Jonah 2:2 New English Translation
2 and said,
“I[a] called out to the Lord from my distress,
and he answered me;[b]
from the belly of Sheol[c] I cried out for help,
and you heard my prayer.[d]
Footnotes
- Jonah 2:2 sn The eight verses of Jonah’s prayer in Hebrew contain twenty-seven first person pronominal references to himself. There are fifteen second- or third person references to the Lord.
- Jonah 2:2 tn Tg. Jonah 2:2 renders this interpretively: “and he heard my prayer.”sn The first verse of the prayer summarizes the whole—“I was in trouble; I called to the Lord for help; he rescued me; I will give him thanks”—before elaborating on the nature and extent of the trouble (vv. 3-7a), mentioning the cry for help and the subsequent rescue (6b-7), and promising to give thanks (8-9). These elements, as well as much vocabulary and imagery found in Jonah’s prayer, appear also in other Hebrew psalms. With Jonah 2:1 compare, for example, Pss 18:6; 22:24; 81:7; 116:1-4; 120:1; 130:1-2; Lam 3:55-56. These references and others indicate that Jonah was familiar with prayers used in worship at the temple in Jerusalem; he knew “all the right words.” Cf. also Ps 107 with Jonah as a whole.
- Jonah 2:2 sn Sheol was a name for the place of residence of the dead, the underworld (see Job 7:9-10; Isa 38:17-18). Jonah pictures himself in the belly of Sheol, its very center—in other words, he is as good as dead.
- Jonah 2:2 tn Heb “voice” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); cf. NIV “my cry.” The term קוֹל (qol, “voice”) functions as a metonymy for the content of what is uttered: cry for help in prayer.
New English Translation (NET)
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