Jonah 2:4

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight,.... Or, "from before thine eyes" (d); the Targum, from before thy Word; as David also said in his distress, Psalms 31:22; not but that he knew he was in the

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight - i:e., from thy favourable regard.

Then: though this word with us ordinarily denoteth time, yet here it denoteth order and connexion; the Hebrew is And. I said, with myself, I thought in the midst of my fears and sufferings. I am cast out of thy sight; cut off from all hope of life among men; rejected, forsaken, and as it were forgotten of my God, and left by this death to pass to a worse death. Thus he was racked with sense of present danger from God’ s displeasure, and. is almost carried away with a despair of ever seeing the face of God again with comfort. much as . Yet I will look again: his faith begins to recover itself; he will not, as despairing ones, any more look toward lost hopes, but with reviving hope he will hope against hope, and never yield to such despairs. Towards thy holy temple; where the ark of the covenant, where the mercy-seat, where propitiatory sacrifices are offered, where is God’ s high priest, types of the great Redeemer, Mediator, and Saviour, by whom sin is expiated, sinners pardoned, grace and favour communicated, where God commands the blessing, life for evermore; he will look and hope to appear in the material typical temple, and to find there grace dispositive for, as well as significative of, glory in the heavenly temple; he hopes for both.

Jonah 2:4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.Ver. 4. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight] Thus those straits brought him to these disputes of despair, as they did likewise David, Psalms 31:22, the Church in the Lamentations, Lamentations 4:22, and others, apt enough in affliction to have hard conceits of God and heavy conceits of themselves. While men look at things present, while they live by sense only, it must need be with them as with a house without pillars, tottering with every blast; or as a ship without anchor, tossed with every wave. They must therefore thrust Hagar out of doors, and set up Sarah; silence their reason, and exalt faith, as did Jonah here; "Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight." Here you may take him up for a dead man; here he inclineth somewhat to that of Cain, Genesis 4:13-14, and surely they that go down to this pit of despair, as Hezekiah speaketh of the grave, Isaiah 38:17, cannot hope for God’ s truth as long as there they stay. Yet I will look again toward thine holy temple] Here he recollects and recovers himself; as the same soul may successively doubt and believe, not simultaneously; and faith, where it is right, will at length out wrestle diffidence, and make a man more than a conqueror, even a triumpher. When sense saith such a thing will not be, reason saith, It cannot be, faith gets above and saith, Yea, but it shall be; what talk you to me of impossibilities, I shall yet (as low as I am, and as forlorn) look again towards God’ s holy temple of heaven; yea, that here on earth, where God is sincerely served, and whereto the promises are annexed. Faith is by one fitly compared to the cork upon the net; though the lead on the one sinks it down, yet the cork on the other keeps it up in the water. The faithful soon check themselves for their doubtings and despondency, as Jonah here; as David chides David, Psalms 43:5; and as Paul saith of himself and his fellows, that they were staggering, but not wholly sticking, 2 Corinthians 4:8.

(4) I am cast out of thy sight.—“Jonah had wilfully withdrawn from standing in God’s presence. Now God had taken him at his word, and, as it seemed, cast him out of it. David had said in his haste, “I am cut off” (Psalms 31:22), Jonah substitutes the stronger word, “I am cast forth,” driven forth, expelled like the mire and dirt which the waves drive along, or like the waves themselves in their restless motion, or the heathen (the word is the same) whom God had driven out before Israel, or as Adam from Paradise” (Pusey). Yet I will look again.—The Hebrew is very impressive, and reads like one of those exile hopes so common in the Psalms: “Yet I have one thing left, to turn towards Thy holy Temple and pray.” (For the attitude see Note on Psalms 28:2.)

Verse 4. I am cast out of thy sight] See Psalms 31:22. Thy holy temple.] Then Jerusalem was not yet destroyed, for the temple was standing.

4. Then I said, &c.] The first clause of this verse may, perhaps, be a reminiscence of the first clause of Psa 31:22 (Heb. 23), though there the words “in my haste” are added, and a different verb (“cut off” instead of “cast out”) is used. “Jonah substitutes the stronger word, I am cast forth, driven forth, expelled, like the mire and dirt (Isaiah 57:20), which the waves drive along, or like the waves themselves in their restless motion (ib.), or the heathen (the word is the same) whom God had driven out before Israel (Exodus 34:11), or as Adam from Paradise. (Genesis 3:24.)”—Pusey. thy holy temple] Not the heavenly temple or dwelling-place of God, but the literal temple. This is not, however, an expression of Jonah’s confident belief that, outcast as he now seemed to be, he would certainly be delivered, and visit again, and behold once more with his bodily eyes the temple on Mount Sion. It is the then present thought and resolution with which, when he said “I am cast out of Thy sight,” he corrected and overcame his unbelieving despondency. “One thing is left me still, one resource is still open to me, I will still pray, I will look (mentally) yet again towards Thy holy temple.” The phrase “to look towards the temple,” denoting prayer, has its origin in the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. See 1 Kings 8:29-30; 1 Kings 8:48, and comp. Daniel 6:10. The fact that Jonah was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom is no valid objection to this view. The Temple on Mount Sion was the only centre of the true worship of Jehovah, and was recognised as such by all faithful Israelites. But it would be enough to say with Calvin, “He had been circumcised, he had been a worshipper of God from his youth, he had been educated in the Law, he had been a constant participator in the sacrifies: under the name of the Temple he briefly comprehends all these things.”

I am cast out of Thy sight - , literally, “from before Thine eyes.” Jonah had willfully withdrawn from standing in God’s presence. Now God had taken him at his word, and, as it seemed, cast him out of it.

4. Two emotions struggled within the supplicant. At first despair seized him. Cast out — He thought Jehovah had no further interest in him or care for him (Psalms 31:22). But the despondency was only temporary.