John Calvin Commentary Jonah 2:4

"And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple." — Jonah 2:4 (ASV)

In the first clause of this verse, Jonah confirms again what I have said: that when he sought to pray, not only was the door closed against him, but there were mountains, as it were, intervening, so that he could not breathe a prayer to God. For he did not so much think of the state in which he was; rather, he chiefly considered his own case, how he had provoked the wrath of God.

Hence he says, I have said, I am cast away from the sight of thine eyes. Some offer this unconvincing interpretation, that he had only been expelled from his own country, so that he might not behold the temple. But I have no doubt that Jonah tells us here that he suffered extreme agonies, as though every hope of pardon had been cut off from him: “What! Shall I still hope that God will be propitious? It is not to be hoped for.”

This, then, is the casting away of which he speaks, for it is said that God casts us away when he allows us no access to him. Therefore, Jonah thought that he was wholly alienated from God.

If anyone were to object and say that his faith must have then been extinct, the obvious answer is that in the struggle of faith there are internal conflicts; one thought is suggested, and then another of an opposite character meets it. Indeed, there would be no trial of our faith unless there were such internal conflicts. For when, with peaceful minds, we can feel assured that God is propitious to us, what is the trial of faith?

But when the flesh tells us that God is opposed to us and that there is no more hope of pardon, faith finally sets up its shield, repels this onset of temptation, and entertains hope of pardon. Whenever God for a time appears implacable, then faith is indeed tried.

Such, then, was the condition of Jonah. For, according to the judgment of the flesh, he thought that he was utterly cast away by God, so that he approached him in vain. Jonah, then, not yet having put off flesh and blood, could not immediately lay hold of the grace of God, but difficulties met him in his way.

The latter clause is differently explained by interpreters. Some take it negatively: “I shall no more look towards the temple of thy holiness.” But the words do not support this explanation. אך, ak, means in Hebrew, truly, nevertheless; and it also means certainly; and sometimes it is taken to express doubt, meaning “perhaps.”

Most commentators render the clause thus: “But I shall see the temple of thy holiness.” This is as though Jonah here reproved his own distrust, which he had just expressed (as is the case with the faithful, who immediately check themselves when they are tempted to entertain any doubt): “What! Do you then cast away hope, when God will still be reconciled to you if you will come to him?”

Therefore, interpreters think that it is a sort of correction, as though Jonah here changed his mind and retracted what he had previously accepted as a false principle derived from the judgment of the flesh.

He had said, then, that he had been cast away from the presence of the Lord. But now, according to these commentators, he repels that temptation: But I shall see thy holy temple; though I seem now to be rejected by you, you will at last receive me into favor.

We may, however, explain this clause, consistently with the former, in this way: “At least,” or “but, I would again see” (and so on), as an expression of a wish. The future tense, then, may be taken for the optative mood, as we know that the Hebrews are accustomed to use the future tense in this way, either when they pray or express a wish.

This meaning, then, best agrees with the passage: that Jonah, still doubting, prays, “At least, or, but, I would again, O Lord, see the temple of your holiness.”

But since the former explanation which I have mentioned is probable, I do not contend for this one.

However this may be, we find that Jonah did not wholly despair, though the judgment of the flesh would drive him to despair, for he immediately turned his address to God.

For those who murmur against God, on the contrary, speak in the third person, turning themselves, as it were, away from him. But Jonah here sets God before his eyes: I have been cast away, he says, from the sight of thine eyes. He does not remonstrate here with God, but shows that he was still seeking God, though he thought that he was cast far away.

Then he adds, I would at least see again the temple of thy holiness. And by speaking of the temple, he no doubt set the temple before him as an encouragement to his faith. As, then, he had been cast away, he gathers everything that might serve to raise up and confirm his hope.

He had indeed been circumcised, he had been a worshipper of God from his childhood, he had been educated in the Law, and he had exercised himself in offering sacrifices: under the name of temple he now briefly includes all these things.

Thus we see that he encouraged himself to entertain good hope in his extreme necessity.

And this is a useful admonition. For when every access to God seems closed against us, nothing is more useful than to recall to mind that he has adopted us from our very infancy, that he has also testified his favor by many tokens, especially that he has called us by his Gospel into fellowship with his only-begotten Son, who is life and salvation; and then, that he has confirmed his favor both by Baptism and the Supper.

When, therefore, these things come to our minds, we may be able by faith to break through all impediments.

Let us go on—