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OET (OET-LV) And_he_had_a_proclamation_made and_he/it_said in_Nīnəvēh from_the_decree_of the_king and_his_great_of_people to_say the_humankind and_the_livestock the_cattle and_the_flock[s] not let_them_taste anything not let_them_graze and_water not let_them_drink.
OET (OET-RV) And he had a statement written out and publicly read throughout Nineveh, saying, “The king and his advisors declare that people and livestock, be it herds or flocks, are prohibited from grazing or eating anything, and even from drinking water.
This section records how Jonah finally obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh to preach to the people there. Then the people of Nineveh repented of their sinful ways and the LORD did not destroy them. An alternative title for this section could be: “The people of Nineveh repent.”
Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
Then he made a law to be proclaimed throughout the city of Nineveh. It said,
Then he sent messengers everywhere in Nineveh to announce the following:
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.
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
“I, the king and my officials have made the following command:
“Here is the order of the king and his nobles:
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.”
Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
It is forbidden for any person or animal, whether sheep, goat, or cow, to eat or drink anything.
No person or animal, sheep, goat, or cattle, is allowed to eat or drink anything.
Do not eat or drink anything. Do not let your(plur) animals—sheep, goats, or cattle—eat or drink anything either.
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 BSB 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.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo
וַיַּזְעֵ֗ק וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙
and,he_had_a_proclamation_made and=he/it_said
The expression proclaimed and spoke contains extra information that would be unnatural to express in some languages. If this is true of your language, you could shorten the expression. Alternate translation: [And he proclaimed] or [And he announced]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
וַיַּזְעֵ֗ק וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙
and,he_had_a_proclamation_made and=he/it_said
The implication is that the king sent messengers to make this proclamation. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [And he commanded his messengers to proclaim]
מִטַּ֧עַם הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וּגְדֹלָ֖יו
from,the_decree_of the=king and,his_great_of,[people]
Alternate translation: [a command with the full authority of the king and his officials]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
וּגְדֹלָ֖יו
and,his_great_of,[people]
The term nobles refers to important men who helped the king rule the city. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of person, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [and his officers]
Note 4 topic: grammar-collectivenouns
הָאָדָ֨ם וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜ה הַבָּקָ֣ר וְהַצֹּ֗אן
the=humankind and,the,livestock the,cattle and,the,flock[s]
In this verse, the words person, animal, herd, and flock are singular in form, but they refer to all people, animals, herds, and flocks in Nineveh. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this plainly. Alternate translation: [All people and animals, herds and flocks]
Note 5 topic: translate-unknown
הַבָּקָ֣ר וְהַצֹּ֗אן
the,cattle and,the,flock[s]
This refers to two groups of animals that people care for. A herd is made up of large livestock (such as oxen or cattle) and a flock is made up of small livestock (such as sheep or goats). If your readers would not be familiar with these terms, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [cattle and sheep]
3:7-8 By extending the fast and the mourning rituals to animals, the king communicated that this dire emergency required all normal operations to cease so that everyone might pray earnestly and repent of their evil ways. The violence that had come to permeate their society topped the list.
OET (OET-LV) And_he_had_a_proclamation_made and_he/it_said in_Nīnəvēh from_the_decree_of the_king and_his_great_of_people to_say the_humankind and_the_livestock the_cattle and_the_flock[s] not let_them_taste anything not let_them_graze and_water not let_them_drink.
OET (OET-RV) And he had a statement written out and publicly read throughout Nineveh, saying, “The king and his advisors declare that people and livestock, be it herds or flocks, are prohibited from grazing or eating anything, and even from drinking water.
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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