Humanitext Reader

Septuagint · Jonah §2.1-2.11

Jonah's Prayer from the Belly of the Fish and His Deliverance

Passage 2 of 4 · Greek

Summary

From the belly of the great fish sent by the Lord, Jonah prays, recalling his distress, expressing thanksgiving, and promising to fulfill his vows. Subsequently, by God's command, the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land.

§2.1Καὶ προσέταξεν Κύριος κήτει μεγάλῳ καταπιεῖν τὸν καὶ ἦν Ἰωνᾶς ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας.
And the Lord commanded a great whale to swallow him, and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.
§2.2καὶ προσηύξατο Ἰωνᾶς πρὸς Κύριον τὸν θεὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας τοῦ κήτους, §2.3καὶ εἶπεν Ἐβόησα ἐν θλίψει μου πρὸς Κύριον τὸν θεόν μου, καὶ εἰσήκουσέν μου. ἐκ κοιλίας ᾅδου κραυγῆς μου ἤκουσας φωνῆς μου·
And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the whale, and said, "I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hades you heard the cry of my voice.
§2.4⁴ἀπέρριψάς με εἰς βάθη καρδίας θαλάσσης, καὶ ποταμοί με ἐκύκλωσαν, πάντες οἱ μετεωρισμοί σου καὶ τὰ κύματά σου ἐπʼ ἐμὲ διῆλθον.
⁴You cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the flood compassed me; all your billows and your waves passed over me.
§2.5⁵καὶ ἐγώ εἶπα Ἀπῶσμαι ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν σου· ἆρα προσθήσω τοῦ ἐπιβλέψαι πρὸς τὸν λαὸν τὸν ἅγιόν σου; §2.6⁶περιεχύθη ὕδωρ μοι ἕως ψυχῆς. ἄβυσσος ἐκύκλωσέν με ἐσχάτη, ἔδυ ἡ κεφαλή μου εἰς σχισμὰς ὀρέων,
⁵And I said, 'I am cast out from your eyes; shall I indeed look again toward your holy people?' ⁶Water was poured around me even to my soul; the lowest deep compassed me, my head went down into the clefts of the mountains.
§2.7⁷κατέβην εἰς γῆν ἧς οἱ μοχλοὶ αὐτῆς κάτοχοι αἰώνιοι· καὶ ἀναβήτω φθορὰ ζωῆς μου, Κύριε ὁ θεός μου,
⁷I went down into the land whose bars are eternal barriers; yet let the destruction of my life ascend, O Lord my God.
§2.88ἐν τῷ ἐκλιπεῖν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὴν ψυχήν μου τοῦ κυρίου ἐμνήσθην, καὶ ἔλθοι πρὸς σὲ ἡ εὐχή μου εἰς ναὸν ἅγιόν σου.
8When my soul was failing from me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to you into your holy temple.
§2.9⁹φυλασσόμενοι μάταια καὶ ψευδῆ ἔλεος αὐτῶν ἐγκατέλιπον.
⁹They that observe vanity and lies have forsaken their own mercy.
§2.10¹⁰ἐγὼ δὲ μετὰ φωνῆς αἰνέσεως καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως θύσω σοι, ὅσα ηὐξάμην ἀποδώσω σοι σωτηρίου τῷ κυρίῳ.
¹⁰But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of praise and thanksgiving; I will pay to you what I have vowed, of salvation to the Lord.
§2.11¹¹Καὶ προσετάγη τῷ κήτει, καὶ ἐξέβαλεν τὸν Ἰωνᾶν ἐπὶ τὴν ξηράν.
¹¹And it was commanded to the whale, and it cast out Jonah upon the dry land.

Notes

  1. 2.1καταπιεῖν τὸν — The article 'τὸν' is missing its proper noun 'Ἰωνᾶν' (Jonah) in this textual tradition, but the context clearly implies 'to swallow Jonah'.
  2. 2.5πρὸς τὸν λαὸν τὸν ἅγιόν σου — Unlike the standard LXX reading ('πρὸς τὸν ναὸν...' meaning 'toward [your] temple'), this text reads 'λαὸν' (people). The translation follows the provided Greek text, 'toward your holy people'.
  3. 2.7καὶ ἀναβήτω φθορὰ ζωῆς μου — The third-person singular active imperative 'ἀναβήτω' (let it ascend) has 'φθορὰ ζωῆς μου' (the destruction of my life) as its subject. This is a unique LXX rendering of the Hebrew ('you brought up my life from the pit'), interpreted here as a prayer that the destruction of his life might ascend and thus be removed.
  4. 2.10σωτηρίου τῷ κυρίῳ — This can be construed as the genitive of the neuter noun 'σωτήριον' (salvation or saving-offering), meaning either 'salvation belongs to the Lord' or 'an offering of salvation to the Lord'. The translation reflects the declarative confessional sense.

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Jonah §2.1-2.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg041.humanitext-grc1:2.1-2.11

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.