This verse summarizes God’s instructions to Jonah. It begins with a word that is translated in older versions as “arise” (Revised Standard Version). But the Hebrew verb qum is frequently used with a so-called “inceptive” force to mark the beginning of an enterprise or to indicate that the action required is to take place immediately; for example, Gen 19.14, 15; Judges 4.14; Exo 32.1, in all of which Revised Standard Version has “Up!” or “Arise!” In these places the person addressed is not necessarily lying down but is being urged to act immediately (see Isa 52.2 King James Version). So here one could say “Go at once to the great city called Nineveh”—a conventional formula going back to Gen 10.12. As suggested in the phrase “to the great city called Nineveh,” it may be necessary to reverse the order of Good News Translation‘s Nineveh, that great city. The more usual order in languages is to have the generic expression that great city occur first, followed by the more specific name Nineveh; for example, “to the great city which is Nineveh,” or simply “to that great city, Nineveh.” If the phrase “great city” is placed after the term Nineveh, it may be necessary to employ a relative clause; for example, “to Nineveh, which is a great city.”
On reaching Nineveh, Jonah is to “denounce it” (New English Bible) or speak out against it. That is to say, he is to proclaim God’s message of judgment against Nineveh. He is to do so because the evil of the city is staring God in the face (compare New English Bible). The nature of Nineveh’s evil is not disclosed. The language here is similar to that of Gen 18.20, 21 with regard to Sodom and Gomorrah, which were noted for their wickedness.
Speak out against it may be difficult to render satisfactorily in some languages. It may even be necessary to use a form of direct discourse; for example, “say to them, ‘You are guilty’ ” or “declare, ‘You have sinned very much.’ ” In some cases an idiomatic expression may be employed; for example, “hang great blame upon it” or “declare that the people there are covered with guilt.”
The word ki in the Hebrew is open to more than one interpretation. It can mean “that,” introducing a noun clause, or it can mean “for, because.” At first sight it would appear that Good News Translation follows neither of these courses, but the second is in fact implied by the punctuation. Most translators render the Hebrew in the same way as Good News Translation (compare Revised Standard Version, New English Bible), but Jerusalem Bible (so also Moffatt Moffatt) renders the word as “that”: “inform them that their wickedness has become known to me,” though “inform” weakens the element of proclamation in the original. Living Bible has “It smells to highest heaven,” which is vivid but hardly justified as a translation. The Hebrew changes from third singular against it to third plural “their wickedness,” as expressed in New American Bible (New American Bible) and Revised Standard Version, but this does not need to be brought out in a translation. New English Bible avoids this by using “its” with reference to Nineveh, and Good News Translation makes explicit the fact that “their” refers to its people. The literal rendering in Revised Standard Version suggests, as does the Hebrew, that God is watching from up in heaven what takes place down on earth.
I am aware may be rendered merely as “I have seen” or “I know.” Somewhat greater force may be expressed in some languages by inverting the subject and object, for example, “the wickedness of its people has struck my eyes.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Jonah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .