Jonah 2 6

Jonah 2:6 kjv

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

Jonah 2:6 nkjv

I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.

Jonah 2:6 niv

To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit.

Jonah 2:6 esv

at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.

Jonah 2:6 nlt

I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth,
whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O LORD my God,
snatched me from the jaws of death!

Jonah 2 verses

Jonah 2 6 Meaning

Jonah 2:6 portrays Jonah's desperate cry from the depths, recounting his experience of extreme proximity to death and his miraculous rescue by God. He describes feeling as if he had descended to the deepest parts of the earth, imprisoned by its "bars," believing his fate was sealed forever in the realm of the dead. Yet, he emphatically declares that it was the Lord, his personal God, who miraculously "brought up his life from the pit," highlighting God's power over death and the impossible, affirming divine intervention in his ultimate despair.

Jonah 2 6 Context

Jonah chapter 2 records Jonah's psalm-like prayer to God from within the belly of the great fish. Following his disobedient attempt to flee from the Lord's command (Jonah 1) and being swallowed by the fish, Jonah is at the absolute lowest point, both geographically in the deep sea and spiritually in profound despair. This specific verse (2:6) reflects the pinnacle of his near-death experience, expressing the overwhelming sense of doom and imprisonment he felt, contrasted sharply with God's miraculous act of preservation. His surroundings (deep ocean, foundational depths of mountains, encasing "bars" of the earth) emphasize his inescapable predicament, yet the verse concludes with an astonishing declaration of divine rescue, illustrating that no depth is beyond God's reach.

Jonah 2 6 Word analysis

• I went down (וַתֹּרִדֵנִי֙ - vattorideni): The verb is a Hiphil perfect 1st person singular of יָרַד (yarad), meaning 'to cause to descend' or 'bring down'. While often translated 'I went down', it's active-voice, reflecting a perceived deliberate descent or being drawn down into the deep, possibly hinting at the feeling of death's descent.
• to the bottoms (קִצְבֵי - qitsvei): From קֶצֶב (qetsev), meaning 'end', 'cut off portion', 'edge', 'bottom'. It denotes the lowest or extreme limits, a place of utter cessation or foundation. It implies an unreachable, foundational depth, perhaps related to the mythological roots or foundations of the earth itself, as ancient thought perceived the earth having foundations or pillars.
• of the mountains (הָרִ֔ים - hahrim): Plural of הַר (har), meaning 'mountain'. This imagery is profound: "the roots/bases of the mountains" typically implies the absolute deepest, firmest, and most remote parts of the earth, far beneath the sea's surface. This place symbolizes an ultimate descent beyond any human reach, on the very threshold of Sheol.
• the earth (הָאָ֖רֶץ - ha'aretz): The common Hebrew word for 'earth' or 'land'. Here, it symbolizes the solid, encompassing mass of the grave or underworld, signifying a total closure around him.
• with its bars (בְּרִחֶיהָ֙ - b'richaheha): From בְּרִיחַ (beriyach), meaning 'bar' or 'bolt', usually for fastening doors or gates. The image evokes an inescapable prison or tomb, implying a sealed confinement with no hope of escape, typically associated with the gates of Sheol. This directly parallels ancient understandings of the underworld being a walled and barred city.
• was about me (עָדִ֣י - adi): Meaning 'upon me', 'around me'. Conveys a sense of being completely surrounded, engulfed, and imprisoned by the earth's confining structure.
• forever (לְעוֹלָ֑ם - l'olam): Signifies 'for all time', 'everlasting', 'forever'. This expresses Jonah's absolute conviction that his predicament was permanent, an endless confinement in death's domain. It highlights the perceived finality of his descent into what he believed was death itself.
• yet you brought up (וַתַּ֗עַל - vatta'al): A waw-conversive imperfect (conveys past action) of עָלָה (alah), meaning 'to go up', 'ascend', or 'bring up'. The shift in subject from Jonah's descent to God's action ("You") is pivotal, demonstrating God's sovereign reversal of his dire fate.
• my life (חַיָּ֑י - chayyay): From חַיִּים (chayyim), 'life' or 'lives'. Here it refers to Jonah's entire being, his very existence, indicating a rescue not just from a predicament but from death itself. In biblical terms, nephesh (often translated as soul or life) means the whole person.
• from the pit (מִשָּׁ֛חַת - mishachat): From שַׁחַת (shachat), a significant term meaning 'pit', 'destruction', 'corruption', 'grave', often synonymous with Sheol (the realm of the dead). This confirms Jonah's experience as one of being delivered from the brink of physical destruction and death.
• O LORD my God (יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָֽי - YHWH Elohay): Jonah addresses God with His covenant name, YHWH (the personal, covenantal name of God revealed to Israel), combined with 'my God' (Elohim, a more general term for God, here in the possessive). This personal address signifies a deep, renewed relationship and trust, even after his rebellion, acknowledging God's unique authority and his personal relationship with Him as his deliverer.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains": This phrase paints a picture of descent to an ultimate, impossible depth, beyond human understanding or escape, hinting at the threshold of the underworld. It implies an overwhelming and complete sinking into death's grasp.
• "the earth with its bars was about me forever": This depicts Jonah as utterly confined and sealed off by the very substance of the earth, as if in an unbreakable prison or tomb. "Forever" expresses the utter hopelessness of his perceived end, highlighting the absolute finality he experienced.
• "yet you brought up my life from the pit": This is the dramatic turning point. The conjunction "yet" powerfully contrasts Jonah's hopeless state with God's intervention. God, not human effort, effects the rescue from the domain of death ("the pit"), demonstrating divine omnipotence over life and death.
• "O LORD my God": This personal address indicates Jonah's recognition of God's covenant faithfulness and sovereign power even after his disobedience. It is a cry of intimate recognition and thanksgiving from one who has faced the abyss and been redeemed.

Jonah 2 6 Bonus section

• Polemics against contemporary beliefs: In the ancient Near East, the sea was often associated with chaos and unpredictable deities, while specific gods might govern parts of the underworld. Jonah's experience, however, decisively demonstrates that Yahweh alone controls the deepest parts of the sea, the structures of the earth, and the boundaries of death. There are no rival deities who can restrain Him or operate independently of His command. Even the "bars" of Sheol, often considered unbreachable, yield to His will.
• The prayer as a 'psalm of thanksgiving in retrospect': Although prayed from desperation, the language of Jonah 2, especially verse 6, indicates that it's largely a psalm of thanksgiving, reflecting on God's salvation as a past event. This suggests a shift in Jonah's heart from fear and despair to faith and gratitude even while still physically inside the fish.
• Physical vs. Spiritual experience: While literally in a fish, Jonah's words convey an experience far more profound than mere marine discomfort. He perceives himself as having truly touched death's door, a spiritual and emotional descent into Sheol itself, highlighting the terror of divine judgment and the hopelessness of self-salvation.

Jonah 2 6 Commentary

Jonah 2:6 is a vivid declaration of deliverance from the jaws of death, portraying Jonah's experience as an ascent from the deepest conceivable despair. The imagery of "the bottoms of the mountains" and "bars" of the earth signifies not merely a physical depth, but an existential and spiritual plummet into the very gates of Sheol, the ancient concept of the realm of the dead. Jonah believed he was trapped "forever," a state of ultimate finality, where life had ceased and return was impossible.

This verse powerfully asserts God's ultimate sovereignty. It contrasts the apparent inescapability of death with the miraculous, life-giving power of the Lord. God reaches into the deepest "pit"—the realm of destruction and the grave—and restores life. This serves as a testament to God's unparalleled power over all creation, including the elements (the great fish) and the boundaries of life and death themselves. The theological impact is profound: no place is too deep, no situation too desperate, no individual too far gone for God's saving arm to reach and restore. It prefigures the ultimate rescue from the pit of death accomplished by Christ's resurrection.