Jonah 3:8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jonah 3:8 tn Heb “with strength”; cf. KJV, NRSV “mightily,” NAB, NCV “loudly,” NIV “urgently.”
2. Jonah 3:8 tn Heb “let them turn, a man from his evil way.” The shift from the plural verb וְיָשֻׁבוּ (v^eyashuvu, “and let them turn”) to the singular noun אִישׁ (ʾish, “a man, each one”) and the singular suffix on מִדַּרְכּוֹ (middarko, “from his way”) emphasizes that each and every person in the collective unity is called to repent.
3. Jonah 3:8 tn Heb “his.” See the preceding note on “one.”
4. Jonah 3:8 tn Heb “evil way.” For other examples of “way” as “way of living,” see Judg 2:17; Ps 107:17-22; Prov 4:25-27; 5:21.
5. Jonah 3:8 tn Heb “that is in their hands.” By speaking of the harm they did as “in their hands,” the king recognized the Ninevites’ personal awareness and immediate responsibility. The term “hands” is either a synecdoche of instrument (e.g., “Is not the hand of Joab in all this?” [2 Sam 14:19]) or a synecdoche of part for the whole. The king’s descriptive figure of speech reinforces their guilt.