Jonas 1:17

Louis Segond

L'Eternel fit venir un grand poisson pour engloutir Jonas, et Jonas fut dans le ventre du poisson trois jours et trois nuits.

Parallel Translations

La Bible David Martin (1744)
span data-lang="fre" data-trans="mar" data-ref="jon.1.1" class="versetxt"> Or la parole de l'Eternel fut [adressée] à Jonas fils d'Amittaï, en disant : Lève-toi, et t'en va à Ninive, la grande ville, et tonne contre elle; car leur malice est montée jusqu'à moi. Mais Jonas se leva pour s'enfuir en Tarsis, de devant la face de l'Eternel, et descendit à Japho, où il trouva un navire qui allait en Tarsis; et ayant payé le port, il y entra, pour aller avec eux en Tarsis, de devant la face de l'Eternel. Mais l'Eternel éleva un grand vent sur la mer, et il y eut une grande tourmente en la mer, de sorte que le navire se pensa rompre. Et les mariniers eurent peur, et ils crièrent chacun à son Dieu, et jetèrent dans la mer la charge du navire pour l'en décharger; mais Jonas était descendu au fond du navire, et y était couché, et il dormait profondément. Alors le maître pilote s'approcha de lui, et lui dit : Qu'as-tu, dormeur? Lève-toi, crie à ton Dieu; il pensera, peut-être, à nous, et nous ne périrons point. Puis ils se dirent l'un à l'autre : Venez, et jetons le sort afin que nous sachions à cause de qui ce mal nous est arrivé. Ils jetèrent donc le sort, et le sort tomba sur Jonas. Alors ils lui dirent : Déclare-nous maintenant, pourquoi ce mal-ici nous est arrivé, quel est ton métier, et d'où tu viens; quel est ton pays, et de quel peuple tu es. Et il leur dit : Je suis Hébreu, et je crains l'Eternel, le Dieu des cieux, qui a fait la mer et le sec. Alors ces hommes furent saisis d'une grande crainte, et lui dirent : Pourquoi as-tu fait cela? Car ces hommes avaient entendu qu'il s'enfuyait de devant la face de l'Eternel, parce qu'il le leur avait déclaré. Et ils lui dirent : Que te ferons-nous afin que la mer se calme, nous laissant en paix? Car la mer se tourmentait de plus en plus. Et il leur répondit : Prenez-moi, et me jetez dans la mer, et la mer s'apaisera, vous laissant en paix; car je connais que cette grande tourmente est venue sur vous à cause de moi. Et ces hommes voguaient pour relâcher à terre, mais ils ne pouvaient, parce que la mer s'agitait de plus en plus. Ils crièrent donc à l'Eternel, et dirent : Eternel, nous te prions que nous ne périssions point maintenant à cause de l'âme de cet homme-ci, et ne mets point sur nous le sang innocent; car tu es l'Eternel, tu en as fait comme il t'a plu. Alors ils prirent Jonas, et le jetèrent dans la mer, et la tourmente de la mer s'arrêta. Et ces gens-là craignirent l'Eternel d'une grande crainte, et ils offrirent des sacrifices à l'Eternel, et vouèrent des vÅ“ux.

La Bible Ostervald (1996)
span data-lang="fre" data-trans="ost" data-ref="jon.1.1" class="versetxt"> La parole de l'Éternel fut adressée à Jonas, fils d'Amitthaï, en ces mots: Lève-toi, va à Ninive, la grande ville, et crie contre elle; car leur méchanceté est montée jusqu'à moi. Mais Jonas se leva pour s'enfuir à Tarsis, de devant la face de l'Éternel. Il descendit à Japho, et il trouva un navire qui allait à Tarsis; il paya son passage, et y entra pour aller avec eux à Tarsis, de devant la face de l'Éternel. Mais l'Éternel souleva un grand vent sur la mer, et il y eut une grande tempête sur la mer, et le navire était sur le point de se briser. Et les marins eurent peur; ils crièrent chacun à leur dieu, et jetèrent à la mer les objets qui étaient dans le navire, pour l'alléger; mais Jonas était descendu au fond du navire, s'était couché et dormait profondément. Alors le pilote s'approcha de lui, et lui dit: Pourquoi dors-tu? Lève-toi, crie à ton Dieu. Peut-être pensera-t-il à nous, et nous ne périrons pas. Puis ils se dirent l'un à l'autre: Venez, jetons le sort, et nous saurons qui est cause de ce malheur qui nous arrive. Ils jetèrent donc le sort, et le sort tomba sur Jonas. Alors ils lui dirent: Fais-nous donc savoir pourquoi ce malheur nous arrive. Quelle est ta profession, et d'où viens-tu? Quel est ton pays, et de quel peuple es-tu? Et il leur dit: Je suis Hébreu, et je crains l'Éternel, le Dieu des cieux, qui a fait la mer et la terre. Et ces hommes furent saisis d'une grande crainte, et ils lui dirent: Pourquoi as-tu fait cela? Car ces hommes savaient qu'il s'enfuyait de devant la face de l'Éternel, parce qu'il le leur avait déclaré. Ils lui dirent donc: Que te ferons-nous, pour que la mer s'apaise envers nous? Car la mer devenait de plus en plus orageuse. Et il leur répondit: Prenez-moi, et jetez-moi dans la mer, et la mer s'apaisera envers vous; car je sais que c'est à cause de moi que cette grande tempête est venue sur vous. Et ces hommes ramaient pour gagner la terre, mais ils ne le purent, parce que la mer s'agitait de plus en plus contre eux. Alors ils crièrent à l'Éternel, et dirent: O Éternel! que nous ne périssions pas à cause de la vie de cet homme, et ne mets point sur nous le sang innocent! Car toi, ô Éternel, tu fais comme il te plaît. Puis ils prirent Jonas, et le jetèrent dans la mer, et la fureur de la mer s'arrêta. Et ces hommes furent saisis d'une grande crainte de l'Éternel. Ils offrirent des sacrifices à l'Éternel, et firent des vÅ“ux.

Darby's French Translation
(2:1) Et l'Éternel prépara un grand poisson pour engloutir Jonas; et Jonas fut dans les entrailles du poisson trois jours et trois nuits.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Lord: Jonah 4:6, Genesis 1:21, Psalms 104:25, Psalms 104:26, Habakkuk 3:2

in: Matthew 12:40, Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:30

belly: Heb. bowels

Reciprocal: Exodus 2:5 - when she 1 Samuel 30:12 - three days Psalms 124:3 - swallowed Jonah 2:10 - General Jonah 4:8 - that God Matthew 17:27 - and take Mark 8:31 - and after 1 Corinthians 15:4 - according

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah,.... Not from the creation of the world, as say the Jews p; for this is to be understood, not of the formation or making of it; but of the ordering and disposition of it by the providence of God to be near the ship, and its mouth open to receive Jonah, as soon as he was cast forth from thence: and a great one it must be, to take him at once into its mouth, and swallow him down its throat, and retain him whole in its belly; and such great fishes there are in the sea, particularly the "carcharias", or dog fish; the same with Triton's dog, said to swallow Hercules, in which he was three days; and which fable perhaps took its rise from hence. In Matthew 12:40, it is said to be a "whale"; but then that must be understood, not as the proper name of a fish, but as common to all great fishes; otherwise the whale, properly so called, it is said, has not a swallow large enough to take down a man; though some deny this, and assert they are capable of it. Of the "balaena", which is one kind of whale, it is reported q, that when it apprehends its young ones in danger, will take them, and hide them within itself; and then afterwards throw them out again; and certain it is that the whale is a very great fish, if not the greatest. Pliny r speaks of whales six hundred feet long, and three hundred and sixty broad; and of the bones of a fish, which were brought to Rome from Joppa, and there shown as a miracle, which were forty feet long; and said to be the bones of the monstrous fish to which Andromede at Joppa was exposed s; which story seems to be hammered out of this history of Jonah; and the same is reported by Solinus t; however, it is out of doubt that there are fishes capable of swallowing a man. Nierembergius u speaks of a fish taken near Valencia in Spain, so large that a man on horseback could stand in its mouth; the cavity of the, brain held seven men; its jaw bones, which were kept in the Escurial, were seventeen feet long; and two carcasses were found in its stomach: he says it was called "piscis mularis"; but some learned men took it to be the dog fish before mentioned; and such a large devouring creature is the shark, of which the present bishop of Bergen w, and others, interpret this fish here; in which sometimes has been found the body of a man, and even of a man in armour, as many writers x have observed. Some y think it was a crocodile, which, though a river fish, yet, for the most part, is at the entrance of rivers, and sometimes goes into the sea many miles, and is capable of swallowing a man; some are above thirty feet long; and in the belly of one of them, in the Indies, was found a woman with all her clothes on z:

and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights: that is, one whole natural day, consisting of twenty four hours, and part of two others; the Jews having no other way of expressing a natural day but by day and night; and to this the antitype answers; namely, our Lord's being so long in the grave; of whose death, burial, and resurrection, this was a type, as appears from Matthew 12:40; for which reason Jonah was so miraculously preserved; and a miracle it was that he should not in this time be digested in the stomach of the creature; that he was not suffocated in it, but breathed and lived; and that he was able to bear the stench of the creature's maw; and that he should have his senses, and be in such a frame of mind as both to pray and praise; but what is it that the power of God cannot do? Here some begin the second chapter, and not amiss.

p Pirke Eliezer, c. 10. fol. 10. 2. q Philostrat. Vit. Apollonii, l. 1. c. 7. r Nat. Hist. l. 32, c. 1. s Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 5. t Polyhistor. c. 47. u Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 26. apud Schotti Physics Curiosa, par. 2. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 9. w Pantoppidan's History of Norway, par. 2. p. 114, 116. x Vid, Lipen. Jonae Displus, c. 2. th. 6. in Dissert. Theolog. Philol. tom. 1. p. 987. y Vid. Texelii Phoenix, l. 3. c. 6. p. 242, 243. z Mandelsloe in Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 1. B. 1. c. 2. p. 759.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now the Lord had (literally “And the Lord”) prepared - Jonah (as appears from his thanksgiving) was not swallowed at once, but sank to the bottom of the sea, God preserving him in life there by miracle, as he did in the fish’s belly. Then, when the seaweed was twined around his head, and he seemed to be already buried until the sea should give up her dead, “God prepared the fish to swallow Jonah” . “God could as easily have kept Jonah alive in the sea as in the fish’s belly, but, in order to prefigure the burial of the Lord, He willed him to be within the fish whose belly was as a grave.” Jonah, does not say what fish it was; and our Lord too used a name, signifying only one of the very largest fish. Yet it was no greater miracle to create a fish which should swallow Jonah, than to preserve him alive when swallowed . “The infant is buried, as it were, in the womb of its mother; it cannot breathe, and yet, thus too, it liveth and is preserved, wonderfully nurtured by the will of God.” He who preserves the embryo in its living grave can maintain the life of man as easily without the outward air as with it.

The same Divine Will preserves in being the whole creation, or creates it. The same will of God keeps us in life by breathing this outward air, which preserved Jonah without it. How long will men think of God, as if He were man, of the Creator as if He were a creature, as though creation were but one intricate piece of machinery, which is to go on, ringing its regular changes until it shall be worn out, and God were shut up, as a sort of mainspring within it, who might be allowed to be a primal Force, to set it in motion, but must not be allowed to vary what He has once made? “We must admit of the agency of God,” say these men when they would not in name be atheists, “once in the beginning of things, but must allow of His interference as sparingly as may be.” Most wise arrangement of the creature, if it were indeed the god of its God! Most considerate provision for the non-interference of its Maker, if it could but secure that He would not interfere with it for ever! Acute physical philosophy, which, by its omnipotent word, would undo the acts of God! Heartless, senseless, sightless world, which exists in God, is upheld by God, whose every breath is an effluence of God’s love, and which yet sees Him not, thanks Him not, thinks it a greater thing to hold its own frail existence from some imagined law, than to be the object of the tender personal care of the Infinite God who is Love! Poor hoodwinked souls, which would extinguish for themselves the Light of the world, in order that it may not eclipse the rushlight of their own theory!

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish - The time that Jonah was in the fish’s belly was a hidden prophecy. Jonah does not explain nor point it. He tells the fact, as Scripture is accustomed to do so. Then he singles out one, the turning point in it. Doubtless in those three days and nights of darkness, Jonah (like him who after his conversion became Paul), meditated much, repented much, sorrowed much, for the love of God, that he had ever offended God, purposed future obedience, adored God with wondering awe for His judgment and mercy. It was a narrow home, in which Jonah, by miracle, was not consumed; by miracle, breathed; by miracle, retained his senses in that fetid place. Jonah doubtless, repented, marveled, adored, loved God. But, of all, God has singled out this one point, how, out of such a place, Jonah thanked God. As He delivered Paul and Silas from the prison, when they prayed with a loud voice to Him, so when Jonah, by inspiration of His Spirit, thanked Him, He delivered him.

To thank God, only in order to obtain fresh gifts from Him, would be but a refined, hypocritical form of selfishness. Such a formal act would not be thanks at all. We thank God, because we love Him, because He is so infinitely good, and so good to us, unworthy. Thanklessness shuts the door to His personal mercies to us, because it makes them the occasion of fresh sins of our’s. Thankfulness sets God’s essential goodness free (so to speak) to be good to us. He can do what He delights in doing, be good to us, without our making His Goodness a source of harm to us. Thanking Him through His grace, we become fit vessels for larger graces . “Blessed he who, at every gift of grace, returns to Him in whom is all fullness of graces; to whom when we show ourselves not ungrateful for gifts received, we make room in ourselves for grace, and become meet for receiving yet more.” But Jonah’s was that special character of thankfulness, which thanks God in the midst of calamities from which there was no human exit; and God set His seal on this sort of thankfulness, by annexing this deliverance, which has consecrated Jonah as an image of our Lord, to his wonderful act of thanksgiving.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jonah 1:17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish — דג גדול dag gadol. This could not have been a whale, for the throat of that animal can scarcely admit a man's leg; but it might have been a shark, which abounds in the Mediterranean, and whose mouth and stomach are exceedingly capacious. In several cases they have been known to swallow a man when thrown overboard. See the note on Matthew 12:40, where the whole subject of this verse is considered at large. That days and nights do not, among the Hebrews, signify complete days and nights of twenty-four hours, see Esther 4:16, compared with Esther 5:1; Judges 14:17-18. Our Lord lay in the grave one natural day, and part of two others; and it is most likely that this was the precise time that Jonah was in the fish's belly.