Jonah 2:8 (WEB)

Passage

Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Nearby Context

Jonah 2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.

Jonah 2:7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.

Jonah 2:8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”

Jonah 2:10 Then Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "mercy", "regard", "lying", "vanities", and "forsake". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mercy" and "regard", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "When my soul fainted within me I..." into verse 9's "But I will sacrifice to you with...", so "mercy" and "regard" belong inside that flow. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "mercy" and "regard" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.