S. THE TWO UNDERSEA PRAYERS OF JONAH

THE TWO UNDERSEA PRAYERS OF JONAH The Book of Jonah recounts two prayers of Jonah in his undersea episode of Jonah 2:1-10. The first is an appeal to God’s mercy as Jonah tumbles down through the depths into what seemed to be his watery grave. The other prayer comes at the end of his three-day berth in the great fish’s belly and is a prayer or psalm of thanksgiving. This latter prayer has been given a great deal of attention by Bible students in their commentaries, often to the neglect of the former. I wish to redress this balance somewhat by focussing attention on the circumstances, content and importance of the first prayer.

Firstly, how do we know that there was such a prayer? The answer is quite simply that Jonah lets us know of its existence in his second prayer. The fact that it is a reported prayer within another prayer probably helps to explain the relative lack of attention it has received from commentators.

Some may even dispute that this is a prayer. It could be termed a “cry for help”, a “shriek of despair”, but a close study shows that there is more to it than that. Let’s see what Jonah tells us in his prayer “from the belly of the fish” (Jonah 2:1) some three days after the first prayer was uttered and answered. The words in bold type are Jonah’s own recollections, while in the belly of the fish, of the circumstances of his first undersea prayer. Notice particularly that these quotations report not just what happened to him in his plunge to the depths but also that he “called”, he “cried”, he “said”, he used his “voice”, he “vowed”, at some point during that tumble.

“I called to the LORD because of my affliction” (Jonah 2:2) This shows us that, as Jonah came close to drowning, his cry for help was directed to Yahweh, from whose presence he had so recently sought to flee. The courage with which he had offered himself as a sacrifice for the lives of the mariners had evaporated. However, it was not just an aimless cry of the panic-stricken; for he had faith that his God was able to save from death “out of the belly of Sheol I cried” (Jonah 2:2)

“Belly”, here, is the Hebrew word “beten” suggesting hollowness, whereas the “belly” of the fish in verse 1 is “meah” denoting softness. The two prayers have two different locations - the first in the dark depths of near-death; the second inside the fish of salvation.

“and He answered me” …“and You heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2)

How did Jonah know that Yahweh had answered him? Perhaps he was aware that the great fish was a special instrument in the hands of Yahweh, even from the moment of being swallowed; but I think that probably Jonah was unconscious from the instant after his prayer for help, until he awoke three days later in the safe haven of the fish’s maw! Then, perceiving that he was still alive and no longer drowning, he recognised that his prayer was answered.

I believe, from reading Jonah 1:17 and Jonah 2:1, that three days had elapsed before Jonah prayed from the fish’s belly. A period of unconsciousness during all of those three days would seem to be a fitting “type” of Christ’s death and entombment, though this is not mentioned specifically in the Master’s sign of Jonah in Matthew 12:39-41. (In passing, I would say that there is no need to go so far as claiming that Jonah had actually died, to be resurrected the third day. The type need not be identical in all particulars to the antitype.)

“For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me…par “The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.

I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever.”

(Jonah 2:3, Jonah 2:5-6) In these words, Jonah recalls the horror of his “near-death experience” in the murky, turbulent depths of the sea, before Yahweh answered his first prayer by preparing and deploying the fish of salvation.

“Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

… "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:4, Jonah 2:7) Did Jonah, in these words, express the irony of his situation? He had wanted to “flee from the presence of the Lord” (1:3, stated twice). Now, in his last conscious moment before death by drowning closes in, he realises he has achieved what he wanted - but he no longer wants it! He must, in that moment, have recalled Psalms 6:4-5 :

“Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?”

How can he submit to death; for death means forsaking the special relationship that he shared with Yahweh and His people? How can he give up the unique favour and joy he experienced as a servant of the one true God? His words later show his recognition that special favour as a servant of the household requires special responsibilities of service.

“I am driven away from your sight” (ESV) is part of the irony. Jonah had wanted to get away from Yahweh’s presence, which must have meant giving up his membership of God’s covenant people and his role as a prophet. (Surely he did not believe that it was possible to be where Yahweh could not see him! Note Psalms 139:1-16.) Jonah’s plans were to flee to the Gentile city of Tarshish; but Yahweh intervened and (almost) granted Jonah’s wishes in a way that Jonah did not foresee - to banish him to the exile of death, metaphorically driven from Yahweh’s sight. This situation reminds me of the scriptural concept of a monarch’s banishment of one of his subjects, especially a courtier. A courtier who was in favour was welcome in the monarch’s presence (on certain conditions), thus the monarch was said to “look upon him”. The monarch’s face was not turned away from him. When the monarch banished an unfavoured servant, he was “out of sight”. This is the idea behind the well-known passage in Habakkuk 1:13 :

“You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?”

It is not that God cannot see wickedness, for there are many Bible passages where He denounces the iniquities that He sees committed by the human race. It is simply true that God will not “countenance” wickedness in the sense of looking upon it with favour. You can see how the English word “countenance” fits nicely in this context. A further comment comes to mind, this time about the “holy temple”. It may well be that this refers to the heavenly abode of God, which seems to be the case in Jonah 2:7. But there is a nagging echo in the New Testament, in such passages as Ephesians 2:19-21 :

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” (See also: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16) In the words “I will look again toward Your holy temple” (Jonah 2:4) Jonah expressed a determination to resume his place among Yahweh’s covenant people in the midst of whom Yahweh dwelt, as signified by the presence of His glory in the Temple. There is no doubt that this vow was made during his first prayer in the ocean’s depth before the fish came to save him. This is evidently a prayer for forgiveness, a sign of repentance, of a desire to turn back from rebellion to faithful service, both physically and spiritually. It is noteable that this prayer comes before deliverance by means of the great fish - repentance comes before salvation, a widely acknowledged scriptural principle. The sequence of events confirms the view that there are two undersea prayers: imminent death; then a prayer for help accompanied by repentance; then salvation from death in response; finally a prayer of gratitude three days later.

Jonah’s second prayer, from the fish’s belly, is a prayer of one who has time to reflect on his present situation, his past actions and his future intentions. He is able to cast his mind back over the Psalms and see how they are relevant to his life. The margin of my Authorised Version notes seventeen references to the Psalms during the second undersea prayer. From the relative comfort of the fish’s belly, Jonah recollects his horror of three days beforehand, from “the belly of Sheol”:

“ The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit (Heb. ‘shachath’, corruption or pit) O LORD, my God.” (Jonah 2:6) These words echo those of Psalms 16:10 :

“ For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption (shachath).”

Jonah applied the word “Sheol” to his near-death (Jonah 2:2) and applies the word ‘shachath’ to his own salvation from corruption (Jonah 2:6). Does he agree with Peter (see Acts 2:27) that these words have a fulfilment in the death and resurrection of Messiah? If so, does he see himself as a sign of the direct intervention of God to bring up the Saviour-Messiah from the grave? In his final reflection while in the fish’s belly, Jonah comments that those who turn from Yahweh to idols forsake all possibility of salvation, then gives thanks for his own salvation by “the Lord” from whom alone salvation can come (Jonah 2:8). Unfortunately, later events were to show that he wanted God’s saving mercy to apply only to those of whom he (Jonah) approved! In the next verse he promises that he will keep his vow.

“I will pay what I have vowed.” (Jonah 2:9) When did he make this vow and what was its content? It could have been the vow he made as part of his commission as a prophet. I believe that he re-made the vow when crying for help in his first undersea prayer, and it was a vow to return to service to the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth:

“Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple!” (Jonah 2:4) So the moment-long prayer of Jonah that forced itself from his heart as he descended helplessly to the sea-bottom was a momentous turning point in his life as a prophet of Yahweh.

Understanding the circumstances and the content of this prayer helps us see more deeply into the “sign of Jonah”.

Christ’s quotation of the first few words of Psalms 22:1-31 indicates that it was very much in his thoughts as he hung dying on the cross. The billows that threatened to take Jonah’s life correspond to the “bulls of Bashan”, the “lions” and the “dogs” that encompass the Messiah in Psalms 22:1-31, who begins his prayer with a cry against feeling forsaken (Psalms 22:1). He then seeks for Yahweh’s salvation from his ordeal (Psalms 22:20-21). He affirms that Yahweh responds to the cries for help from His afflicted people (Psalms 22:23). He vows to speak Yahweh’s praises in the great congregation (Psalms 22:25); to be joined in worship finally by all the nations of the earth (Psalms 22:27). There is a remarkable parallel here between Jonah’s experience before being rescued by the fish and the dying hours of the Lord Jesus - except on two counts. Firstly the Messiah’s prayer had no element of repentance for he was never disobedient. Secondly Jonah’s vision for the future did not comprehend the worship of Yahweh by all nations!

Due attention to Jonah’s first undersea prayer certainly enhances our reading of the Book of Jonah.

Brian Armour