SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2000 – Page 2

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2:6

2:6a

To the roots of the mountains I descended: As Jonah sank to the bottom of the sea, he settled at the roots (that is, base, foot) of the mountains under the sea.

I descended: This translates the normal Hebrew verb yaraḏ “to go down” and contrasts with the Hebrew ʿalah “to go up” in 2:6c.

There are two possible ways of dividing this part of the verse:

(1) Attach the phrase “I sank down” to the phrase “to the roots of the mountains.” This is the way the Hebrew text seems to be grouped and makes best sense of the grammar of the Hebrew, but it leaves 2:6b without a verb.

(2) Place a sentence break after the word “mountains,” and in this way join the phrase “to the roots of the mountains” to 2:5c. The phrase I descended is then included in 2:6b. For example:

“weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; (Revised Standard Version)

(See Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)

It is recommended that you follow the first option like the majority of English versions.

2:6b

the earth beneath me barred me in forever!: At the very bottom of the sea, Jonah felt like he was in prison behind barred doors—without any chance of escape. Literally, the Hebrew says “the earth/land, its bars, behind me forever.” It is a clause without a verb, and English translations resolve this in different ways:

(1) By supplying a verb from the noun “bars.” Berean Standard Bible has: barred me in. Here is another example:

closed upon me (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

(2) By treating the clause as parallel to “at the roots of the mountains.” For example:

“I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever.” (Good News Translation)

Either of these alternatives is acceptable.

the earth beneath me: This probably refers to “the land of the dead.” The Good News Translation puts a footnote here to make this clear. Jonah was again saying that he had given up hope of living.

2:6c

But You raised my life from the pit: The LORD rescued Jonah by having a huge fish swallow him alive. The expression You raised my life from the pit is Jonah’s way of saying that the LORD had spared his life when he was so close to death. The term pit is a synonym for šeʾol —the place of the dead. See the note on 2:2c.

O LORD my God: Jonah addressed the LORD here as my God. This does not mean that he owned God. This is an expression of faith, that is, he referred to God in this way because he was the God whom he served and worshiped. See note on 2:1.

Notice that English versions place this phrase O LORD my God in different places in the sentence. For example, the Berean Standard Bible has it at the end of the sentence while the Good News Translation puts it near the beginning. You should place it where it is most natural in your language.

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SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:2

1:2a

Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh: Nineveh is called a great city because it was very large and many people lived in it. It was so large that it took a person three days to walk through it (3:3). More than 120,000 people lived there (4:11).

Get up! Go to…Nineveh: In Hebrew this verse begins with two verbs qum and leḵ which literally mean “arise, go.” Some English versions retain the two verbs. For example:

Arise, go to Nineveh (Revised Standard Version)

However, when the verb qum is followed by another motion verb, many scholars believe that it has lost its literal meaning and that instead it signals the beginning of an action. In this case it may also signal the urgency of the action. In English versions, you will see this combination of verbs translated in three different ways:

(1) “Leave at once for Nineveh” (God’s Word) or “Go at once to Nineveh” (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Revised Standard Version). The translators of these versions express the force of qum by the words “at once.” Other ways of doing this in English would be to begin the verse “Start on your way” or “Get going.”

(2) The verb qum is not translated at all and the verse is translated as Go to…Nineveh (New International Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).

(3) The verb qum is translated literally: “arise” or “get up” (Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised Standard Version).

The third option should be avoided because it gives the impression that the LORD was telling Jonah to do two things: “get up” and “go.” It is recommended that you follow one of the translation possibilities suggested in option 1.

1:2b

and preach against it: The rest of the story shows that what Jonah was told to speak was a message which condemned the people of Nineveh (Keil-Delitzsch, p. 389). Some translations make this explicit. For example:

cry out against it (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
go now and denounce it (Revised English Bible)
-or-
speak against it (Good News Translation)

it: This refers to the city of Nineveh. Although the text says that Jonah was to preach against “the city of Nineveh,” it meant that he was to preach against the people of the city because of the wicked way they were behaving.

1:2c

its wickedness: Here the wickedness and sinful behavior of the people of Nineveh is referred to as if the city were a person.

has come up before Me: Or “has come to my attention.” The LORD knew how very sinful the people of Nineveh were. Here is another way to express this idea:

I am aware of how wicked its people are (Good News Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 3:7

3:7a

Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: Then the king made an official command and ordered messengers to announce it throughout the city. You may need to make these steps explicit in your translation. 3:7b–9 contain the content of the king’s command to the people.

3:7b

By the decree of the king and his nobles: This was probably the way all important messages from the king began. The fact that it came from the king and his nobles gave authority to the message. It does not necessarily mean that the nobles had any part in making the decree, although perhaps they approved it.

decree: This is an official order or command from someone in authority. In this case, that person is the king.

nobles: These were the important men in the kingdom or city, perhaps the people who would advise the king on important issues. If your language has a word for “officials” you could use that. Another possibility is to use an expression like “important men.”

3:7c

Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink: The first part of the decree is the command not to eat or drink anything.

no man: This is the Hebrew word ʾaḏam and is not limited to males (as Berean Standard Bible might imply) It is the ordinary word for a human being of either sex. Here it means any person living in Nineveh.

or beast, herd or flock: Not only were people not allowed to eat and drink, but they were not to allow their animals to eat or drink, either.

beast: This word in Hebrew, behemah, is a general term and here refers to any domestic animal. Avoid using a word which might be understood to include wild animals.

herd or flock: The Hebrew word baqar translated herd refers to cattle. The Hebrew word ṣʾon translated flock refers to sheep and goats. These two terms are the normal way in Hebrew to group domestic animals.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:13

1:13a

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land: At first the sailors did not want to throw Jonah overboard. Instead they tried to save themselves and Jonah by rowing back to land. But this was not possible because the storm and the sea grew more violent.

rowed hard to get back: The Hebrew verb used here literally means “to dig” and gives the impression of effort in their rowing. Berean Standard Bible expresses this by rowed hard. Here is another way to express the effort:

with all their might (Good News Translation)

If you have no word in your language for “row,” a possibility might be “worked hard to make the boat get back to land.”

1:13c

for the sea was raging against them more and more: This is the same Hebrew idiom as in 1:11a. See the note there.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 4:8

4:8a

appointed: This is the final use of this Hebrew verb minneh in Jonah. See the notes on 1:17a, 4:6a, 4:7a.

scorching: This a difficult word to understand in Hebrew, but most translations have something like “burning” or “hot,” which makes good sense in the context.

4:8b

the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint: Without the shelter of the plant, Jonah had little protection from the sun. So both the burning sun and the hot wind were causing him severe discomfort.

the sun beat down on Jonah’s head: Many languages have an idiom to describe the burning action of the sun on someone’s head. If you have such an expression in your language, you could use it here.

he grew faint: This expression may convey the idea of suffering sunstroke.

4:8c

wished to die, saying: Again Jonah expressed a wish to die. In 4:3, his reason was his distress and anger because the LORD had spared the people of Nineveh rather then destroying them as he had threatened. Now, he was also experiencing physical discomfort from the sun.

4:8d

It is better for me to die than to live: Notice that Jonah used the same words here as in 4:3b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2:7

2:7a

As my life was fading away: The expression my life was fading away means that Jonah was almost dead. You may have some dramatic expression in your language to express this. He was losing consciousness and his last conscious thought was of the LORD.

2:7b

I remembered the LORD: As in 2:2a–b, Jonah first referred to the LORD in the third person here in 2:7b. Then in 2:7c he changed to second person “you(sing).” As in 2:2, you need to decide what is natural in your language.

In the Hebrew text, the words translated the LORD have been placed at the front of the clause, probably for emphasis. This could be expressed in English as:

“it is the Lord whom I recalled.” (Sasson, p. 167)

2:7c

My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple: This was Jonah’s way of saying that the LORD had heard his prayer.

Your holy temple: See note on 2:4b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 1:3

1:3a

Jonah, however: Other versions say “But Jonah.” This verse clearly contrasts with verse 2. The LORD had told Jonah to do one thing, but Jonah had decided to do something completely different.

got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD: As an Israelite, Jonah knew that the LORD was everywhere—yet he tried to flee from his presence. So in what sense could he flee from the LORD? Perhaps he thought that by leaving Israel, the country where the LORD’s temple was, and going far away to a country where the people did not follow the LORD, there would be less chance that the LORD would bother him with the command to preach to the people of Nineveh.

to flee to Tarshish: One thing is certain: Jonah had no intention of obeying the LORD or of going to Nineveh. Instead, he went in the opposite direction, towards the city of Tarshish. This was probably in the country now known as Spain. In Jonah’s time, it was considered to be at the western end of the world. Nineveh, however, was northeast of Israel. Jonah wanted to get as far away from Nineveh and its people as possible, since he did not want to give the LORD’s message to them.

1:3b

He went down to Joppa: Joppa was a city in Israel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Ships would stop there to pick up passengers and cargo.

went down: Jonah went from higher land down to the coast.

and found a ship bound for Tarshish: There in Joppa, Jonah found a ship which was ready to sail to Tarshish. The sailors (the men who worked on the ship) were not Israelites but were probably from the country of Phoenicia (Clarke, p. 702; Ellison, p. 370).

1:3c

So he paid the fare: The text does not tell us to whom Jonah paid the money. If it is necessary in your language to supply this information, you could say, “to the owner of the boat.”

fare: This refers to the money Jonah paid to travel on the ship.

1:3d

and went aboard to sail for Tarshish: The Revised Standard Version has: “to go with them to Tarshish.” Most commentators agree that “with them” (omitted by the Berean Standard Bible) refers to the sailors. For example:

went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain (Good News Translation)

However, the Good News Translation makes it sound like Jonah and the sailors got on the ship together, that is, at the same time. This may be confusing, since the crew were probably already on the ship.

1:3e

away from the presence of the LORD: This is the second time this expression has occurred in this verse. See note on 1:3a. The phrase is probably repeated to emphasize it. Most English versions repeat the phrase as the Hebrew text does, although they use different words. For example, compare 1:3a and 1:3e in the Contemporary English Version.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 3:8

3:8a

Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth: Here again, the Hebrew word translated man is ʾaḏam and means a human being. Also, as mentioned in 3:7c, the Hebrew word behemah translated beast is a general term and refers to any domestic animal.

covered with sackcloth: In the Hebrew text, the same verb is used for people and animals covered with sackcloth. In your language, you may need to use two different verbs. For example:

“let the people wear sackcloth and the animals be covered in sackcloth.”

The king hoped that by including the animals in the fasting, and having them also covered in sackcloth, that God would no longer be angry with the people.

3:8b

and have everyone call out earnestly to God: The king also commanded the people to pray to God for mercy.

The Hebrew text here is literally “let them call upon God.” Take care that you do not use a pronoun here and in 3:8c which gives the impression that the king was ordering the animals to pray or turn from their evil behavior! The Berean Standard Bible has solved this problem by using the word everyone, which can only apply to people.

3:8c

Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands: The king also ordered them to stop behaving in a wicked and violent way.

his evil ways: Literally, “their evil path,” that is, “their evil behavior.”

the violence in his hands: The Hebrew word translated the violence in his hands is not limited to physical injury but includes any wrong done to someone else. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

stop doing harm (New Century Version)
-or-
stop being…cruel (Contemporary English Version)

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Jonah 2000