A Voice from the Depths · Jonah · Elias Thorn
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A Voice from the Depths · Jonah

Jonah 2:1–11 in Hebrew/Synodal numbering · KJV 1:17 and 2:1–10

1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,

2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

2:3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

2:4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

2:5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Hebrew text

2:1 וַיְמַן יְהוָה דָּג גָּדוֹל, לִבְלֹעַ אֶת-יוֹנָה; וַיְהִי יוֹנָה בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג, שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת. 2:2 וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו, מִמְּעֵי, הַדָּגָה. 2:3 וַיֹּאמֶר, קָרָאתִי מִצָּרָה לִי אֶל-יְהוָה--וַיַּעֲנֵנִי; מִבֶּטֶן שְׁאוֹל שִׁוַּעְתִּי, שָׁמַעְתָּ קוֹלִי. 2:4 וַתַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מְצוּלָה בִּלְבַב יַמִּים, וְנָהָר יְסֹבְבֵנִי; כָּל-מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ, עָלַי עָבָרוּ. 2:5 וַאֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי, נִגְרַשְׁתִּי מִנֶּגֶד עֵינֶיךָ; אַךְ אוֹסִיף לְהַבִּיט, אֶל-הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ. 2:6 אֲפָפוּנִי מַיִם עַד-נֶפֶשׁ, תְּהוֹם יְסֹבְבֵנִי; סוּף, חָבוּשׁ לְרֹאשִׁי. 2:7 לְקִצְבֵי הָרִים יָרַדְתִּי, הָאָרֶץ בְּרִחֶיהָ בַעֲדִי לְעוֹלָם; וַתַּעַל מִשַּׁחַת חַיַּי, יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי. 2:8 בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי נַפְשִׁי, אֶת-יְהוָה זָכָרְתִּי; וַתָּבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתִי, אֶל-הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ. 2:9 מְשַׁמְּרִים, הַבְלֵי-שָׁוְא--חַסְדָּם, יַעֲזֹבוּ. 2:10 וַאֲנִי, בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה אֶזְבְּחָה-לָּךְ, אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתִּי, אֲשַׁלֵּמָה: יְשׁוּעָתָה, לַיהוָה. 2:11 וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, לַדָּג; וַיָּקֵא אֶת-יוֹנָה, אֶל-הַיַּבָּשָׁה.

Reading notes

The narrator places the prayer inside the fish. Within the prayer, Jonah recalls sinking into the sea: water surrounds him, weeds bind his head, and the earth seems to bar him in for ever. Yet he already says that the LORD heard him and promises a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Both remembered danger and gratitude for an answer matter here.

Jonah’s words should not be treated as a precise sequence of events inside the fish. In Hebrew 2:7 and KJV 2:6, deliverance from the pit is expressed as accomplished; the Synodal Russian version renders this in the future tense. The return to dry land is narrated only after the prayer. Recollection and thanksgiving coexist with a return that is not yet complete in the surrounding narrative.

Russian: Synodal translation; English: KJV; Hebrew: Mechon-Mamre. Numbering is preserved for each edition: Hebrew/Synodal 2:1 corresponds to KJV 1:17; 2:2–11 corresponds to KJV 2:1–10. The Synodal version says “whale”; Hebrew 2:1 has “great fish” (דָּג גָּדוֹל), as does the KJV. The historical Russian wording has not been silently changed. The versions also differ in the tense used for deliverance in Hebrew verse 2:7.

Open source ↗ (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1702.htm)

Hebrew · Jonah 2 (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1702.htm)

Synodal translation · Jonah 2 (https://www.bible.com/ru/bible/400/JON.2.SYNO)

KJV · Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10)

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