Jonah 2:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In contrast to celestial joy, described as “his place is in the holy world” (Psalms 75:3), every earthly dwelling is tumultuous and tempest-tossed. The expression “the heart of the sea” metaphorically represents the underworld, which in the Gospel is referred to as “the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40). Just as the heart resides at the center of a being, the underworld is at the core of the earth. Alternatively, it may signify that He was deep in the sea, representing a time of trial. Despite being surrounded by harsh waters and facing all forms of temptation yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), He remained unaffected by the bitterness of those waters, as He was enveloped by a current that can be likened to a source of joy, echoing another passage: “rivers of living water will make glad the city of God” (Psalms 45:5). While others may find only the saltiness of the sea in their trials, He was refreshed amidst His temptations.

Let it not appear irreverent that the Lord claims, “You have cast me into the deep,” as it is He who also declares in the Psalm, “For in Him You have cast them down” (Psalms 68:27), corroborated by the Father in Zechariah, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31). All Your waves and billows have surged over me. It is evident that as the sea's waves ascended over Jonah, and a fierce storm arose around him, this too occurred to the Saviour. But we might inquire: how did all the surging waters and tides of God pass over Christ? “What is mankind, that You make so much of them” (Job 7:1), for we are here but travelers, awaiting our reward elsewhere. No one can endure every trial except the One who, like us, was tempted in all manner but without sin (Heb. 4:15). Consequently, Paul reminds the Corinthians: “But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Since every challenge and affliction occurs under God's sovereign will, the storms and waves that did not engulf Jesus but merely brushed against Him, threatening yet never overtaking Him, are attributed to God. In this way, the sufferings and trials that beset humanity washed over me, yet He assures, I withstood their fury, calming the tempest so that others might navigate with greater safety.

He had no means to swim upward and reach the surface of the waves (heights). The Psalmist expresses something akin to this in a metaphorical reflection of his afflictions: I am stuck in the depths of the deep, I have sunk into the depths of the sea, and the storm has overwhelmed me (Psalm 68:3). All Thy heights and Thy waves are upon me (Psalm 41:8). Both the prophet Jonah and the psalmist identified the waves of the sea as belonging to the Lord (Thy) in the sense that they were lifted by Him as instruments of His mighty will.