Jonah 2:1

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 2:1

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly. Though Jonah had been a praying man, being a good man, and a prophet of the Lord, yet it seems he had not prayed for some time; being disobedient to the will of God, he restrained prayer before him; all the while he was going to Joppa he prayed not; and how indeed could he have the face to pray to him, from whose face he was fleeing? and as soon as he was in the ship he fell asleep, and there lay till he was waked by the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:1

Then Jonah prayed - out of the fish's belly - This verse makes the first of the second chapter in the Hebrew text. It may be asked, "How could Jonah either pray or breathe in the stomach of the fish?" Very easily, if God so willed it. And let the reader keep this constantly in view; the whole is a miracle, from Jonah's being swallowed by the fish till he was cast ashore by the same animal. It was God that had prepared the great fish. It was the Lord that spake to the fish, and caused it to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 2:1

Verse 1 When Jonah says that he prayed from the bowels of the fish, he shows first with what courage of mind he was endued. He had then put on a new heart; for when he was at liberty he thought that he could in a manner escape from God, he became a fugitive from the Lord: but now while inclosed within narrow bounds, he begins to pray, and of his own accord sets himself in God’s presence. This is a change worthy of being noticed: and hence we may learn how much it profits us to be drawn back... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1

Then Jonah prayed. These were his feelings when he sank in the waters and while he lay in his mysterious prison; he may have put them into their metrical form after his deliverance. The grammatical arrangement, and especially the language of verse 7, seem to speak of a deliverance already experienced rather than of one expected. As this "prayer" does not suit an allegory, and as no cue but Jonah could have known its substance, we have here an argument for his authorship. It is rather a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1

Out of the depths. Never surely was prayer offered in so strange a place as this! Men have often prayed upon the sea, but Jonah is represented as praying from the ocean depths. I. NO PLACE IS UNSUITABLE FOR PRAYER . It is well to pray in stately cathedrals and in consecrated chapels, in the humble meeting house and at the "domestic altar." But the persecuted have prayed upon the remote hillside, and in "dens and caves of the earth." And let it be remembered, that God's will... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1-4

A unique oratory. "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God," etc. The keynote of this passage is struck in the first verse. It is the fish, by God's hand made Jonah's preserver instead of his destroyer, that inspires the praise prayer of the whole chapter. God did not come to help till the prophet had, in imagination, raced the worst; but still he came in time. In the very moment of imminent death he stepped in a Deliverer. And he delivered in his own inimitable way. Natural laws cannot... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1-7

De profundis: distress and prayer. "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly," etc. Unexampled position of Jonah—no details given, and hints somewhat obscure; evidently he retained measure of consciousness, but for how long we know not—seems to have been conscious of moving through the water before being swallowed by the fish—miracle of his preservation corresponds to that of the three Hebrews in the furnace ( Daniel 3:27 ), or of the burning bush ( Exodus 3:2 , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1-9

1 . Jonah, in the belly of the fish, offers a prayer of thanksgiving for his rescue from death by drowning, in which he sees a pledge of further deliverance. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 2:1-10

Part I. JONAH 'S PRAYER AND DELIVERANCE . read more

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