And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me - "by reason of," rather 'out of affliction (which came) to me.' His prayer is partly descriptive and promissory, partly eucharistical. In the first mercy Jonah saw the earnest of the rest, and so, instead of looking at his peril still remaining, thanks God for his deliverance as a certain fact. So Hannah is said to have "prayed," but her song is all one thanksgiving without one petition. Having once felt himself safe in the fish's belly, in strong faith he takes for granted his deliverance as an accomplished fact in God's time. So he thanks God for it as such; and while so doing is actually delivered. Jonah incorporates with his own language inspired utterances familiar to the Church long before, in Jonah 2:2; Psalms 120:1; in Jonah 2:3; Psalms 42:7, "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me;" in Jonah 2:4; Psalms 31:22; in Jonah 2:5; Psalms 69:1; in Jonah 2:7; Psalms 142:3, and Psalms 18:6; in Jonah 2:8; Psalms 31:6; in Jonah 2:9; Psalms 116:17-18, and Psalms 3:8.
Jonah, an inspired man, thus attests both the antiquity and inspiration of the Psalms. It marks the spirit of faith, that Jonah identifies himself with the saints of old, appropriating their experiences as recorded in the Word of God (Psalms 119:50). Affliction opens up the mine of Scripture, before seen only on the surface.
Out of the belly of hell - Shª'owl (H7585), the unseen world, which the belly of the fish resembled. So Psalms 18:5, "The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;" and Psalms 30:3, "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit."
Cried I ... thou heardest. The Hebrew words vary only by a similar letter, [shiwa`tiy; shaama`taah]. The real cry of prayer and God's hearing are, according to the mind of God, one.