Jonah 2:4
What does Jonah 2:4 mean?
A plain-English look at Jonah 2:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Jonah 2:4 means
Jonah felt cut off from God—“cast out from before thine eyes”—a dreadful verdict for a prophet who once fled that very presence. Yet he chooses hope: he will look again toward God’s holy temple, the place of sacrifice, forgiveness, and favor. To look is to lean with faith toward God’s appointed means of mercy. This is the pivot from despair to expectation. Though his feelings insist he is rejected, his faith insists God still receives the penitent. The verse models a faithful turn: owning the reality of separation while refusing to let it be the final word, fixing the heart anew on God’s dwelling and grace.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And I said, I have been sent away from before your eyes; how may I ever again see your holy Temple?
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And I--I said: I have been cast out from before Thine eyes, (Yet I add to look unto Thy holy temple!)
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And thou hast cast me forth into the deep, in the heart of the sea, and a flood hast compassed me: all thy billows, and thy waves have passed over me.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes, Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple.
Context
Coming after the flood of waters in verse 3, verse 4 names the deeper terror—divine abandonment—and immediately counters it with a resolve to seek God in His temple. The temple theme introduces hope that will surface again in verse 7. The following verses (5–6) will return to the physical extremity of Jonah’s plight, heightening the drama so that God’s rescue shines brighter. This verse stands as a hinge between doom felt and deliverance anticipated.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ezekiel 37:11
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
- Isaiah 49:14
But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
- 1 Kings 8:48
if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
- 1 Kings 8:38
what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
- 2 Chronicles 6:38
if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
- Jeremiah 7:15
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
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