Jonah 2:7

When my life ¹  was ebbing away, ²  I called out to ³  the Lord, and my prayer came to your holy temple. ⁴ 

"When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

"While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.

"When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

When my life was slipping away, I remembered GOD, And my prayer got through to you, made it all the way to your Holy Temple.

When my soul in me was overcome, I kept the memory of the Lord: and my prayer came in to you, into your holy Temple.

As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

When my life ¹  was ebbing away, ²  I called out to ³  the Lord, and my prayer came to your holy temple. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “my soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is often used as a metonymy for the life and the animating vitality in the body: “my life” (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).

² tn Heb “fainting away from me.” The verb הִתְעַטֵּף (hit’attef, “to faint away”) is used elsewhere to describe (1) the onset of death when a person’s life begins to slip away (Lam 2:12), (2) the loss of one’s senses due to turmoil (Ps 107:5), and (3) the loss of all hope of surviving calamity (Pss 77:4; 142:4; 143:4; BDB 742 s.v. עַטֵף). All three options are reflected in various English versions: “when my life was ebbing away” (JPS, NJPS), “when my life was slipping away” (CEV), “when I felt my life slipping away” (TEV), “as my senses failed me” (NEB), and “when I had lost all hope” (NLT).

³ tn Heb “remembered.” The verb זָכַר (zakhar) usually means “to remember, to call to mind” but it can also mean “to call out” (e.g., Nah 2:6) as in the related Akkadian verb zikaru, “to name, to mention.” The idiom “to remember the Lord” here encompasses calling to mind his character and past actions and appealing to him for help (Deut 8:18-19; Ps 42:6-8; Isa 64:4-5; Zech 10:9). Tg. Jonah 2:7 glosses the verb as “I remembered the worship of the Lord,” which somewhat misses the point.

⁴ sn For similar ideas see 2 Chr 30:27; Pss 77:3; 142:3; 143:4-5.