Jonah described calling out in distress and being heard Jonah 2:2. He spoke of being cast into the deep, sinking down, and then God bringing his life up from the pit Jonah 2:3–6. He also said, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” Jonah 2:9.
From inside the fish, Jonah turns to Yahweh in prayer, calling him “my God” and speaking as someone in extreme trouble (Jonah 2:1–2). He reports what he did (“I called… I cried”) and what happened in response (“he answered… you heard”). These lines open the prayer that forms the center of the “great fish” episode. In the story just before this, Jonah is thrown into the sea and is swallowed by a fish prepared for him (Jonah 1:17). Now the narration briefly frames a first-person speech: Jonah “prayed,” and then the text shifts into Jonah’s own words.
Jonah 2:1–2 presents prayer as Jonah’s first reported response from inside the fish. The narrator stresses both Jonah’s confinement (“out of the fish’s belly”) and the direction of his speech: he prays to Yahweh. The phrase “his God” signals an ongoing relationship, even after Jonah’s earlier flight.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Jonah 2:2, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
2He said, "I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.