Jonah 2:9
“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Jonah vows to offer thankful sacrifice and pay his vows, declaring that salvation belongs to the LORD.
What Does Jonah 2:9 Mean?
Jonah's prayer rises to its climax. Against the empty idols of the previous verse, he sets his own resolve: I will sacrifice with thanksgiving and pay what I have vowed. And then comes the great confession that crowns the whole psalm and arguably the whole book: Salvation is of the LORD. Deliverance does not come from running, from striving, or from idols, but from God alone.
This single line is the theological heart of Jonah. Salvation belongs to the Lord; it is His to give and His alone. Jonah has learned it the hard way, in the belly of the deep, and now he proclaims it with thanksgiving. The whole of Scripture gathers into this truth, which finds its fullness in the One whose very name means the Lord saves. We cannot rescue ourselves from our deepest dangers. But there is a Savior, and salvation is His gift, freely poured out on all who cry to Him.
In the Original Language
yeshu'ah (יְשׁוּעָה), 'salvation' -- deliverance or rescue that belongs to God alone; the same root stands behind the name of Jesus, the Lord who saves.