Jonah 2:9-10

2:9 But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration ¹  of praise; ² 

I will surely do ³  what I have promised. ⁴ 

Salvation ⁵  belongs to the Lord!” ⁶ 

2:10 Then the Lord commanded ⁷  the fish and it disgorged Jonah on dry land.

Jonah 4:3

4:3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, ⁸  because I would rather die than live!” ⁹ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “voice” or “sound.”

[2:9]  ² tc The MT reads בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה (bÿqol todah, “with a voice of thanksgiving”). Some mss of Tg. Jonah read “with the sound of hymns of thanksgiving” here in 2:9 – the longer reading probably reflects an editorial gloss, explaining תּוֹדָה (“thanksgiving”) as “hymns of thanksgiving.”

[2:9]  ³ tn The verbs translated “I will sacrifice” and “I will pay” are Hebrew cohortatives, expressing Jonah’s resolve and firm intention.

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “what I have vowed I will pay.” Jonah promises to offer a sacrifice and publicly announce why he is thankful. For similar pledges, see Pss 22:25-26; 50:14-15; 56:12; 69:29-33; 71:14-16, 22-24; 86:12-13; 116:12-19.

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Or “deliverance” (NAB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Or “comes from the Lord.” For similar uses of the preposition lamed (לְ, lÿ) to convey a sort of ownership in which the owner does or may by right do something, see Lev 25:48; Deut 1:17; 1 Sam 17:47; Jer 32:7-8.

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “spoke to.” The fish functions as a literary foil to highlight Jonah’s hesitancy to obey God up to this point. In contrast to Jonah who immediately fled when God commanded him, the fish immediately obeyed.

[4:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “take my life from me.”

[4:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “better my death than my life.”