SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2000

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:6

1:6a

The captain approached him: The captain of the ship, that is, the man who was in charge of the ship, found Jonah asleep and was surprised. Although it is possible that the captain had gone looking for Jonah, most commentators consider it more likely that he just noticed Jonah asleep when he went down into the ship for some other reason, perhaps to get some more cargo to throw into the sea.

1:6b

How can you sleep?: His question to Jonah was not a real question, but a rhetorical one. He was scolding Jonah for being asleep when he should have been praying to his god for help. If rhetorical questions cannot be used in your language for scolding, you may need to use a statement here instead of a question.

1:6c

Get up and call upon your God: The captain ordered Jonah to pray fervently to his god for help. Notice Berean Standard Bible uses God with a capital “G” because it refers to the true God even though the captain did not yet know that Jonah’s god was the true God. However, since the captain did not know this he probably talked about him as if he were just one of many gods. Other versions do not capitalize “god” here (New International Version, NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, etc).

Notice that qum here has its normal meaning of “get up” although the construction is similar to 1:2a. Jonah was lying down, so it is natural that the captain should tell him to Get up. So it should be translated as a separate verb.

1:6d

Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish: The people from the nations near Israel believed that storms were caused and controlled by various gods and that they had the power to stop or even start storms. Therefore, the captain felt that it was very important that everyone on the ship ought to be praying to their gods so the people on board the ship would be spared and not die.

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SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 4:1

Section 4:1–11

The LORD showed Jonah his mercy and compassion

Jonah was upset that the LORD had not destroyed the people of Nineveh, and he argued with the LORD about it. The LORD taught Jonah that Jonah, too, should have compassion on the people of Nineveh. The LORD caused a plant to grow to shelter Jonah from the sun and then sent a worm to destroy it. When Jonah was upset about the plant being destroyed, the LORD told him that if he could be concerned about a mere plant, it was more fitting that the LORD should be concerned about people—as people are more important to him than plants. This was to show Jonah how much the LORD cared about people—even the enemies of the Israelites.

4:1

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry: When Jonah saw that the LORD had not destroyed Nineveh, he was not pleased. In fact, he was very angry about it.

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased: This expression is literally “it was evil to Jonah with great evil.” This is a strong expression in Hebrew. If you must translate in a way that says that Jonah was unhappy, make it clear in your statement that Jonah was extremely (very) upset. One translation is “this was absolutely disgusting to Jonah” (Stuart, p. 498). Here is another translation:

This made Jonah very indignant (New Jerusalem Bible)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:17

This verse is actually the first verse of chapter 2 in the Hebrew text. Some English translations also follow the Hebrew numbering system (New Jerusalem Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures). You should follow the numbering system of the national language translation used in your area.

1:17a

Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah: The form of the Hebrew verb minneh used here and translated appointed by Berean Standard Bible means “to appoint, ordain.” This is an important word in the book of Jonah and shows that the LORD was in control over everything that happened to Jonah. Here is another way to translate this word:

At the Lord ’s command… (Good News Translation)

a great fish: The Hebrew word translated as fish refers to creatures/animals that live in the sea. We are not told what kind of creature it was. Some have suggested that it may have been a whale, or a shark, or even a sea monster (Kleinert, p. 25). The important fact is that it was big enough to swallow Jonah alive and that he was inside it for three days and three nights.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 3:1

Section 3:1–10

The LORD again told Jonah to go to Nineveh and this time he obeyed

This section records how Jonah finally obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh to preach to the people there. Then the people of Nineveh repented of their sinful ways and the LORD did not destroy them. An alternative title for this section could be: “The people of Nineveh repent.”

3:1

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: This verse is similar to 1:1. It begins the second major part of the book. The LORD once more commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:7

1:7a–b

“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.”: There is a jump in the narrative at this point. The Berean Standard Bible just moves to the next action but in your language it may be necessary to fill in some of the missing steps. Between 1:6 and 1:7, the sailors had noticed that their prayers did not seem to be working. Also, the captain and Jonah had had time to get back to the deck of the ship. Decide whether you need to make any of these steps explicit in your translation.

“Come!”…“Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.”: As the situation became more dangerous and their prayers didn’t work, the sailors decided that the storm had happened because someone on the ship had done something to offend one of the gods. So they decided to cast lots to find out who the guilty person was.

“Come!”: You should probably not translate this literally. The Hebrew word here has the sense in English of “come on, let us do something.” Good News Translation and Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures just omit it.

cast lots: People often cast lots to determine the cause of events which puzzle them. The way the lots were actually cast on this occasion is not known. Perhaps the sailors threw dice or drew straws. Another possibility is that each person’s name was written on small tablets or pieces of wood. One of these tablets was then picked at random. The person whose name was on the chosen tablet would be the person who was at fault. You should try, if possible, to use an expression which does not identify a particular method of casting lots.

1:7c

the lot fell on Jonah: Jonah was picked out by lot. This proved to the others on the ship that he was the one responsible for the storm, or at least that he knew something about why it had happened.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 4:2

4:2b

is this not what I said while I was still in my own country?: Jonah told the LORD that this was just what he expected to happen. He had feared that if he went to preach to the people of Nineveh, they might repent of their evil ways and the LORD would not destroy them.

This is a rhetorical question; Jonah was complaining. If you cannot use rhetorical questions in your language when you complain about something, you will need to use a statement instead. See 4:2b in the Display for examples of both options.

while I was still in my own country: Here Jonah was referring to his home country, Israel.

4:2c

This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish: Since Jonah wanted Israel’s enemies to be destroyed, he did not want the LORD to spare Nineveh. So rather than give them the chance to repent, he ran away to Tarshish.

4:2d

I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God: In Hebrew, this part of the verse begins with the connecting word kiy “for.” Although the Berean Standard Bible and a number of other versions have omitted it, it is an important connection. Jonah ran away because he knew God was kind and would forgive the people of Nineveh if they believed God’s message through Jonah and repented from their sins. You should make sure this relationship is clear in your translation.

a gracious and compassionate God: The two adjectives used here, ḥannun (gracious) and raḥum (compassionate), are usually only used to refer to God.

gracious: This means that God is kind to those who are evil and who are his enemies. Because he is gracious, he treats them with kindness even though such people do not deserve such treatment from him.

compassionate: This means that God shows pity to those who suffer and is merciful to those who do not deserve mercy.

4:2e

slow to anger: The Hebrew expression here has two aspects: first, someone who does not get angry easily or quickly, and, second, someone who is even-tempered and patient (UBS Handbook Handbook, p. 105). Since there is no English word that includes both aspects in its meaning, English versions handle this expression in two ways:

(1) They emphasize “not getting angry quickly”. This can be expressed positively as “slow to get angry,” or negatively as “not quick to get angry.”

(2) They emphasize “being patient”.

It is recommended that you follow the first option, unless your term for “patient” includes the idea of someone who doesn’t get easily angered.

4:2f

abounding in loving devotion: The Hebrew word translated here as loving devotion is ḥeseḏ. See how you translated the same word in 2:8b. This word often contains the meaning, “faithfulness, loyalty, steadfastness.” Here are some other ways to translate this word:

steadfast love (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
loyal love (NET Bible)
-or-
unfailing love (New Living Translation (2004))

The same list of God’s attributes in 4:2d–f, that is, “gracious,” “compassionate,” “slow to anger,” and abounding in loving devotion, is also found in Exodus 34:6, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 145:8, and Joel 2:13.

4:2g

One who relents from sending disaster: This aspect of God’s character is not found in the other lists mentioned above because it is specific to Jonah’s situation.

relents from sending disaster: This is literally “changes his mind about the evil” and is the same expression as was found in 3:10c. They should be translated the same way in both places.

relents: This verb is again naḥam. See the discussion on this verb in 3:9a.

The idea that the LORD could change his mind and not destroy people was not a comforting thought to Jonah because he had hoped that the LORD would destroy the people of Nineveh.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2:1

Section 2:1–10

Jonah thanked the LORD for rescuing him

This section records the prayer that Jonah prayed after he was swallowed by the fish. Notice that the prayer is in the form of poetry. (Both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation show this.) Therefore the structure of chapter two is very different from the other three chapters in Jonah, which are narrative material. If possible, try to translate the material in this chapter in a natural poetic form in your language. However, remember that the message is more important than the form in which it is written.

When the sailors threw Jonah overboard into the sea, he thought he would drown. However, the large fish which the LORD sent swallowed him, so he was saved from the stormy sea.

2:1

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God: Then Jonah prayed the following prayer thanking the LORD for rescuing him (even though he was not yet on dry land!).

his God: This does not mean Jonah owned God. It means the God whom Jonah served and worshiped. Depending on how you have chosen to translate “LORD,” there may be difficulties in translating this combined expression. See the discussion on LORD in the Introduction.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 3:2

3:2a

Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh: This part of the command is the same as the first time the LORD spoke to Jonah. See the note on 1:2a. You should translate it in the same way here.

3:2b

and proclaim to it the message that I give you: This verse does not give the content of the message, but from the context (see 3:4), we know that it was a message of judgment and destruction.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2000