Jon 2:2 | TNotes | STEP | 2:2 Jonah’s psalm-prayer opens by recalling a previous prayer that was not so polished yet was all the more fervent—his cry for help while on the verge of drowning. • from the land of the dead (literally from the belly of Sheol ): Sheol was thought to be the abode of the dead (see Isa 14:15 ; Ezek 31:15-17 ). The belly metaphor for Sheol is found nowhere else in the Old Testament; it pictures Jonah’s experience of being delivered from Sheol through the belly of a fish.

bIsa 14:15►

cEzek 31:15-17►

‏ Jonah 2:2

2:2 ^a Jonah’s psalm-prayer opens by recalling a previous prayer that was not so polished yet was all the more fervent—his cry for help while on the verge of drowning.

• from the land of the dead (literally from the belly of Sheol): Sheol was thought to be the abode of the dead (see Isa 14:15 ^b; Ezek 31:15-17 ^c). The belly metaphor for Sheol is found nowhere else in the Old Testament; it pictures Jonah’s experience of being delivered from Sheol through the belly of a fish.