Hebrew sentences generally begin with the verb and then state the subject. Sometimes the subject precedes the verb for emphasis, but in this sentence But the LORD sent…, the change in order is due to a so-called circumstantial clause.

This is marked by But in Good News Translation and some other translations. The verb translated sent (Good News Translation), “let loose” (New English Bible), “flung” (Modern Language Bible), “unleashed” (Jerusalem Bible), implies a degree of violence and suddenness or unexpectedness. It is only used fourteen times in the Old Testament, and four of these are in this chapter (verses 4, 5, 12, 15). It is wrong to avoid the mention of God’s agency in sending the storm, as in Winding Quest: “out at sea they ran into a hurricane.”

It is sometimes quite impossible to speak of “the Lord sending a strong wind.” A verb such as “send” can be used in speaking of persons but not of physical events. Therefore it may be necessary to render the first part of verse 4 as “the Lord caused a strong wind to blow so that there was a storm.” In many languages there are relatively technical terms for a “strong wind,” but in some cases the equivalent is simply “violent storm.” In other instances it may be “a fast wind” or “a whipping wind.”

The phrase on the sea must sometimes be rendered as “against the sea” or “across the waves.”

The verb translated was in danger of normally has the meaning “think, plan,” and nowhere else in the Old Testament is it used, as here, with an inanimate subject. Moffatt, in fact, goes so far as to say “the ship thought she would be broken,” but such personification misrepresents the mind of the author. The personification of trees in Judges 9.8-15 and 2 Kgs 14.9 occurs in contexts where the allegorical nature of the material is clearly evident, but that is certainly not true here. Luther 1984 and An American Translation, by use of impersonal or passive forms, succeed in retaining the verb used in the Hebrew, but with no overt admission of a change in vowel points.

New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, by using the verb “threatened,” are able to retain the ship as the subject of an active verb, but the Hebrew verb in question does not normally bear this meaning. In English it can be used metaphorically without the reader being under the impression that the ship used threats to intimidate its passengers, but this may not be possible in other languages. Another possibility, close to Good News Translation, is New American Bible‘s “was on the point of….”

It is also possible to render in danger of as “was about to” or “might soon.”

Breaking up must be described more specifically in some languages; for example, “would break into many pieces” or “would be beaten by the waves into many pieces.”

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 .

As so often in Old Testament narratives, there is no specific mention of the order being carried out. But God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. God’s threat in verse 4 is thus seen to be a conditional one, depending on human response and behavior, as Gen 18.7, 8 makes clear. Presumably the result of Nineveh’s repentance could only be known for certain when the “forty days” of verse 4 had expired.

What they did must refer to the fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, and the earnest prayers of the people of Nineveh. It may be important to make this rather explicit by saying “God saw what the people of Nineveh were doing” or even “… how they had changed.”

Had given up their wicked behavior may be expressed as “were no longer doing sinful things” or “were no longer doing what was bad.” The verb translated here given up is the same as is used of God changing his mind in Verse 9.

Did not punish them must be expressed in some languages as “did not cause them to suffer” or, in a somewhat idiomatic form, “did not pay them back for their badness” (literally, “did not do it”).

The clause as he had said he would must be expanded somewhat in some languages because of the embedded direct discourse; for example, “as he had said, ‘I will punish them’ ” or even “as he had said through Jonah, ‘The city will be destroyed.’ ”

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 .

This verse recapitulates verse 12 in that, as a result of carrying out Jonah’s advice and throwing him into the sea, the storm ceases. The sea is personified here, since the word “raging” (New English Bible) is used elsewhere only of human beings or of God. So “the sea was no longer angry” (Bible in Basic English). Jonah makes no protest and submits to his fate.

In translating they picked Jonah up, it is important to avoid an expression that would suggest that Jonah had been lying down. It is preferable in a number of languages to say “they grabbed hold of Jonah” or “they took hold of Jonah” or “they took hold of Jonah and lifted him up.”

It calmed down at once must be expressed in some languages as a reference to the “waves,” therefore “the waves stopped at once.” But in a number of languages it is important to place the temporal expression first, for example, “and at once the sea became calm” or “… without waves.”

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 .

In the final verse of the chapter, the narrative is resumed from verse 17 of the previous chapter. The Lord gives an order to the fish: “and now, at the Lord’s bidding” (Knox), and the fish obeys. The idea of God speaking to an animal or a fish may seem strange, but the snake in the Garden of Eden is addressed by God in Gen 3.14, 15. Obediently, the fish proceeds to spew Jonah on the dry land. The verb used here is more accurately translated as “vomited” (Revised Standard Version) or “spewed” (New English Bible), or even “disgorged” (Modern Language Bible), than as spit, the verb used for the action described in Num 12.14; Deut 25.9; and elsewhere. On the other hand, the verb used here is found in Prov 23.8; 25.16, and the corresponding noun in Prov 26.11. The use of spit in the Good News Translation is prompted primarily by the more or less neutral connotations. The term “vomited” has unfortunate connotations, and for many “spewed” is old-fashioned. One of the principal difficulties with a term such as “spit” is that it might suggest that Jonah was only in the mouth of the big fish rather than in the stomach, as is suggested by 2.1. In many languages a term meaning “vomit” does not have the same unpleasant connotations that seem associated with the English term.

The shift between the poetry that ends in verse 9 and the beginning of verse 10 may often be marked by an additional line space, and in some instances by a more extensive transitional expression, for example, “after that” or “sometime later,” but the temporal transition should not suggest any long period of time.

As in so many instances of expressions involving commands or speaking, it may be necessary to place the content of the utterance in the form of direct discourse; for example, “the Lord ordered the fish, ‘Vomit Jonah up on the beach.’ ”

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 .

The sailors are represented as foreigners of various nationalities (compare Ezek 27.8, 9), each with its own god, or gods, to whom the sailors pray or cry out (compare Psa 107.23-28). The English language is able to distinguish false objects of worship from the one true God by using lower case letters for the former and capitals for the latter, but this distinction is not evident when a passage is read aloud. The use of his own helps to make it clear that various gods are being referred to. Although this means of distinguishing them may not be possible in all languages, it is advisable to use the same word for both (see next verse and 2.1). As an Israelite, Jonah is represented as escaping from the LORD, the personal name of Israel’s God.

The sailors were terrified should be rendered in such a way as to indicate extreme fear. Such expressions of fear are often expressed as idioms; for example, “their stomachs were in their mouths” or “their hearts had dropped within them.”

Rather than use an elliptical expression, each one to his own god, following the phrase cried out for help, it may be preferable to combine the two into a single expression; for example, “each of the sailors cried out to his own god for help.” In some instances “to cry out for help” must be expressed as direct discourse; for example, “each one of the sailors said to his own god, ‘Help me’ ” or “… ‘Help us.’ ” In order to express the urgency of the prayer, especially in view of the tumult of the storm, it may be appropriate to translate “each of the sailors shouted to his own god in prayer, ‘Help us.’ ”

The objects thrown overboard are simply “things” in New English Bible or “goods” in the Bible in Basic English, but cargo in Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible. The word used is a very general one, so a general expression is suitable in translation (compare Acts 27.19).

The Hebrew does not actually speak of lightening the ship (King James Version, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible), but literally of “making (something) light from upon them,” that is, those on board the ship. Hence Good News Translation in order to lessen the danger, or perhaps “to relieve their anxiety”; so Goldman: “make matters easier for them.”

To lessen the danger may be rendered as “so that they would not be in so much danger,” but in certain instances this must be expressed positively, “so that they would be safer.”

They threw the cargo overboard may be expressed as “they threw the cargo into the sea” or “what was in the boat they threw into the water.”

Another circumstantial clause brings Jonah back on the scene once more: Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below…. Some translators may prefer introducing this statement earlier, and so follow the chronological order of events. It would be possible to put the last sentence of this paragraph after verse 4, as for example, “So Jonah went below and was lying in the ship’s hold, sound asleep.” But where it now stands, the sentence serves as a link with the next verse. Stylistically, too, the present position has the advantage of raising the question in the mind of the reader, “But where was Jonah all this time?” Knox brings this out by “and what of Jonah?”

A literal rendering of Jonah had gone below can be misleading, since the term below may require the designation of what remains above. It may be necessary, therefore, to say “had gone below the deck.” In other languages it may be more appropriate to say “had gone down into the boat” or “had gone down near the bottom of the boat.”

Although there is no formal difference in Hebrew between the type of sentence in verse 4, “But the Lord sent…,” and Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below in this verse, the structure of the total context indicates that here we are dealing with a pluperfect (King James Version “was gone down”), one of several instances in Jonah of a “flashback.”

The word for “ship” in the last sentence occurs only here in the Old Testament and appears to imply a vessel that had a top deck. To speak of the hold (Chinese Union Version: “cabin”) may suggest a more elaborate vessel than this one would be; the word is used of any recess or corner, as of a cave (1 Sam 24.4) or a house (Amos 6.10; Ezek 32.23). Jonah was simply finding the most remote and comfortable place for going quietly to sleep, where he would not be disturbed (contrast the action of Jesus in Mark 4.38). The word for “sleep” used here is not the usual word, but signifies deep sleep, often brought on supernaturally (see Gen 15.12; 1 Sam 26.12). The Septuagint translates the verb as “snore” here and in verse 6—the only two occurrences of the word in the Bible.

Sound asleep may be rendered as “slept hard,” but it also may be expressed in terms of the difficulty involved in waking such a person; for example, “he slept so that no one could easily wake him” or “he slept so it was difficult to cause him to awaken.” The same concept may also be expressed somewhat idiomatically: “he was so much asleep his mind had left him” or “even his spirit was sleeping.”

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 .

To say that Jonah was very unhappy about this is an understatement, in view of the context. The same idiom is found in Neh 2.10 (“they were highly indignant”) and 13.8 (“I was furious”), so Jerusalem Bible “Jonah was very indignant” is more satisfactory. New English Bible “Jonah was greatly displeased and angry” links together the two verbs that describe Jonah’s reaction, and so uses one expression to intensify the other. Good News Translation, on the other hand, suggests two successive stages in the development of Jonah’s feelings. (Compare New American Bible, “This was greatly displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.”) In the use of the two verbs that occur in this verse, the writer echoes the wording of 3.9, 10, with their reference to God’s anger and displeasure at Nineveh, which had been replaced by his mercy.

Was very unhappy must be expressed in a number of languages as suggesting a change of state; therefore, “became indignant” or “became very much irked.” This may be expressed figuratively in some languages as “his stomach became bitter” or “his heart swelled up inside of him.” Anger may also be expressed figuratively as “his face became red” or “his skin flashed hot.”

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 .

The same expression is used here as at the beginning of verse 10, except that here the sailors’ “fear” is “fear of the Lord.” This looks like a later addition to the text, expanding the reference in the last part of the verse to acts of worship. Good News Translation takes “fear” here in the sense of “terror,” as do Knox and Jerusalem Bible (“dread”), while New English Bible, Moffatt, and others think in terms of religious awe. In verse 9 Jonah confesses that he worships Yahweh, but the combination of intense fear (as in verse 10) with worship of God (as in verse 9) is difficult to translate in such a way as to do justice to both elements. For “fear of the Lord” in the sense of “terror,” see also 1 Sam 12.18; 2 Sam 6.9; and Jer 5.22.

If instead of “fear” or “terror,” one interprets the first part of verse 16 as a reference to “awe,” one may render the clause This made the sailors so afraid of the LORD as “this made the sailors stand in awe of the Lord.” If the reference of the pronoun This must be made more explicit, the clause may be restructured so as to read “What the Lord did caused the sailors to be in awe of him.” Then the resulting clause introduced by that may be expressed as a separate sentence, “As a result, they offered a sacrifice….”

The mention of offering sacrifice might indicate that the narrator thinks in terms of such animals as the sailors might have had with them on board in preparation for a long voyage, or he may be indicating that as a result of the calming of the storm, the ship soon reached dry land, and they offered sacrifice there. Sacrifice was the normal expression of worship, and here the worshipers are foreigners, offering sacrifices to the God of Israel, an element that is omitted by Good News Translation. As frequently, Good News Translation subordinates one element in the verse to another instead of following the Hebrew pattern of coordinating the various actions and leaving the reader to supply the relationship between them.

Since the sacrifice probably took place somewhat later than the calming of the sea, it may be important to introduce a temporal factor; for example, “and as a result, they later offered a sacrifice.”

Offered a sacrifice may be expressed as “killed an animal as an act of worship to the Lord” or “… as a way of worshiping the Lord.” Sometimes the relationship between the sacrifice and worship may be explained quite precisely as “they killed an animal as a gift to the Lord.” In this context also it may be necessary to add “the Lord of Jonah.” If one uses “their Lord,” it might very well refer to some pagan deity.

The final sentence in the verse again refers to a standard element in worship, “made vows” (New English Bible). Good News Translation goes beyond the normal meaning of this expression in saying and promised to serve him (so also Winding Quest and Living Bible). The reaction of the sailors to the wonders they had experienced is not to be understood in terms of a “conversion” to Israel’s religion or the recognition that Yahweh alone is the one true God. Rudolph, page 345, points out the irony of a situation in which Jonah fails to take the initiative in any stage of the developments and has to have his confession of faith dragged out of him, and yet in spite of him the sailors are “filled with the fear of the LORD.”

In making a vow, a person would say in effect to God “If you fulfil my request, I will worship you with an offering.” Here the sailors were already saved from danger, so perhaps they are thought of as fulfilling vows made during the time of their danger.

Promised to serve him may therefore be rendered as “paid their vows to the Lord,” or “gave to the Lord what they had promised him in their vows,” or “… what they had vowed to give him.”

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 .

Once again is literally as in Revised Standard Version, “a second time.” Except for this temporal phrase, 3.1 is the same as 1.1. He said, is also part of this verse, and as at the beginning of the book, it is simply a means of introducing direct speech.

The combination Once again may be difficult to express. In many languages the closest equivalent is simply “again,” for example, “again the Lord spoke to Jonah,” but in other cases the closest equivalent may be “and now twice the Lord spoke to Jonah.” As already noted in the case of 1.1, it may be important to combine the first verse with the first part of the second verse; for example, “again the Lord said to Jonah, ‘Go to Nineveh….’ ”

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 .