Introduction: Yonah in the Belly of the Fish
Chapter 2 of Sefer Yonah is a chapter of prayer. Yonah is swallowed into the sea, descends into the depths, and from there - from the lowest and darkest place - he offers his prayer. The Malbim lays out before us the structure of the prayer and the meaning of every word, and Chazal in Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer add a wondrous description of what Yonah saw on his underwater journey. Let us follow the order of the verses.
וַיְמַן יְהֹוָה דָּג גָּדוֹל לִבְלֹעַ אֶת יוֹנָה, וַיְהִי יוֹנָה בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת. - And Hashem designated a great fish to swallow Yonah, and Yonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
"And He designated" (Vayeman) - the Holy One, Blessed be He, prepared it. And a great miracle occurred here: the fish swallowed Yonah whole, without dismembering him or breaking his bones. There was also an additional miracle: a human being requires oxygen, so how did Yonah survive in the belly of the fish without air?
The Malbim explains: death had been decreed upon Yonah, since he refused to go at the word of Hashem. From this point forward, it was considered as though he were reborn. And just as an embryo lives and is sustained in its mother's womb for nine months without breathing like an ordinary person, so too Yonah - like an embryo in the belly of the fish - could survive there for a long time.
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה אֶל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָיו מִמְּעֵי הַדָּגָה. - And Yonah prayed to Hashem his God from the belly of the fish.
In the first verse it says dag (a male fish) and in the second verse dagah (a female fish) - what changed? The commentators explain: at first Yonah was in the belly of a male fish, where he had plenty of room and felt comfortable, even quite content with the situation. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Yonah needs to be put under distress so that he begins to cry out to Me. Hashem commanded the fish and it disgorged him, and a female fish came and swallowed him. And what was the significance of the female fish? Her belly was full of numerous eggs, which made the space cramped and narrow for Yonah. From there, from within that distress, he cries out: "And Yonah prayed to Hashem his God from the belly of the fish."
The Malbim explains that dagah is a collective term denoting multiplicity, as in "and the fish (hadagah) that were in the river died" - the many fish in the river. According to this, Chazal's intention here was not merely a female fish, but a fish that had many fish inside it - a pregnant female carrying offspring, so that numerous fish were found within her.
וַיֹּאמֶר: קָרָאתִי מִצָּרָה לִי אֶל יְהֹוָה וַיַּעֲנֵנִי, מִבֶּטֶן שְׁאוֹל שִׁוַּעְתִּי שָׁמַעְתָּ קוֹלִי. - And he said: I called out of my distress to Hashem, and He answered me; out of the belly of the depths I cried out, and You heard my voice.
The Malbim explains: The prayer is divided into three parts, corresponding to three stages. The first part - when the sailors cast him from the ship into the sea: mortal danger, terrifying fear, despairing of his life, certain that he was about to die - and then the fish came and swallowed him, and he realized that the Holy One, blessed be He, had saved him. The second part - when the fish spit him out, and once again he realized that he was about to die, and the female fish came and swallowed him. The third part - after the female fish swallowed him and it became cramped for him, "When you are in distress and all these things have befallen you," and having no choice, he began to pray, his heart broke, and he said: I am ready to do whatever Hashem commands.
Therefore, he begins with a general statement: "I called out of my distress to Hashem, and He answered me" - referring to both times he was cast into the sea, both by the sailors and by the fish that spewed him into the sea; in both instances I called out, and Hashem answered and saved me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried" - and now I am placed inside the belly of the female fish, which is like Sheol, like Gehinnom, compressed and cramped, and from there I cry out, and I am certain that "You heard my voice" and will deliver me from here as well.
וַתַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מְצוּלָה בִּלְבַב יַמִּים וְנָהָר יְסֹבְבֵנִי, כָּל מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ עָלַי עָבָרוּ. - "For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current surrounded me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over me."
Now Yonah begins to detail his experience. First he said, "I called out of my distress to Hashem" - and when was that? When they cast me from the ship. "For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas" - I was cast from the ship into the heart of the sea, in terrifying fear, "and the current surrounded me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over me."
וַאֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי נִגְרַשְׁתִּי מִנֶּגֶד עֵינֶיךָ, אַךְ אוֹסִיף לְהַבִּיט אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ. - "And I said: I have been driven out from before Your eyes; yet I will look again toward Your holy Temple."
At that moment, I thought I had been banished - like a divorce - from before Your eyes. But when I saw that the fish came and swallowed me, and I remained alive, I understood that "I will look again toward Your holy Temple": You have not cast me away from before You, and I will yet merit to gaze upon Your holy Temple and continue to live.
אֲפָפוּנִי מַיִם עַד נֶפֶשׁ, תְּהוֹם יְסֹבְבֵנִי, סוּף חָבוּשׁ לְרֹאשִׁי. - "The waters encompassed me, even to the soul; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head."
Here he describes the second stage - when the fish spewed him into the sea, and once again the waters encompassed him to the soul, and once again he despaired of his life. "Weeds were wrapped about my head [suf chavush leroshi]" - it is written that the fish led him through Yam Suf (the Red Sea), and from there to Nineveh. And according to the Malbim, its meaning is: The waters above the abyss are called "suf," and since I was in the abyss with Yam Suf above me, the sea was, as it were, bound about my head.
The Radak explains differently: While the fish was in the sea, seaweeds became caught on the head of the fish, just as branches catch on a moving ship. And Yonah says, "Weeds were wrapped about my head" - meaning about the head of the fish, but he already identified with the fish, since he was situated inside it, and the fish's head was like his own.
לְקִצְבֵי הָרִים יָרַדְתִּי, הָאָרֶץ בְּרִחֶיהָ בַעֲדִי לְעוֹלָם, וַתַּעַל מִשַּׁחַת חַיַּי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָי. - I descended to the bases of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever, yet You brought up my life from the pit, Hashem, my God.
Here he describes being in the depths of the abyss beneath the mountains. In certain places, the sea extends downward beneath the subterranean earth, like underground waters that seep beneath the mountains - and sometimes a spring emerges inside a mountain, as subterranean waters rise under pressure and break forth. Yonah says: The Holy One, blessed be He, took me inside this fish deep beneath the earth; "I descended to the cuts of the mountains" - from the term for the cutting off of the mountains, beneath that very place I descended into the depths of the abyss.
"The earth, its bars were behind me forever" - the earth above me was like a locked bolt, for in such a state the fish cannot lift its head and has no way out; the mountains and the earth are closing in on me. And nevertheless - "yet You brought up my life from the pit, Hashem, my God"; despite everything, You delivered me from this distress, just as he said at the outset: "I called out of my distress to Hashem, and He answered me."
בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהֹוָה זָכָרְתִּי, וַתָּבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתִי אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ. - When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Hashem, and my prayer came to You, into Your Holy Temple.
Now he clarifies what he meant by "Out of the belly of the underworld I cried out": because I was so cramped from the spawn inside the female fish, "I remembered Hashem" - I remembered to pray, to repent, and to promise that I am ready to go and fulfill what Hashem commands, to go to Nineveh. "And my prayer came to You, into Your Holy Temple" - my prayer was accepted in Hashem's sanctuary, and in that merit the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged for the fish to cast me out near Nineveh. And what is the significance of "Your Holy Temple" here? Did he reach the Beit HaMikdash? After all, there is no sea in the Beit HaMikdash! We will see this shortly from the words of Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer.
מְשַׁמְּרִים הַבְלֵי שָׁוְא חַסְדָּם יַעֲזֹבוּ. - Those who cling to worthless vanities abandon their kindness.
Whom is this speaking about? The Radak explains that it refers to the sailors on the ship: they were idolaters, "cling to worthless vanities" - they worship futility and falsehood. Yonah says: I know that once they escaped danger, once the ship ceased being battered at sea, "they abandon their kindness" - they abandon the kindness and devotion they promised. For they cried out and pledged to offer sacrifices and make vows, but I know they will revert to their idolatry. I, however, am not like them.
This is like the joke about a man looking for parking in Tel Aviv. He drives around and around the same streets for twenty minutes and cannot find a spot. He says, "Master of the Universe, please find me a parking spot, I desperately need parking, fifty shekels to tzedakah!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he sees a car pulling out of a spot. He says, "Master of the Universe, never mind, I managed on my own!" This is precisely "those who cling to worthless vanities" - they make promises in a time of distress, and the moment the trouble passes, they forget everything.
However, the Malbim explains that this does not refer to the sailors, but rather to the people of Nineveh. Yonah says: I am prepared to go and do what You commanded me, I will go to Nineveh - yet the people of Nineveh "cling to worthless vanities," believing in idolatry. "Will they abandon their shame?" This is posed in rhetorical wonder: is it conceivable that they will truly abandon their idolatry? The word chasdam is used in the sense of disgrace, as in "it is a shameful thing" (chesed hu) - will they really abandon their disgrace? Surely they will not truly repent of the sin of idolatry, and even if they do repent, it will only be temporary, and they will soon return to their foolish ways. If so, what purpose will it serve?
וַאֲנִי בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה אֶזְבְּחָה לָּךְ, אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתִּי אֲשַׁלֵּמָה, יְשׁוּעָתָה לַיהֹוָה. - But as for me, with a voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to You; that which I have vowed I will pay; salvation is the Lord's.
Yona says: I am not like them. "With a voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to You" - for saving me; "that which I have vowed I will pay" - I promised and vowed to go to Nineveh, and I will go. And why specifically with a voice of thanksgiving? For seafaring travelers are one of the four who must give thanks, and I am among those who descend to the sea, and furthermore, I was in grave danger.
And even though I fear that troubles will come upon the Jewish people through Nineveh - for the moment I go and rebuke them, they will repent, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will use them as a rod against Israel: "See, to these gentiles I sent a prophet and they immediately changed their ways, yet you have not" - which will bring an accusation against Israel. Even so, "Salvation is the Lord's" - I am going as the Lord commands, and salvation belongs to the Lord: He will save Israel from all their troubles and ensure that no harm arises from this.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה לַדָּג וַיָּקֵא אֶת יוֹנָה אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה. - And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Yona onto the dry land.
And what distance did the fish transport him? Chazal say: nine hundred and sixty-five parsahs - nearly a thousand kilometers. Not on foot, but inside the fish, like a ship, like a submarine. And the Malbim notes an allusion to their words: "And the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Yona" (ויאמר ה' לדג ויקא את יונה) equals 965 in gematria, exactly the number of the distance that Chazal stated.
In Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 9, Yona's experiences inside the fish are described. Rabbi Tarfon says: "And [the Lord] designated" (vayeman) denotes appointment - the fish was designated from the six days of Creation to swallow Yona. Yona entered its mouth like a person entering a large synagogue, and stood there; and the two eyes of the fish were like illuminating windows for him. Like a submarine: he sat inside the fish and looked out through its two eyes just as one looks out a window, seeing everything taking place outside - and this was inside the first fish.
Rabbi Meir says: A precious pearl was suspended inside the fish, illuminating for Yona like the sun shining in its full strength at midday. This is just as we find with Noach, who had an illuminating pearl in the Ark. And do not wonder how a pearl came to be inside the belly of a fish - after all, Yosef Mokir Shabbat also received a pearl in the belly of a fish. And Yona could see everything in the sea and in the depths, as it is stated, "Light is sown for the righteous."
The fish said to Yona - and here it is worth knowing that when it is written that the fish spoke, it does not mean the fish itself, but the ministering angel of the fish in heaven, the angel appointed over it, for a fish fills its mouth with water and cannot speak - it said to him: Do you not know that my day has arrived to be eaten into the mouth of the Leviathan? Meaning: you have found refuge with me, yet today I am the Leviathan's lunch, and have you come to be part of this meal?
Yona said to it: Take me to him, and I will rescue both you and myself from his mouth. So it brought him to the Leviathan. Yona said to the Leviathan: On your account I have come down to see your dwelling in the sea, and not only that, but in the future I will descend, place a rope in your tongue, and draw you up for the great feast of the righteous in the World to Come. Yona showed him the seal of Avraham - which is the circumcision. The Leviathan looked and saw, and fled from Yona a distance of two days' journey. All because he saw him engraved with the covenant of Avraham Avinu.
Yona said to the fish: Behold, I saved you from the mouth of the Leviathan; now repay me - show me what is in the sea and in the depths, give me a guided tour. And it showed him the great river of the ocean waters, as it is stated, "and a river surrounded me." And it showed him the paths of the Red Sea through which Israel crossed, as it is stated, "seaweed (suf) was bound to my head." And it showed him the place where the waves of the sea break and from where the waves emerge, as it is stated, "all Your breakers and Your billows passed over me." And it showed him the pillars of the earth upon their foundations - the base of the globe - as it is stated, "the earth with its bars was around me." And it showed him the nethermost depths of Sheol, as it is stated, "yet You brought up my life from the pit," for the pit (shachat) is Gehinnom. And it showed him Gehinnom, as it is stated, "from the belly of Sheol I cried out"; and there are several levels in Gehinnom: Shachat, Sheol, Arka, Dumah, may we be spared such troubles.
And it showed him beneath the Temple of Hashem - bringing him directly beneath the Beit HaMikdash - as it is said, "To the bottoms of the mountains I went down." From here we learn that Jerusalem stands upon seven mountains. There he saw the Foundation Stone (Even Shetiyah) fixed in the depths, and he saw the sons of Korach standing and praying upon it. They said to Jonah: Behold, you are standing beneath the Temple of Hashem; pray, and you will be answered immediately - for you are right here next to the Even Shetiyah, which is the center. This aligns with what we said: beneath the earth there is water, and the fish carried him beneath the earth until the Beit HaMikdash was directly above him. And this is the meaning of "and my prayer came to You, into Your holy Temple" - that the fish literally brought him right there.
Jonah said to the fish: Stand where you are standing, for I wish to pray - just as one casts an anchor. The fish stood still, and Jonah began to pray before the Holy One, blessed be He, saying: Master of the Universe, You are called the One Who puts to death and brings to life; my soul has reached the point of death, revive me! Yet he was not answered until this came out of his mouth: "What I have vowed I will pay" - that which I vowed to bring up the Leviathan and prepare it before You on the day of Israel's salvation, as it says, "But I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You." Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, signaled to the fish and it spewed Jonah out onto dry land, as it is said, "And Hashem spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out."
The sailors saw all the great signs, miracles, and wonders that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed with Jonah, and each of them stood up and cast away his idols, as it says: "Those who heed vanity and false illusions abandon their kindness" - they abandoned their idol worship. They returned to Jaffa, went up to Jerusalem, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins, as it says: "And the men feared Hashem with great fear, and they offered a sacrifice to Hashem." Did they actually sacrifice an animal? There was no Temple there yet! Rather, this refers to the blood of the Brit Milah, which is considered like the blood of a sacrifice - they circumcised themselves, and it was accounted as a sacrifice. "And they made vows" - each vowed to bring his children and all he possessed to the God of Jonah, and they made vows and fulfilled them. And regarding them scripture refers to righteous converts.
Chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer from the depths. The Malbim divides it into three stages - being cast from the ship and swallowed by the fish; being spat out by the male fish and swallowed by the female fish; and the distress within the belly of the female fish, which brought him to a broken heart and to prayer. Jonah acknowledges that the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him each time. He details the depths, the Reed Sea above his head, his descent to the bottoms of the mountains, and the earth whose bars closed around him. He then undertakes: "What I have vowed I will pay" - I will go to Nineveh despite my fear of prosecution against Israel, for "salvation belongs to Hashem." Furthermore, the Sages in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer reveal that the fish led him 965 parsa'ot, showed him the wonders of the deep, and even positioned him beneath the Temple of Hashem beside the Even Shetiyah - and from there his prayer was accepted, and from there he emerged onto dry land to fulfill his mission.