Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
- BSB And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
- NKJV So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
- NASB Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
- NLT Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At God's command the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land. It matters because God, having heard his prayer, completes his deliverance and gives him a fresh start.
Overview
The fish obeys the Lord's word instantly, again showing creation serving its Maker. Jonah is returned to 'dry land,' the very realm he confessed God had made (1:9), and given a second opportunity to obey. This deliverance, like a man emerging alive after three days, stands as the sign of Jonah that Jesus applied to His own resurrection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 8:26–27He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
- Ps 33:9For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.
- Gen 1:3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- Matt 8:8–9The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
- Isa 50:2Why, when I came, was there no one? when I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
- Jonah 1:17Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- Gen 1:7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
- Gen 1:11God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.
- Ps 105:31He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
- Ps 105:34He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number,
- Gen 1:14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
- Gen 1:9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.
How Jonah 2:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.