Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jonah 2:7
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jon 2:7
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord.
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
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 fishs 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. soul fainted . . . I rememberedthe Lordbeautifully exemplifying the triumph of spirit overflesh, of faith over sense (Psa 73:26;Psa 42:6). For a time troublesshut out hope; but faith revived when Jonah “remembered theLord,” what a gracious God He is, and how now He still preserveshis life and consciousness in his dark prison-house.
into thine holy templethetemple at Jerusalem (Jon 2:4).As there he looks in believing prayer towards it, so here he regardshis prayer as already heard.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When my soul fainted within me,…. Covered with grief; overwhelmed with sorrow; ready to faint and sink at the sight of his sins; and under a sense of the wrath and displeasure of God, and being forsaken by him:
I remembered the Lord; his covenant and promises, his former mercies and lovingkindness, the gracious experiences he had had of these in times past; he remembered he was a God gracious and merciful, and ready to forgive, healed the backslidings of his people, and still loved them freely, and tenderly received and embraced them, when they returned to him:
and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple; into heaven itself, the habitation of God’s holiness, the temple where he dwells, and is worshipped by holy angels and glorified saints; the prayer the prophet put up in the fish’s belly, encouraged to it by remembering the mercy and goodness of God, ascended from thence, and reached the ears of the Lord of hosts in the highest heavens, and met with a kind reception, and had a gracious answer; see Ps 3:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 Psa 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.
For it immediately follows, that his prayer had penetrated unto God, or entered before him. (39) 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.
(39) “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.” — Adam Clarke.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Jon. 2:7. Fainted] Heb. to cover ones 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).
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) Gods power, (b) Gods promise, and (c) Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods favour are closely connected. Let us not forget God whatever else is forgotten.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
GODS MESSENGER RUNNING TO GODTHE PROMISE OF JONAH
TEXT: Jon. 2:7-9
7
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.
8
They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.
QUERIES
a.
What does Jonah mean by his soul fainting within him?
b.
Who are the they of Jon. 2:8?
c.
What had Jonah vowed that he felt obligated to pay?
PARAPHRASE
When I found no strength in myself to save myself, I remembered the promises and power of the Lord to save. Then I turned to God in prayer and my earnest prayer went to You, Lord, in Your holy temple. Salvation and deliverance are found only in Jehovah and those who worship false gods have turned their backs on the only hope they have for mercy. As for me, I will worship only You, O God! I will give thanks to you with my lips and by obediently keeping the vows and commitments I have determined in my heart to do. The only salvation is to be found in such a relationship to Jehovah!
SUMMARY
Jonahs experience leaves him with only one place to turn for salvationthe merciful promises of God. To Him Jonah turns pledging himself to keep the vows he made to God.
COMMENT
Jon. 2:7 . . . MY SOUL FAINTED WITHIN ME, I REMEMBERED JEHOVAH; . . . As we pointed out earlier, only when a man is convinced that he cannot save himselfthat all other ways, systems and helps are insufficient for his needsonly then will he turn to God. It is the authoritative statement of Gods Word that all men are lost and condemned in sin unless they believe and obey Gods Word. The primary objective of Christians then is to convince men of the authority of Gods Word, the Bible. This has to be done by presenting the empirical, historical evidences that the Bible is the Word of God. God, by providential acts upon the course of events, oftentimes brings men and women to know their impotency and insufficiency. Then they are ready to turn to Him, but if they do not accept the Bible as His word, how can they trust in the promises of it? Jonah knew the Lordhe knew the Word of the Lord was true. Now he realizes his insufficiency so he turns back to the promise of the Lord. He prays in his most extreme hour of need and finds the peace which passes understanding. Christians have an even surer confidence and are commanded to come boldly to the throne of grace (cf. Heb. 4:14-16; Heb. 10:19-25).
Jon. 2:8 THEY THAT REGARD LYING VANITIES FORSAKE THEIR OWN MERCY, Jonah is here referring to the heathen who worship idols. When men refuse to have God in their knowledge they become vain in their reasoning (cf. Rom. 1:18 ff; Eph. 2:1 ff). The Bible speaks of the gods and idols of mans invention as vain, (cf. Isa. 40:18-23; Isa. 41:21-24; Isa. 44:6-20; Act. 17:22-29, etc.). The word translated lying means, literally, a vapor or a breath. Vanity means empty, void, worthless, useless. The gods men invent are dumb, speechless, powerless, useless, false and deceitful! This is also true of religious, theological, philosophical systems invented by men which do not conform to the revealed will of God in the Bible. When men worship or put their hope in such gods and systems they cut off their noses to spite their faces. They willingly turn their backs on the only hope of mercy which is found exclusively in Jehovah God. We do not believe Jonah had specific reference to the heathen sailors with whom he had just parted company. The statement of Jon. 2:8 forms what is known in Hebrew poetry as an antithetical parallelism. That is, Jonah is stating his praise for Jehovah God in the negative. Jonahs reference to the nothingness of dead idols was calculated to heighten his praise of the living God! In Jon. 2:9 he makes the positive statement of his parallelism of praise.
Jon. 2:9 . . . SACRIFICE UNTO THEE WITH THE VOICE OF THANKSGIVING . . . PAY THAT WHICH I HAVE VOWED . . . SALVATION IS OF JEHOVAH, The sacrifices with which God is most pleased, offered by Jonah here, are, the fruit of lips given to praise Him and a life surrendered, committed to His service, (cf. Psa. 51:15-17; Heb. 13:15-16). Jonahs vow was not extraordinary or peculiar; it was common for Jews to make vows in time of need, with the expectation of keeping the promise after relief was granted. Vows were never regarded as a religious duty even in the O.T. (cf. Deu. 23:22). But when a vow was made God considered it binding (cf. Deu. 23:21-23; Jdg. 11:35; Ecc. 5:4; Psa. 66:13). Vows as such are not required in the N.T. neither are they prohibited. Jesus mentions vows only to condemn the abuse of them (Mat. 15:4-6; Mar. 7:10-13; Mat. 23:16-22). But we most certainly must surrender and commit our entire being to the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 12:1-2) and we must confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). If this is vowing then vow we must! The Hebrew word for salvation is the same word which we translated Joshua for it is a contraction of Jehoshua which means Jehovah is salvation. The Greek rendering of Joshua is Jesus. Jonah now knew by experience that the help he needed could come only from the Lord!
QUIZ
1.
What two things are necessary, oftentimes, before men will turn to the Lord?
2.
Why are gods and systems of men vain?
3.
With what type of sacrifices is God most pleased?
4.
Should Christians make religious vows?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered YHWH,
And my prayer came in to you,
Into your holy temple.
In his desperation he had remembered YHWH, and he had prayed to YHWH towards His holy Temple. And he knew that in that moment YHWH had answered, so that here he was, safe, even though he knew not where.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1200
JONAHS REFLECTIONS IN THE WHALES BELLY
Jon 2:7-9. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
TO take a retrospect of our feelings, under circumstances of peculiar trial, is exceedingly beneficial. There are times when we realize in our minds truths which at other seasons have had no weight, and produced on us no effect. Thus Jonah, after his deliverance from the belly of the fish, called to mind, and transmitted for our good, the reflections which occupied his soul in that peculiarly awful situation, and in the near prospect of death. He here records,
I.
The mercy vouchsafed
This was such as never was vouchsafed to any other man, either before or since
[The history you well know. But there are some points which we must particularly notice on this occasion. He was delivered, you know, from the belly of a fish. But mark the time when this mercy was vouchsafed to him: it was when he was in the very act of rebellion against God Mark also the means: it was by a miraculous influence of God upon the fish, directing it to go to the sea-shore, and to vomit him forth upon the dry land. The occasion also must especially be noticed: it was in answer to a prayer offered from the bottom of the sea: When Jonahs soul fainted within him, he remembered the Lord: and his prayer came in unto God, even into his holy temple.]
Though we have never been in a situation like his, have not we also wonderful mercies to recount?
[We have all of us, more or less, been in situations of danger, either by sickness or by accident, when we were in a state most unprepared to meet our God; and when, if we had been taken into the eternal world, we must have for ever perished in our sins. On some such occasion, perhaps, we have reflected on our state, and felt our need of mercy, and cried unto our God, and obtained mercy at his hands: and here we are living witnesses for God, that he desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live ]
Let us pass on to consider,
II.
The conviction wrought
Jonah had known, before, the folly of idolatry, and the wisdom of relying wholly upon God. But now he felt this in a way that he had not done before. Now too he felt, that to flee from the presence of God, as he had done, and to decline the service of his God, and to seek happiness in a way of disobedience to God, was folly in the extreme; and that the only way to be truly happy, was to serve, and honour, and obey the Lord.
And were not such our convictions, also, in the prospect of death?
[None of us need be told that the creature is but a broken cistern; and that to forsake the fountain of living waters for cisterns of our own formation, is a great evil [Note: Jer 2:13.];. But, whilst we acknowledge this as a speculative truth, who feels it practically, so as to act upon it, and to have his life regulated in accordance with it? In a time of health, we see perhaps what is right, but do it not; nor have in our souls any fixed purpose to carry into effect the dictates of our mind and judgment. But in the near approach of death these truths assume a reality and importance which we never discerned before. Once, perhaps, we could laugh at them, as the dreams of enthusiasm, and the peculiarities of a sect: but in that solemn hour when we are expecting to be summoned into the immediate presence of our God, we bitterly regret that we have given so little weight to these considerations; and we then are convinced, indeed, that in observing and following lying vanities we have madly forsaken our own mercies. The convict that is about to perish by the hand of the public executioner, however obdurate he has been in times past, feels this; and the public feel it for him. Would to God that, in our time of health and prosperity, we all felt it for ourselves!]
The result of that conviction we shall see in,
III.
The determination formed
Now would the prophet henceforth praise his God: and, having made vows to God in the hour of his extremity, he would now pay them; and be a living witness for God, that salvation is of the Lord for every soul that will seek it, however deep his guilt, or however desperate his condition.
These are the determinations, Brethren, which I desire you, in dependence upon Gods help, to form
[Look to the mercies vouchsafed to you in the hour of your necessity, when you cried unto the Lord: look at your deliverance from death and hell: look at a resurrection vouchsafed to you, from death to life, from misery to peace, from hell to heaven; a resurrection like unto that of Jonah; or rather like to that which was typified by it, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and then tell me, whether you should not sacrifice unto the Lord with the voice of thanksgiving, and your every word be praise Call to mind, also, the vows which you made in the hour of trouble; how you would live henceforth, not unto yourselves, but to your God; and not for time only, but for eternity. Now, beware that you forget not the resolutions then formed. Beg of God that they may not, as is too generally the case, vanish as the early dew that passeth away. They are all recorded in the book of Gods remembrance; and if violated by you, in return for all the mercies vouchsafed unto you, they will fearfully aggravate your eternal condemnation Now, too, be living witnesses for God, for the encouragement of others. Shew to others what a salvation you have found, and found in your lowest extremity, in answer to the prayer of faith. Who can tell what a blessing you may he to those around you? Doubtless the mercy vouchsafed to Jonah was, under God, the salvation of all that great and populous city to which he preached. His miraculous deliverance gave, so to speak, an irresistible energy to his word; insomuch that all, from the king on the throne to the lowest of the populace, instantly turned in penitential sorrow to the Lord. So you, when you can say to others, What my eyes have seen, and ears have heard, and hands have handled, of the word of life, the same declare I unto you, may he instrumental to the honouring of God your Saviour, and to the saving of many souls alive.]
On a review of this subject, see,
1.
How wonderful are the ways of God!
[Who would have thought to what even the rebellion of Jonah should lead; and how the punishing of that should lead to the salvation of his soul, and of the souls of many others? Truly, Gods ways are in the great deep, and his footsteps are not known. But from all this we may learn never to despond; but rather, however desperate our condition may be, to say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him ]
2.
How marvellous is the efficacy of converting grace!
[See what a change is wrought in Jonah; though, indeed, far less than might have been expected. But to change our rebellious hearts into a frame of obediential love and gratitude; and to renew us in our inner man, so as to make us as lights in a dark world; this is, and must be, the effect of true conversion. See then, brethren, that ye offer unto God the sacrifice of praise continually; and especially for your redemption from all the penal effects of sin, through the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. See, too, that you live to God as his redeemed people, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of your life; and that you labour, in every possible way, to commend to others the salvation which you yourselves have found ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
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, Joh 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 .
And my prayer came in unto thee
Into thine holy temple
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fainted = swooned, or became unconscious to all else. Compare Psa 77:3. Lam 2:12, From ‘ataph, to cover or involve in darkness.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ‘eth) = Jehovah Him-self. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jon 2:7-9
GODS MESSENGER RUNNING TO GOD-
THE PROMISE OF JONAH
TEXT: Jon 2:7-9
Jonahs experience leaves him with only one place to turn for salvation-the merciful promises of God. To Him Jonah turns pledging himself to keep the vows he made to God.
Jon 2:7 . . . MY SOUL FAINTED WITHIN ME, I REMEMBERED JEHOVAH; . . . As we pointed out earlier, only when a man is convinced that he cannot save himself-that all other ways, systems and helps are insufficient for his needs-only then will he turn to God. It is the authoritative statement of Gods Word that all men are lost and condemned in sin unless they believe and obey Gods Word. The primary objective of Christians then is to convince men of the authority of Gods Word, the Bible. This has to be done by presenting the empirical, historical evidences that the Bible is the Word of God. God, by providential acts upon the course of events, oftentimes brings men and women to know their impotency and insufficiency. Then they are ready to turn to Him, but if they do not accept the Bible as His word, how can they trust in the promises of it? Jonah knew the Lord-he knew the Word of the Lord was true. Now he realizes his insufficiency so he turns back to the promise of the Lord. He prays in his most extreme hour of need and finds the peace which passes understanding. Christians have an even surer confidence and are commanded to come boldly to the throne of grace (cf. Heb 4:14-16; Heb 10:19-25).
Zerr: Jon 2:7. This verse suggests an old and true saying, “Mans extremity is Gods opportunity.” When the conditions here described overcame Jonah, he was induced to look to God for help. Then he prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishs belly.
Jon 2:8 THEY THAT REGARD LYING VANITIES FORSAKE THEIR OWN MERCY, Jonah is here referring to the heathen who worship idols. When men refuse to have God in their knowledge they become vain in their reasoning (cf. Rom 1:18 ff; Eph 2:1 ff). The Bible speaks of the gods and idols of mans invention as vain, (cf. Isa 40:18-23; Isa 41:21-24; Isa 44:6-20; Act 17:22-29, etc.). The word translated lying means, literally, a vapor or a breath. Vanity means empty, void, worthless, useless. The gods men invent are dumb, speechless, powerless, useless, false and deceitful! This is also true of religious, theological, philosophical systems invented by men which do not conform to the revealed will of God in the Bible. When men worship or put their hope in such gods and systems they cut off their noses to spite their faces. They willingly turn their backs on the only hope of mercy which is found exclusively in Jehovah God. We do not believe Jonah had specific reference to the heathen sailors with whom he had just parted company. The statement of Jon 2:8 forms what is known in Hebrew poetry as an antithetical parallelism. That is, Jonah is stating his praise for Jehovah God in the negative. Jonahs reference to the nothingness of dead idols was calculated to heighten his praise of the living God! In Jon 2:9 he makes the positive statement of his parallelism of praise.
Zerr: Jon 2:8. The prayer of Jonah not only contained his appeal for help, but also was a recognition of some of the great principles which God has ever held out before mankind. Lying vanities evidently has reference to the devotion to idols which is constantly regarded as vain in the Bihle. Whoever depends on such helpless objects are working against their own best interests.
Jon 2:9 . . . SACRIFICE UNTO THEE WITH THE VOICE OF THANKSGIVING . . . PAY THAT WHICH I HAVE VOWED . . . SALVATION IS OF JEHOVAH, The sacrifices with which God is most pleased, offered by Jonah here, are, the fruit of lips given to praise Him and a life surrendered, committed to His service, (cf. Psa 51:15-17; Heb 13:15-16). Jonahs vow was not extraordinary or peculiar; it was common for Jews to make vows in time of need, with the expectation of keeping the promise after relief was granted. Vows were never regarded as a religious duty even in the O.T. (cf. Deu 23:22). But when a vow was made God considered it binding (cf. Deu 23:21-23; Jdg 11:35; Ecc 5:4; Psa 66:13). Vows as such are not required in the N.T. neither are they prohibited. Jesus mentions vows only to condemn the abuse of them (Mat 15:4-6; Mar 7:10-13; Mat 23:16-22). But we most certainly must surrender and commit our entire being to the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Rom 12:1-2) and we must confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father (cf. Rom 10:9-10). If this is vowing then vow we must! The Hebrew word for salvation is the same word which we translated Joshua for it is a contraction of Jehoshua which means Jehovah is salvation. The Greek rendering of Joshua is Jesus. Jonah now knew by experience that the help he needed could come only from the Lord!
Zerr: Jon 2:9. The mention of Sacrifice and vows is a promise of continued devotion to God upon his deliverance from the helpless condition surrounding him; in other words, it is an indication of a truly penitent heart. Jonah is certain that if he is ever enabled to resume a life of religious services it will have to be through the help of God, for Salvation is of the Lord.
Questions
1. What two things are necessary, oftentimes, before men will turn to the Lord?
2. Why are gods and systems of men vain?
3. With what type of sacrifices is God most pleased?
4. Should Christians make religious vows?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
my soul: Psa 22:14, Psa 27:13, Psa 119:81-83, Heb 12:3
I remembered: 1Sa 30:6, Psa 20:7, Psa 42:5, Psa 42:11, Psa 43:5, Psa 77:10, Psa 77:11, Psa 143:5, Isa 50:10, Lam 3:21-26, 2Co 1:9, 2Co 1:10
my prayer: 2Ch 30:27, Psa 18:6
holy: Jon 2:4, Psa 11:4, Psa 65:4, Mic 1:2, Hab 2:20
Reciprocal: Gen 45:26 – And Jacob’s Jdg 16:28 – remember me 2Sa 22:7 – out Psa 6:9 – hath heard Psa 31:22 – nevertheless Psa 42:6 – therefore Luk 18:1 – and not Jam 5:13 – any among
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jon 2:7. This verse suggests an old and true saying, “Mans extremity is Gods opportunity.” When the conditions here described overcame Jonah, he was induced to look to God for help. Then he prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishs belly.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
As Jonah was feeling that his life was ebbing away, his thoughts turned to Yahweh (cf. Psa 107:5-6; Psa 142:3; Psa 142:5-7). Even though he felt far from God his prayer reached the Lord in His heavenly dwelling place.
"As in Jon 1:6, prayer is presented as the key to the salvation of the one who would otherwise have perished." [Note: Allen, p. 218. Cf. Hebrews 4:16.]