OET interlinear YNA (JNA) 2:2

uW Translation Notes:

וַ⁠יֹּ֗אמֶר

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

Alternate translation: “Jonah said”

Note 1 topic: writing-poetry

קָ֠רָאתִי מִ⁠צָּ֥רָה לִ֛⁠י אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה וַֽ⁠יַּעֲנֵ֑⁠נִי

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

This is poetic language. If your language has a way to indicate poetry, you could use it here. This line begins a poem describing Jonah’s experience in the fish, his prayer, and God’s answer. The poem describes these things from a time after they had already happened.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

קָ֠רָאתִי מִ⁠צָּ֥רָה לִ֛⁠י אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה וַֽ⁠יַּעֲנֵ֑⁠נִי

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

In this poem that is also a prayer, Jonah refers to God in both the third person (using “he”) and the second person (using “you”). If this would not be natural in your language, you could use the second-person form throughout the poem. Alternate translation: “Yahweh, I cried out to you during my distress, and you answered me”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַֽ⁠יַּעֲנֵ֑⁠נִי

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

The implication is that Yahweh answered Jonah's prayer for help by helping him. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: “and Yahweh helped me"

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

קָ֠רָאתִי מִ⁠צָּ֥רָה לִ֛⁠י אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה וַֽ⁠יַּעֲנֵ֑⁠נִי מִ⁠בֶּ֧טֶן שְׁא֛וֹל שִׁוַּ֖עְתִּי שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ קוֹלִֽ⁠י

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

The two halves of this verse mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases in a way that would show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: “I cried out to Yahweh from my distress, and he answered me; that is, from the belly of Sheol I cried out, and you heard my voice”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

מִ⁠בֶּ֧טֶן שְׁא֛וֹל

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

Here Jonah is speaking of the fish's belly as if it were Sheol, that is, the place of the dead. Jonah is expressing that he believed that this is where he would die very soon. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “When I was almost dead”

Note 6 topic: translate-names

שְׁא֛וֹל

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

Sheol was the name of the place where they believed that people went after they died. It was thought to be a shadowy world located somewhere under the ground. The New Testament equivalent seems to be “Hades,” where the dead wait for judgment (see Rev. 20:13). If your language has a word for this place, you may want to use it here or borrow the word “Sheol.”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ קוֹלִֽ⁠י

(Some words not found in UHB: and,prayed Yōnāh to/towards YHWH his/its=god from,belly the,fish )

Here, you heard my voice is equivalent to the phrase “he answered me” in the previous line of poetry. In this context, Jonah is expressing that Yahweh both heard him and acted to save him. If this phrase does not have that meaning in your language, you could use an idiom from your language that does have this meaning or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “You heard me and acted to save to me”