that they were instructed in the doctrine which invited them to the sanctuary and the ark of the covenant. Since then this was the custom under the law, Jonah says that his prayer entered into the temple of God; for that was a visible symbol, through which the Jews might understand that God was near to them; not that they by a false imagination bound God to external signs, but because they knew that these helps Had not in vain been given to them. So then Jonah not only remembered his God, but called also to mind the signs and symbols in which he had exercised his faith, as we have just said through the whole course of his life; for they who view him as referring to heaven, depart wholly from what the Prophet meant. We indeed know that the temple sometimes means heaven; but this sense suits not this place. Then Jonah meant that though he was far away from the temple, God was yet near to him; for he had not ceased to pray to that God who had revealed himself by the law which he gave, and who had expressed his will to be worshipped at Jerusalem, and also had been pleased to appoint the ark as the symbol of his presence, that the Jews might, with an assured faith, call upon him, and that they might not doubt but that he dwelt in the midst of them, inasmuch as he had there his visible habitation.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I…
Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
Ver. 7. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord] And could say, as the Church in Isa 63:16, when at lowest, "Doubtless thou art our father, our redeemer, thy name is from everlasting." As there is in the creatures an instinct of nature to do after their kind; so there. is of grace in the saints to run to God. "Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early," Isa 26:8-9. "O Lord," saith Habakkuk, Hab 1:12, "art not thou from everlasting my God, and mine Holy One?" It was a bold question, but God approves and assents to it in a gracious answer ere they went farther: "We shall not die" (say they abruptly), "O Lord, thou hast ordained them" (the Chaldeans) "for judgment"; but us only for chastisement. Here was the triumph of their faith, and this was that which held up Jonah’s hope, though with wonderful difficulty, held head above water. He remembered "the years of the right hand of the Most High," Psa 77:10; he called to mind his songs in the night season, Jon 2:6, his former experience, a just ground of his present confidence. He remembered the Lord, his power and goodness, those two pillars, the Jachin and the Boaz, that support faith; and this fetched him again when ready to faint. "I had even fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," Psa 27:13.
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And my prayer came in unto thee] q.d. Though I was so faint I could scarcely utter a prayer, yet thou hearkenedst and heardest, as Mal 3:16; thou madest hard shift to hear (as I may say); thine ears were in my prayers, as St Peter hath it, 1Pe 3:12; thou feltest my breathing, when no voice could be heard, Lam 3:56; thou heldest not "thy peace at my tears," Psa 39:12, quando fletu agerem non afflatu; yea, thou heardest the voice of mine affliction, Gen 16:11.
Into thine holy temple] Whether we take it to be the temple at Jerusalem (a type of Christ), Jonah’s prayer was accepted for Christ’s sake; and proved to no less purpose, though made in the whale’s belly, than if he had been pouring it out in God’s holy temple. Or if we understand it to be heaven, the habitation of God’s holiness, and of his glory, his prayers were come up thither for a memorial before the Almighty, Act 10:4, and like pillars of incense pierced into his presence, Son 3:6, neither would they away without their errand, but lay at God’s feet till he should command deliverance out of Zion.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain When, so soon as, and so often as,
When, so soon as, and so often as,
my soul fainted within me, my heart was perplexed with variety of fears, sorrows, temptations, and difficulties; whenever I did forecast, and devise what way I might likely escape out of this forlorn condition, I was dispirited, my heart sunk within me, Psa 22:14; 42:4; and I had fainted if I had not remembered the mighty, faithful, wise, and gracious God, who could save me, and on whose mercy I relied, who had promised the best of two deliverances, the eternal, whatever he did with me as to the temporal deliverance.
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I remembered the Lord, with faith and prayer, for it is not a bare recalling of God to his mind, but a recalling his mercy and promise to his mind.
And my prayer, made in the fish’s belly, in his prison more dismal than ever was that of Manasseh, came in unto thee; did enter the ears of the Lord, he heard and readily answered.
Into thine holy temple; typically the temple at Jerusalem, to which Jonah looked; but principally heaven, the temple of his glory, whence God gives the command for his delivery, orders the gaoler to set him safe on shore.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.…
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. They that worship idols, who are nothing, mere vanity and lies, and deceive those that serve them, these forsake the God of their lives, and of their mercies; and so do all such who serve divers lusts and pleasures, and pursue the vanities of this life; and also those who follow the dictates of carnal sense and reason, to the neglect of the will of God, and obedience to his commands; which was Jonah's case, and is, I think, chiefly intended. The Targum, Syriac version, and so Jarchi, and most interpreters, understand it of worshippers of idols in general; and Kimchi of the mariners of the ship Jonah had been in; who promised to relinquish their idols, but did not; and vowed to serve the Lord, and sacrifice to him, but did not perform what they promised. But I rather think Jonah reflects upon himself in particular, as well as leaves this as a general instruction to others; that should they do as he had done, give way to an evil heart of unbelief, and attend to the suggestions of a vain mind, and consult with flesh and blood, and be directed thereby, to the disregard of God and his will; they will find, as he had done to his cost, that they forsake that God that has been gracious and merciful to them, and who is all goodness and mercy, Psa 144:3; which to do is very ungrateful to him, and injurious to themselves; and now he being sensible of his folly, and influenced by the grace and goodness of God to him, resolves to do as follows:
; which to do is very ungrateful to him, and injurious to themselves; and now he being sensible of his folly, and influenced by the grace and goodness of God to him, resolves to do as follows:
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Jonah 2:9
jon 2:9
jon 2:9
jon 2:9But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving,.... Not only offer up a legal sacrifice in a ceremonial way, when he came to Jerusalem; but along with it the spiritual sacrifice of praise, which he knew was more acceptable unto God; and thus Christ, his antitype, upon his deliverance from his enemies, Psa 22:22;
I will pay that I vowed; when he was in distress; as that he would sacrifice after the above manner, or behave in a better manner for the future than he had done; and particularly would go to Nineveh, if the Lord thought fit to send him again:
salvation is of the Lord; this was the ground of the faith and hope of Jonah when at the worst, and the matter of his present praise find thanksgiving. There is one letter more in the word rendered "salvation" (g) than usual, which increases the sense; and denotes, that all kind of salvation is of the Lord, temporal, spiritual, and eternal; not only this salvation from the devouring waves of the sea, and from the grave of the fish's belly, was of the Lord; but his deliverance from the terrors of the Lord, and the sense he had of his wrath, and the peace and pardon he now partook of, were from the Lord, as well as eternal salvation in the world to come, and the hope of it. All temporal salvations and deliverances are from the Lord, and to him the glory of them belongs; and his name should be praised on account of them; which Jonah resolved to do for himself: and so is spiritual and eternal salvation; it is of Jehovah the Father, as to the original spring and motive of it, which is his grace, and not men's works, and is owing to his wisdom, and not men's, for the plan and form of it; it is of Jehovah the Son, as to the impetration of it, who only has wrought it out; and it is of Jehovah the Spirit, as to the application of it to particular persons; and therefore the glory of it belongs to all the three Persons, and should be given them. This is the epiphonema or conclusion of the prayer or thanksgiving; which shows that it was, as before observed, put into this form or order, after the salvation was wrought; though that is related afterwards, as it is proper it should, and as the order of the narration required.
(g)
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thine holy temple - Heaven, the temple of his…
Thine holy temple - Heaven, the temple of his glory, whence God gives the command for his delivery.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. When my soul fainted] When I had…
Verse 7. When my soul fainted] When I had given up all hope of life.
My prayer came in unto thee] Here prayer is personified, and is represented as a messenger going from the distressed, and entering into the temple of God, and standing before him. This is a very fine and delicate image. This clause is one of those which I suppose the prophet to have added when he penned this prayer.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain When my sold fainted - , literally “was covered,…
When my sold fainted - , literally “was covered, within me,” was dizzied, overwhelmed. The word is used of actual faintness from heat, Jon 4:8. thirst, Amo 8:13. exhaustion, Isa 51:20. when a film comes over the eyes, and the brain is, as it were, mantled over. The soul of the pious never is so full of God, as when all things else fade from him. Jonah could not but have remembered God in the tempest; when the lots were east; when he adjudged himself to be east forth. But when it came to the utmost, then he says, “I remembered the Lord,” as though, in the intense thought of God then, all his former thought of God had been forgetfulness. So it is in every strong act of faith, of love, of prayer; its former state seems unworthy of the name of faith, love, prayer. It believes, loves, prays, as though all before had been forgetfulness.
And my prayer came in unto Thee - No sooner had he so prayed, than God heard. Jonah had thought himself cast out of His sight; but his prayer entered in there. “His holy temple” is doubtless His actual temple, toward which he prayed. God, Who is wholly everywhere but the whole of Him nowhere, was as much in the temple as in heaven; and He had manifested Himself to Israel in their degree in the temple, as to the blessed saints and angels in heaven.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Lowest. Hebrew and Septuagint, "clefts." --- Bars, or prisons,…
Lowest. Hebrew and Septuagint, "clefts." --- Bars, or prisons, in the abyss, (Calmet) farthest from the heights. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain soul fainted . . . I remembered the Lord--beautifully…
soul fainted . . . I remembered the Lord--beautifully exemplifying the triumph of spirit over flesh, of faith over sense (; ). For a time troubles shut out hope; but faith revived when Jonah "remembered the Lord," what a gracious God He is, and how now He still preserves his life and consciousness in his dark prison-house.
into thine holy temple--the temple at Jerusalem (). As there he looks in believing prayer towards it, so here he regards his prayer as already heard.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. fainted] Lit., covered itself; with reference to the…
7. fainted] Lit., covered itself; with reference to the film and darkness that comes over eye and mind in fainting and exhaustion. Comp. Psa_142:3; Psa_107:5, where the same Heb. word occurs.
thine holy temple] at Jerusalem, as in Jon_2:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Fainted.—Literally, covered itself. Comp. Jon_4:8. (See Psa_61:2; Psa_142:3;…
(7) Fainted.—Literally, covered itself. Comp. Jon_4:8. (See Psa_61:2; Psa_142:3; Psa_143:4, where the same Hebrew word is rendered overwhelmed. Comp. Psa_107:5.) Here, apparently, we are to think of the blinding mist of death slowly stealing over sight and sense.
Into thine holy temple.—See Jon_2:4, and comp. Psa_18:6.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain His prayer was heard. When my soul fainted within…
His prayer was heard. When my soul fainted within me; literally, was covered referring, says Pusey, to that physical exhaustion when a film comes over the eyes, and the brain is mantled over. The clause is from Psa_142:3 or Psa_143:4. I remembered the Lord. That was his salvation. (Psa_119:55) He turned in thought to thine holy temple (ver. 4), the sanctuary where God"s presence was most assured, like the psalmist in the wilderness. (Psa_63:2) or like the exiles by the waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion. (Ps 137)
Remembering the Lord.
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The circumstances in which Jonah was placed were such as give very peculiar value and interest to this declaration. And it appears that this act of recollection was the turning point in his experience; for hitherto his troubles had increased, whilst henceforth his prospects began to brighten.
I THE OCCASION OF THIS REMEMBRANCE.
1. External adversity may have prompted him to a kind of remembrance which in his prosperity he had not cultivated.
2. Mental exhaustion and distress caused him to realize his helplessness, and the vanity of expecting human aid. When his "soul fainted within" him, then he called to mind the God whom he had disobeyed.
II THE CHARACTER OF THIS REMEMBRANCE.
1. Jonah, no doubt, remembered God"s commands and his own rebellion.
2. He must also have remembered the revelation of Divine mercy which had been vouchsafed him. And whilst the former recollection must have awakened penitence, this may well have shed into his soul a ray of hope.
III THE FRUIT OF THIS REMEMBRANCE.
1. It prompted to prayer: They who forget God will not call upon God; but they who remember his promises may well lift up their hearts to him.
2. It was thus the means of securing the Divine regard and the Divine deliverance. God heard the prophet"s cry, though uttered from the ocean"s depths, and when he heard, he came to the rescue of his servant, "The Lord is mindful of his own." We may for a time forget his faithfulness, but when we call to mind his nearness and his grace, he remembers us even in our low estate.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND Ver. 7. The prophet"s prayer.
The contrast which Jonah depicts between his own conduct and that of the heathen with whom he came in contact is very unfavourable to himself. He appears as a coward fleeing from his duty, and cruel enough to prefer that the Ninevites should be destroyed rather than that his accuracy should be impugned. But the idolatrous sailors prayed in the storm as best they could, and they were humane enough to try to save him, even after they had been told to cast him overboard. (Jon_1:13) It is not only noteworthy that Jonah wrote thus, but also that a book which compared a Jew so disadvantageously with the heathen should have been preserved by the Jewish people, who were notoriously proud and bigoted. Describe the event narrated in the preceding chapter. Point out the use our Lord made of it to typify his own death and resurrection. Pass on to apply the prophet"s experience to what is represented by it among ourselves.
I THE NEGLECT OF APPOINTED SERVICE IS A SIN. The command given to Jonah was plain enough, but he wilfully disobeyed it. Some of the excuses he may have made to conscience may be profitably suggested.
1. I have already done my share of service; let another undertake this. " He had faithfully conveyed his message to King Amaziah, and had doubtless proved his fidelity on other occasions, but he shrank from this new summons from God. Past service does not relieve us of present responsibilities. The indolence or the failure of others will not justify us in ignoring duty.
2. It is useless to preach to the Ninevites; they would laugh me to scorn. " Ignorant of the true God as they were, it certainly was hardly to be expected that they would humble themselves before him at the bidding of a stranger preaching in their streets. Yet often those we deem to be the most hopeless are the most ready to listen. Even if they were not, it is at our peril that we refuse to obey a God-given impulse to speak to them.
3. These Ninevites are the foes of my country; let one of their own citizens be raised up to warn them. " National hostility and personal prejudice have done much to hinder God"s work in all ages.
II SUCH SIN IN GOD"S PEOPLE IS FOLLOWED BY CHASTISEMENT.
1. Chastisement does not always follow sin. Sometimes it precedes and prevents it. Paul"s thorn in the flesh was sent, not because he was exalted above measure, but lest he should be. But often an affliction is intended to bring a sinner to a right state of mind about sin already committed.
2. Chastisement gives us time to think. Jonah acted on impulse, and hurriedly fled to Joppa. When cast into the sea he imagined that all was over with him; but when he was miraculously preserved he had opportunity to reflect on his own wrong doing and on God"s marvellous mercy. So the ill health which prevents work, the family affliction which keeps us within doors, the failure which sets us free from an accustomed sphere, give us time to think of neglected duties and to recover strength by prayer.
3. In chastisement God is near. Jonah felt that he was not beyond Divine help. "My prayer came in unto thee." Compare Peter in prison, and Paul in the storm, and John in Patmos, and Bunyan in jail. Listen to the words of Bradford, "I thank God more of this prison and of this dark dungeon than of any parlour, yea, than of any pleasure ever I had; for in it I find God, my sweet God always." Jonah was cast out as Adam was from Paradise, and as Job was from his home, that he might learn, through prayer, to suffer and be strong.
III CHASTISEMENT, RIGHTLY RECEIVED, BRINGS ABOUT REPENTANCE.
1. In order to this it was necessary for Jonah to recognize God"s hand in this event. He felt it was not the result of chance nor of human action. Hence he does not say, "The sailors cast me into the deep," but "thou" (ver. 3); nor does he speak of "the waves and billows of the sea," but thy billows and thy waves" (ver. 3). We too must learn to look beyond second causes, such as an unfortunate step or a man"s injustice, and see God as the Disposer of all events.
2. This thought led Jonah to true repentence. He did not despair, although there seemed no hope of deliverance. He did not pray to be delivered from danger, but earnestly thanks God for his rescue from the sea, and praised him in the belly of the whale that he had been so good and merciful. The reality of his repentance was shown in this, that he gratefully and bravely did the work he had formerly refused. His vow made in trouble was faithfully kept. Pliny advised one who wished to please the gods to be the same when well as he had vowed to be when sick. A lesson for us.
IV SUCH REPENTANCE UNDER CHASTISEMENT LEADS TO ACCEPTABLE PRAYER. His prayer shows that he had not given up hope, that he still believed that Jehovah was his God, and would do what was best with him. Strangely and soon the prayer was answered.
CONCLUSION. We may obtain mercy as Jonah did. We may find that the very instrument of death becomes the preserver of life, as the great fish proved an ark of safety to Jonah; and as he was cast upon the shore, so a trouble may cast us on the shore of duty, and death will cast us on the shore of heaven. A.R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain When my soul fainted within me I remembered the…
Jon_2:7
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord.
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Jonah an example of sanctified affliction
It is interesting to mark the workings of a soul when struggling with the strong billows of affliction, especially if that affliction has come in the immediate train of backsliding, and appears as the net in which God has caught a wanderer from the fold, or the rod by which He would bring him back to wisdom and obedience.
1. The altered feeling toward God of which Jonah was now conscious, as compared with that state of mind which tempted him to go astray. Now, it is the bitterest part of his complaint that he was far from God. It must be a sanctified trouble which disposes the soul to feel thus toward God.
2. It was but the natural consequence of this state of mind in Jonah, though it may be noted as another mark of his sanctified affliction, that he poured out his heart in prayer: the spirit of Sonship was again revived in him, and it led him to cry, Abba, Father.
3. Mark the workings of faith here, sanctified affliction being always characterised by the degree in which faith is called into exercise.
Notice the peculiar views and feelings which are expressed in this prayer.
1. The exercise of faith in regard to the appointment of the visitation: Thou hast cast me, etc.
2. The confidence and hope in God not extinguished, but rather roused into action by the extremity of his distress. Faith always is, in proportion to its clearness and strength, fertile in resources.
3. There is a further manifestation of faith in the words of Jonah, although it lies less upon the surface than those already noticed. It is the use made of the earlier portions of Gods Word, and the recorded experiences of former times.
4. The last thing to notice in the prayer, as a mark of sanctified affliction, is the purpose of amendment it expresses. (Patrick Fairbairn.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jon_2:7. Fainted] Heb. to cover one’s self or to…
CRITICAL NOTES.
Jon_2:7. Fainted] Heb. to cover one’s self or to veil, then to sink, to pine away: Rem. the triumph of faith over sense. Temple] from which prayers are heard (Psa_42:6; Psa_73:26).
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HOMILETICS
REMEMBRANCE OF GOD.—Jon_2:7
Jonah continues his reflections, and calls to mind his past experience in the deep.
I. Remembrance of God an antidote to fainting. Men faint through heat, thirst, and exhaustion; but the worst fainting is in the mind (Heb_12:3). If the mind keeps strong we can bear up, but if that gives way we succumb to sorrow. Natural infirmities, trouble and temptation, may overcome the stoutest. The soul is filled with doubt, the heart grows weak, and faints away. Above all, guilt brings fear and drives away God, and casts dark shadows over our path. But if we are humble and turn to God in our despondency our souls will revive, and hope will dawn in regions of despair. Remembrance of (a) God’s power, (b) God’s promise, and (c) God’s readiness to save, will renew our strength. “God will help and that right early.”
II. Remembrance of God a stimulant to prayer. “And my prayer came unto thee.” Much depends upon what men look at in trouble. According to the object in view will be the direction of the thoughts. Some look at their situation, with its attendant evils, and faint. Others trust to wrong sources for help, and are disappointed. But remembrance of God will invigorate faith, and prompt to prayer. Constant thoughts of God would make life more devout and successful. Continual prayer to him would secure his presence, and turn the depths of death into a temple of praise.
III. Remembrance of God a proof of God’s remembrance of us. When we truly remember and pray to God in sorrow, it is an evidence that we are not forsaken by him. The spirit of prayer is given to be cultivated, and offered to him in hearty petitions. No greater mercy can we have in trial than to be kept prayerful and dependent upon God. Contrite prayer and enjoyment of God’s favour are closely connected. Let us not forget God whatever else is forgotten.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This is a continuation of Jonah's prayer that started in Jonah 2:2.
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I called Yahweh to mind
Since Jonah was praying to Yahweh, it might be more clear in some languages to say "I thought about you, Yahweh" or "Yahweh, I thought about you."
then my prayer came to you, to your holy temple
Jonah speaks as if his prayers could travel to God and his temple. AT: "then you in your holy temple heard my prayer" (See: Metaphor)
They give attention to useless gods
"People pay attention to useless gods"
forsake loving faithfulness
"are rejecting you, who would be faithful to them"
translationWords
soul
Yahweh
pray
holy
temple
false god
faithful
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:7 I remembered the Lord: In this context, Jonah’s…
2:7 I remembered the Lord: In this context, Jonah’s statement means “I turned my thoughts to the Lord in prayer.” • earnest prayer . . . holy Temple: The Temple was God’s special dwelling place in Israel’s worship, even though God is present everywhere at all times (Ps 139:7-10; Jer 23:23-24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.