Jonah 2:5

Water engulfed me up to my neck; ¹  the deep ocean ²  surrounded me; seaweed ³  was wrapped around my head.

The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.

"Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head.

"I sank beneath the waves, and death was very near. The waters closed in around me, and seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

Ocean gripped me by the throat. The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight. My head was all tangled in seaweed

The waters were circling round me, even to the neck; the deep was about me; the sea-grass was twisted round my head.

The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.

Water engulfed me up to my neck; ¹  the deep ocean ²  surrounded me; seaweed ³  was wrapped around my head.

¹ tn Heb “as far as the throat.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers sometimes to the throat or neck (Pss 69:1[2]; 105:18; 124:4, 5; Isa 5:14; HALOT 712 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 2). The water was up to Jonah’s neck (and beyond), so that his life was in great danger (cf. Ps 69:1).

² tn Or “the deep; the abyss” (תְּהוֹם, tÿhom). The simple “ocean” is perhaps too prosaic, since this Hebrew word has primeval connections (Gen 1:2; 7:11; 8:2; Prov 8:27-28) and speaks of the sea at its vastest (Job 38:16-18; Ps 36:6; 104:5-9).

³ tc The consonantal form סוף (svf) is vocalized by the MT as סוּף (suf, “reed”) but the LXX’s ἐσχάτη (escath, “end”) reflects a vocalization of סוֹף (sof, “end”). The reading in Tg. Jonah 2:5 interpreted this as a reference to the Reed Sea (also known as the Red Sea). In fact, the Jewish Midrash known as Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 10 states that God showed Jonah the way by which the Israelites had passed through the Red Sea. The MT vocalization tradition is preferred.

tn The noun סוּף (suf) normally refers to “reeds” – freshwater plants that grow in Egyptian rivers and marshes (Exod 2:3,5; Isa 10:19) – but here it refers to “seaweed” (HALOT 747 s.v. סוּף 1). Though the same freshwater plants do not grow in the Mediterranean, the name may be seen to fit similarly long plants growing in seawater.