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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 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 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11
OET (OET-LV) And_ YHWH _he/it_assigned god a_plant and_he/it_ascended from_under (to)_Yōnāh to_be shade over his/its_head to_deliver to_him/it from_distress_of_his and_ Yōnāh _he_rejoiced on the_plant a_joy great.
OET (OET-RV) And Yahweh God commanded a plant and it grew up over Yonah to shade his head and to relieve him from his distress. Yonah was very pleased about the plant.
Jonah was upset that the LORD had not destroyed the people of Nineveh, and he argued with the LORD about it. The LORD taught Jonah that Jonah, too, should have compassion on the people of Nineveh. The LORD caused a plant to grow to shelter Jonah from the sun and then sent a worm to destroy it. When Jonah was upset about the plant being destroyed, the LORD told him that if he could be concerned about a mere plant, it was more fitting that the LORD should be concerned about people—as people are more important to him than plants. This was to show Jonah how much the LORD cared about people—even the enemies of the Israelites.
So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up
Then Yahweh God made a leafy plant sprout up and grow
the LORD God appointed a vine: This phrase means that God caused a plant to grow. The Hebrew verb minneh used here is the same one that was translated appointed in 1:17a. There the LORD provided a great fish to save Jonah, now he provided a plant to shelter him. The rapid growth of this plant indicates that this was miraculous.
the LORD God: In the book of Jonah, God is usually called the LORD (Yahweh) or God (ʾelohim), although in chapter 2 he is called “the LORD his God” and “the LORD my God.” Here the two names for God are joined together without any pronoun. The use of LORD God without a possessive pronoun is fairly rare in the OT. It is found mainly in Genesis 2–3 and in 1 and 2 Chronicles. How you translate this phrase will depend on the term you have chosen for Yahweh. See the note in the Introduction.
vine: The word translated vine by BSB4.6 See also the NIV; CEV only occurs in this passage in the OT and no one has been able to identify for certain what sort of plant is being referred to. So most English versions translate it as “plant”4.6 See TEV, RSV, GW, NCV, NET. You should use as generic a term as possible for “plant” in your translation here rather than using the name of a specific plant from your area which possibly did not grow in Nineveh. The important thing about this plant is that it was leafy and provided enough shade to protect Jonah’s head and to ease the discomfort he was experiencing from the hot sun. This made Jonah very happy.
to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort,
over Jonah’s head to shelter him from the sun and make him less uncomfortable.
and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
Jonah was delighted because of the plant.
Jonah was very pleased because the plant was there to shelter him from the sun.
מֵעַ֣ל לְיוֹנָ֗ה לִֽהְי֥וֹת צֵל֙ עַל־רֹאשׁ֔וֹ
from=under (to),Jonah to=be shade on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in his/its=head
Alternate translation: [over Jonah’s head for shade]
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
לְהַצִּ֥יל ל֖וֹ מֵרָֽעָת֑וֹ
to,deliver to=him/it from,distress_of,his
Here the term evil could be referring to one of two things (or both at the same time). It could be referring to: (1) Jonah’s physical discomfort or distress, meaning the intense heat of the sun shining on Jonah’s head. (2) Jonah’s wrong attitude concerning God’s decision not to destroy Nineveh. If both meanings can be preserved by using a general term, that is preferable. Alternate translation: [in order to save Jonah from his bad situation]
Note 2 topic: writing-poetry
וַיִּשְׂמַ֥ח יוֹנָ֛ה & שִׂמְחָ֥ה גְדוֹלָֽה
and,he_rejoiced Yōnāh/(Jonah) & happiness very
Here, rejoiced with great rejoicing is an emphatic construction that uses a verb and its object that come from the same root. You may be able to use the same construction in your language to express the meaning here. Alternatively, your language may have another way of showing the emphasis. Alternate translation: [And Jonah was extremely pleased]
OET (OET-LV) And_ YHWH _he/it_assigned god a_plant and_he/it_ascended from_under (to)_Yōnāh to_be shade over his/its_head to_deliver to_him/it from_distress_of_his and_ Yōnāh _he_rejoiced on the_plant a_joy great.
OET (OET-RV) And Yahweh God commanded a plant and it grew up over Yonah to shade his head and to relieve him from his distress. Yonah was very pleased about the plant.
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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