Jonah 1:12-16

1:12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, ¹  because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” 1:13 Instead, they tried to row ²  back to land, ³  but they were not able to do so ⁴  because the storm kept growing worse and worse. ⁵  1:14 So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. ⁶  After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.” ⁷  1:15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 1:16 The men feared the Lord ⁸  greatly, ⁹  and earnestly vowed ¹⁰  to offer lavish sacrifices ¹¹  to the Lord. ¹² 

Psalms 69:1-2

Psalm 69 ¹³ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ¹⁴  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ¹⁵ 

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ¹⁶ 

I am in ¹⁷  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

Psalms 69:14-15

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹⁸  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ¹⁹  devour me! ²⁰ 

Psalms 88:5-8

88:5 adrift ²¹  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ²² 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ²³ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

88:7 Your anger bears down on me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ²⁴ 

Lamentations 3:54

3:54 The waters closed over my head;

I thought ²⁵  I was about to die. ²⁶ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “quiet for you”; NAB “that it may quiet down for you.”

[1:13]  ² sn The word translated row is used in Ezekiel to describe digging through a wall (Ezek 8:8; 12:5, 7, 12). Its use in Jonah pictures the sailors digging into the water with their oars as hard as they could.

[1:13]  ³ sn The word for land here is associated with a Hebrew verb meaning “to be dry” and is the same noun used in v. 9 of dry ground in contrast with the sea, both made by the Lord (see also Gen 1:9-10; Exod 4:9; 14:16, 22, 29; Jonah 2:10).

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “but they were not able.” The phrase “to do so” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sea was walking and storming.” See the note on the same idiom in v. 11.

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “Do not put against us innocent blood,” that is, “Do not assign innocent blood to our account.” It seems that the sailors were afraid that they would die if they kept Jonah in the ship and also that they might be punished with death if they threw him overboard.

[1:14]  ⁷ tn Pss 115:3 and 135:6 likewise use these verbs (חָפֵץ and עָשָׂה, khafets and ’asah; “to delight” and “to do, make”) in speaking of the Lord as characteristically doing what he wishes to do.

[1:16]  ⁸ tc The editors of BHS suggest that the direct object אֶת־יְהוָה (’et-yÿhvah, “the Lord”) might be a scribal addition, and that the original text simply read, “The men became greatly afraid…” However, there is no shred of external evidence to support this conjectural emendation. Admittedly, the apparent “conversion” of these Phoenician sailors to Yahwism is a surprising development. But two literary features support the Hebrew text as it stands. First, it is not altogether clear whether or not the sailors actually converted to faith in the Lord. They might have simply incorporated him into their polytheistic religion. Second, the narrator has taken pains to portray the pagan sailors as a literary foil to Jonah by contrasting Jonah’s hypocritical profession to fear the Lord (v. 9) with the sailors’ actions that reveal an authentic fear of God (v. 10, 14, 16).

[1:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “they feared the Lord with a great fear.” The root ירא (yr’, “fear”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming a cognate accusative construction which is used for emphasis (see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g). The idea is that they greatly feared the Lord or were terrified of him.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they vowed vows.” The root נדר (ndr, “vow”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming an emphatic effected accusative construction in which the verbal action produces the object specified by the accusative (see IBHS 166-67 §10.2.1f). Their act of vowing produced the vows. This construction is used to emphasize their earnestness and zeal in making vows to worship the God who had just spared their lives from certain death.

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they sacrificed sacrifices.” The root זבח (zbkh, “sacrifice”) is repeated in the verb and accusative noun, forming an emphatic effected accusative construction in which the verbal action produces the object (see IBHS 166-67 §10.2.1f). Their act of sacrificing would produce the sacrifices. It is likely that the two sets of effected accusative constructions here (“they vowed vows and sacrificed sacrifices”) form a hendiadys; the two phrases connote one idea: “they earnestly vowed to sacrifice lavishly.” It is unlikely that they offered animal sacrifices at this exact moment on the boat – they had already thrown their cargo overboard, presumably leaving no animals to sacrifice. Instead, they probably vowed that they would sacrifice to the Lord when – and if – they reached dry ground. Tg. Jonah 1:16 also takes this as a vow to sacrifice but for a different reason. According to Jewish tradition, the heathen are not allowed to make sacrifice to the God of Israel outside Jerusalem, so the Targum modified the text by making it a promise to sacrifice: “they promised to offer a sacrifice before the Lord and they made vows” (see B. Levine, The Aramaic Version of Jonah, 70; K. Cathcart and R. Gordon, The Targum of the Minor Prophets [ArBib], 14:106, n. 29).

[1:16]  ¹² tn Heb “The men feared the Lord [with] a great fear, they sacrificed sacrifices, and they vowed vows” (cf. v. 10). By pairing verbs with related nouns as direct objects, the account draws attention to the sailors’ response and its thoroughness.

[69:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[69:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “have entered.”

[69:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[69:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[88:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ²² tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ²³ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[88:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[3:54]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”

[3:54]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I was about to be cut off.” The verb נִגְזָרְתִּי (nigzarti), Niphal perfect 1st person common singular from גָּזַר (gazar, “to be cut off”), functions in an ingressive sense: “about to be cut off.” It is used in reference to the threat of death (e.g., Ezek 37:11). To be “cut off” from the hand of the living means to experience death (Ps 88:6).