“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
Parallel translations
- WEB The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.
- KJV The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
- BSB The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head.
- NKJV The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
- NASB “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The deep flowed around me, Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
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
Jonah vividly describes drowning, with waters and seaweed engulfing him to the point of death. It matters because it shows how near death he was, making his rescue clearly God's saving work.
Overview
The waters surrounding him 'even to the soul' and weeds wrapped around his head paint a picture of a man at the very threshold of death. This stark imagery magnifies the depth of his peril and therefore the greatness of his deliverance. It reminds readers that God meets His people in their lowest extremity, where only He can save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ps 69:1–2For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
- Lam 3:54Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
- Ps 40:2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 2:5 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.