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But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Jonah 2:9 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
  • BSB But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!”
  • NKJV But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
  • NASB But I will sacrifice to You With a voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord.”
  • NLT But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

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 vows to sacrifice with thanksgiving, declaring that salvation belongs to Yahweh. It matters because it states the book's central truth: deliverance is God's work, not man's.

Overview

In contrast to the idolaters, Jonah promises grateful worship and the fulfilling of his vows. His climactic confession, 'Salvation belongs to Yahweh,' sums up the whole book and the whole gospel: rescue is from the Lord alone. This truth, learned in the fish, is the very mercy Jonah will struggle to extend to Nineveh.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Ps 3:8Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
  • Ps 50:14Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
  • Eccl 5:4–5When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
  • Heb 13:15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
  • Ps 50:23Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
  • Ps 68:20He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.
  • Ps 116:17–18I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
  • Hos 14:2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
  • Ps 37:39–40But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
  • Rom 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
  • Isa 45:17But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
  • Rev 7:10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
  • Jer 33:11The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
  • John 4:22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
  • Job 22:27Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
  • Gen 35:3And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
  • Ps 107:22And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
  • Acts 4:12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
  • Ps 66:13–15I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
  • 2 Sam 15:7And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
  • Deut 23:18Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jonah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jonah 2:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JonahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 2:9 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.