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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jonah 2:1-9

God and his servant Jonah had parted in anger, and the quarrel began on Jonah's side; he fled from his country that he might outrun his work; but we hope to see them both together again, and the reconciliation begins on God's side. In the close of the foregoing chapter we found God returning to Jonah in a way of mercy, delivering him from going down to the pit, having found a ransom; in this chapter we find Jonah returning to God in a way of duty; he was called up in the former chapter to pray... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 2:3

For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas ,.... Though the mariners did this, yet Jonah ascribes it to the Lord; he knew it was he, whom he had sinned against and offended; that he was he that sent the storm after him into the sea; that determined the lot to fall upon him; that it was not only by his permission, but according to his will, that he should be east into it, and overcame the reluctance of the men to it, and so worked upon them that they did it; and therefore... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 2:4

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight ,.... Or, "from before thine eyes" F4 מנגד עיניך "e regione oculorum tuorum", Montanus, Piscator; "a coram oculis tuis", Drusius, Burkius. ; the Targum, from before thy Word; as David also said in his distress, Psalm 31:22 ; not but that he knew he was in the reach and under the eye of his omniscience, which saw him in the fish's belly, in the depths of the sea, for nothing can hide from that; but he thought he was no longer under the eye... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 2:5

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul ,.... Either when he was first cast into the sea, which almost suffocated him, and just ready to take away his life, could not breathe for them, as is the case of a man drowning; or these were the waters the fish drew into its belly, in such large quantities, that they compassed him about, even to the endangering of his life there. So the Targum, "the waters surrounded me unto death.' In this Jonah was a type of Christ in his afflictions... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jonah 2:6

I went down to the bottom of the mountains ,.... Which are in the midst of the sea, whither the fish carried him, and where the waters are deep; or the bottom of rocks and promontories on the shore of the sea; and such vast rocks hanging over the sea, whose bottoms were in it, it seems are on the shore of Joppa, near to which Jonah was cast into the sea, as Egesippus F6 "De excidio", Urb. Hieros. l. 3. c. 20. relates: the earth with her bars was about me for ever ; that is, the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:3

All thy billows and thy waves passed over me - This may be understood literally; while the fish, in whose belly he was, sought its pleasure or sustenance in the paths of the deep, the waves and billows of the sea were rolling above. This line seems borrowed from Psalm 42:7 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:4

I am cast out of thy sight - See Psalm 31:22 . Thy holy temple - Then Jerusalem was not yet destroyed, for the temple was standing. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:5

The waters compassed me about even to the soul - So as to seem to deprive me of life. I had no hope left. The weeds were wrapped about my head - This may be understood literally also. He found himself in the fish's stomach, together with sea weeds, and such like marine substances, which the fish had taken for its aliment. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:6

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains - This also may be literally understood. The fish followed the slanting base of the mountains, till they terminated in a plain at the bottom of the great deep. The earth with her bars - He represents himself as a prisoner in a dungeon, closed in with bars which he could not remove, and which at first appeared to be for ever, i.e., the place where his life must terminate. Yet hast thou brought up my life - The substance of this poetic prayer... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:3

Verse 3 In this verse are set forth his difficulties: for Jonah, for the sake of amplifying, refers to his condition. It was a great thing that he cried to God from the bowels of the fish; but it was far more difficult for him to raise up his mind in prayer, when he knew or thought God to be angry with him: for had he been thrown into extreme evils, he might yet call upon God; but as it came to his mind that all the evil he suffered was inflicted by God, because he tried to shun his call, how... read more

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