Commentaire sur la traduction de Jonas 4.4

As-tu raison de te fâcher ? : la question que Dieu pose à Jonas est semblable à celle qu’il pose à Caïn en Gen 4.6 : « À quoi bon te fâcher ? » où la question est introduite par le mot interrogatif « pourquoi ». En Jonas, il s’agit de la racine יטב yṭv « être bien », litt. « est-ce bien… » Le terme réapparaîtra à travers cette partie du livre. Beaucoup de versions préfèrent utiliser d’autres expressions : as-tu raison, « fais-tu bien de… », etc. À l’infinitif en hébreu, le verbe n’est pas marqué pour la deuxième personne au singulier. Mais la phrase se termine par un suffixe pronominal (« à toi »). Ainsi la quasi-totalité des traductions disent : « est-ce bien que tu te fâches ? », « As-tu raison de… » (Bible en français courant), « Te paraît-il bien… », etc.

Pour fâcher, voir Jonas 4.1. Certaines anciennes versions (Septante, Targoum, La Version Syriaque) adoptent une autre interprétation du verbe pour comprendre « faire quelque chose à fond », mais ce sens est peu probable dans ce contexte.

lui dit le SEIGNEUR, litt. « et dit Yahweh ». Ces mots se trouvent en hébreu au début du verset, mais les traducteurs pourront le placer où cela convient dans leur langue. Plusieurs versions rendent plus spécifique le verbe « dire » en hébreu : « lui demanda » (Bible en français courant). Dans la majorité des langues, il faudrait rendre explicite lui (Jonas) qui ne figure pas en hébreu.

Source: Péter-Contesse, René & Zogbo, Lynell. Jonas – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.

Translation commentary on Jonah 4:4

There is a problem involved in the introductory expression The LORD answered, since what follows is actually a question. Therefore it may be necessary to translate “The Lord answered Jonah by asking a question” or “The Lord asked Jonah a question in reply.”

What right do you have to be angry? may be expressed as “How can you justify being angry?” or “What excuse do you have for being angry?”

The Lord replies with a question like that addressed to Cain (Gen 4.6), “What right have you to be angry?” The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to do (something) well” (for example, 1 Sam 16.17), but it can also mean “to do right,” as in Isa 1.17; Jer 4.22. So here the sense seems to be “Are you doing right in being angry?” or, as in Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, “Are you right to be angry?” Bible in Basic English is close to Good News Translation with “Have you any right to be angry?” while the reasonableness, rather than the rightfulness, of Jonah’s anger is questioned in Chinese Union Version, “Is it reasonable for you to be as angry as this?” (compare Modern Language Bible, New American Standard Bible “Do you have good reason to be angry?”). Knox acknowledges in a note the uncertainty of the meaning here: “The exact force of the Hebrew idiom used here is uncertain. Some think it means ‘Hast thou good reason to be angry?’; others would translate ‘Art thou very angry?’ ” While Knox himself suggests “Why, what anger is this?” An American Translation prefers his alternative “Are you so very angry?” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Are you that deeply grieved?” This is no doubt the basis of New English Bible “Are you so angry?” the meaning of which is not clear at first sight. This treatment of the question is based on the meaning of the Hebrew verb in its sense of “to do (something) thoroughly,” as in Deut 13.14; 17.4, and has the support of the Septuagint. New English Bible‘s translation suits the similar question in verse 9 reasonably well but is not so suitable here as Knox‘s first alternative, which is supported by other ancient translations.

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 .