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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yna 1 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V15 V16
OET (OET-LV) And_they_called_out to YHWH and_they_said please Oh_YHWH do_not please let_us_perish by_the_life_of the_man the_this and_do_not put on_us blood innocent if/because you Oh_YHWH just_as you_pleased you_have_done.
OET (OET-RV) So they called to Yahweh and said, “We beg you Yahweh: please don’t let us die because of this man, and don’t consider us guilty because you yourself have made this happen.”
This section tells about the LORD’s command to Jonah to preach a message of judgment and destruction to the people of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. Jonah, however, disobeyed the LORD and tried to flee from him; he got on a ship heading for Tarshish, a city in the opposite direction.
So they cried out to the LORD:
Then they prayed earnestly to Yahweh, and said,
Then they called loudly to Yahweh,
So they cried out to the LORD: This is the first time the sailors prayed to the LORD, the true God, instead of to their own gods.
“Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life!
“O Yahweh, we(excl) need to kill this man, but we plead with you(sing) not to cause us to die for doing it.
“Please do not make us(excl) die because we kill this man, O Yahweh.
Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life: When the sailors became sure that they could not save themselves, they decided that they must kill Jonah by throwing him into the sea. However, they wanted to make sure that the LORD would not punish them for killing Jonah, so they asked to be forgiven even before doing it.
Please: This translates a word in Hebrew which indicates that what follows is a plea or entreaty. It is sometimes translated in older English translations as “we beseech you.” If there is a word or phrase in your language which is used in a situation where someone is begging another person to do something for them, you can use it here.
Do not charge us with innocent blood!
We(excl) beg you(sing), do not punish us if we are killing an innocent man.
Do not charge us with innocent blood: The GNT does not translate the word innocent. Instead, it combines this sentence with 1:14b, since it considers 1:14b–c as a doublet. However, most other English versions make a difference between 1:14b and 1:14c, and it is recommended that you do so too.
There are two ways to understand this statement:
The sailors were saying that there was a slight chance that Jonah might be innocent. (BSB, NIV, CEV, GW, KJV, NJPS, NJB, REB RSV).
The sailors were saying that Jonah was guilty. (NCV, NLT)
Although option 2 makes some sense in the context (since Jonah had admitted his guilt), most major commentaries and English versions support the first interpretation (1). It is recommended that you follow the first option too and translate this part of the verse in a way that makes it clear that the sailors still thought that Jonah might be innocent.
For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”
For, O Yahweh, it is you(sing) who have caused all of this to happen according to your will.”
For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased: In the sailors’ minds, the LORD was responsible for the whole situation. He had sent the storm and he had indicated through the casting of lots that Jonah was the guilty party. Therefore he was also responsible for them needing to throw Jonah overboard. Therefore they asked the LORD not to blame them for Jonah’s death.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ
and,they_called_out
Here, So indicates that what follows is a result of what came before. Use a connector in your language that makes it clear that what follows is a result of what came before. Alternate translation: [Because of that they called out] or [Because the sea became more violent, they called loudly]
וַיִּקְרְא֨וּ אֶל־יְהוָ֜ה
and,they_called_out to/towards YHWH
Alternate translation: [Therefore, the men prayed loudly to Yahweh]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclamations
אָנָּ֤ה
o
Ah! is an exclamation that is expressing intense desperation. Use an exclamation that would communicate that meaning in your language.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
אַל־נָ֣א נֹאבְדָ֗ה בְּנֶ֨פֶשׁ֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֔ה
not now perish by,the_life_of the=man the=this
In this context, the life of this man means “taking the life of this man.” You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [please do not kill us for taking the life of this man] or [even though we are going to cause this man to die, please do not kill us]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
וְאַל־תִּתֵּ֥ן עָלֵ֖ינוּ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֑יא
and,do_not make on,us blood innocent
Here, do not put innocent blood upon us is an idiom that means ““do not consider us guilty of killing an innocent person.” 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: [and please do not blame us for his death] or [and do not hold us accountable for having killed someone who did not deserve to die]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
אַל־נָ֣א נֹאבְדָ֗ה בְּנֶ֨פֶשׁ֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֔ה וְאַל־תִּתֵּ֥ן עָלֵ֖ינוּ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֑יא
not now perish by,the_life_of the=man the=this and,do_not make on,us blood innocent
These two phrases 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 with a word other than and in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [please do not let us perish on account of the life of this man; that is, do not put innocent blood upon us]
Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
אָנָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ אַל־נָ֣א נֹאבְדָ֗ה בְּנֶ֨פֶשׁ֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֔ה וְאַל־תִּתֵּ֥ן עָלֵ֖ינוּ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֑יא כִּֽי־אַתָּ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר חָפַ֖צְתָּ עָשִֽׂיתָ
o YHWH not now perish by,the_life_of the=man the=this and,do_not make on,us blood innocent that/for/because/then/when you(ms) YHWH just=as pleased you(ms)_have_done/made
If it would be more natural in your language, you could move the last phrase to the first part of what the sailors pray, since this phrase gives the reason for what the rest of the prayer describes. Alternate translation: [Ah! You, Yahweh, have chosen to do things in this way. Therefore, Yahweh, please do not let us perish on account of the life of this man, and do not put innocent blood upon us] or [Ah! You, Yahweh, have caused all of this to happen, so Yahweh, please do not let us perish on account of the life of this man, and do not put innocent blood upon us]
OET (OET-LV) And_they_called_out to YHWH and_they_said please Oh_YHWH do_not please let_us_perish by_the_life_of the_man the_this and_do_not put on_us blood innocent if/because you Oh_YHWH just_as you_pleased you_have_done.
OET (OET-RV) So they called to Yahweh and said, “We beg you Yahweh: please don’t let us die because of this man, and don’t consider us guilty because you yourself have made this happen.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.
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