CRITICAL NOTES.
Jonah 2:5] This strophe opens like the first, sets forth the peril of death, and describes the thought of miraculous deliverance. Surrounded] Pressed even to the soul (Psalms 69:2; Psalms 18:5). Weeds] Sea-weeds, vast quantities of which were found in the Mediterranean, were bound about his head “like a grave band. A peril even to the strong swimmer, entangling him the more he struggles to extricate himself. But to one below, powerless to struggle, it was as his winding-sheet” [Pusey].
Jonah 2:6. Bottoms] Cuttings off, ends or extremities, hence foundations (cf. Psalms 18:7-15). It seemed as if the earth itself formed the vault, the living coffin into which he was shut up (Deuteronomy 3:5; Job 38:10). “The bolts of the sea are the walls of the sea-basin, which set bounds to the sea that it cannot pass over” [Keil]. Corruption] Lit. the pit (Isaiah 38:17; Job 17:4).
HOMILETICS
THE HORRIBLE PIT.—Jonah 2:5-6
The prophet again enlarges on his terrible and apparently hopeless condition, reviews the awful deep from whence he was delivered, and admires the power of God in his salvation.
I. The depth of the pit. The poet or the painter can add nothing to the description here given of the prisoner in the deep. He was cast down into a dark, fearful dungeon, amid horrible gloom and rushing torrents. Forgotten of mankind; confined in anguish and hell. Sin always casts men into extremity and death.
II. The dangers of the pit. His peril was imminent. The terrors of the Almighty, the elements of nature, set themselves in array against him.
1. He was encompassed by waters. Excluded from the atmosphere and light on the surface, he felt almost suffocated beneath the waves. His very soul was submerged, and pressed by the floods so that life was almost extinct. “Encompassed me even to the soul.”
2. He was barred by the earth. He was carried to the base of the rocks, the roots of the mountains, whose summits overtopped the waves.
3. He was enclosed in the deep. “The deep closed me in.” He could sink no lower, and it was impossible to rise higher. He was confined on all sides. Earth and sea formed the vault within which he was for ever shut.
4. He was wrapped round with sea-weeds. The alga or weed was bound about his head, and made it like a state of death or living corruption. “As the monster within which he was caverned glided through the vast submarine forests, they seemed to enclose him in their green and slippery coverts, or portions of sea-weed, swallowed by the fish, wrapped itself around him.”
III. The deliverance from the pit. “Thou hast brought up my life.” His rescue was like a resurrection of the body, and displayed the grace and power of Jehovah. God delivered him from sufferings described and recorded when he was on dry land. His soul also was recovered to true penitence, and the light of God’s countenance. He could now say, “O Lord, my God.” “A sweet renewed sense of pardoning love is often the pleasant shore on which we step out of the deep mire of our sorrowful troubles.”
IV. The gratitude to the deliverer. It is a good thing to give thanks to God for blessings received. It is common with God to deliver when nobody else can. Every mercy is the expression of a thought, the manifestation of a purpose. God’s mercies are innumerable, and must be publicly acknowledged to quicken our own hearts and those of others (Isaiah 38:17). “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalms 40:2-3).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Jonah 2:5. Trials like water. Deep, heavy, and overwhelming. It is sad to be perfectly sensible of your situation, yet not able to do anything for relief; to struggle, and become more fettered by the effort.
The deliverance.
1. This deliverance was, humanly speaking, most unlikely.
2. It was highly benevolent. “Brought up my life.” It was a treasure beyond all price that was restored to the prophet.
3. It was Divinely wrought. “Yet hast thou.”
4. It was recognized and appreciated by Jonah. “O Lord, my God.” These words are full of meaning, and express the faith and joy of the Prophet [Exell].
Jonah 2:5-6. Bringing up and preservation. Two great blessings traced to the hand of God, and prompting to gratitude on account of the evils described.