Jonah 3:10

Hebrew Bible

8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. 9 Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.” 10 When God saw their actions—that they turned from their evil way of living—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and did not destroy them.

LXX Jonah 3:10

Septuagint

8 So men and cattle were clothed with sackcloths, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned every one from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying, 9 Who knows if God will repent, and turn from his fierce anger, and so we shall not perish? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did it not.

 Notes and References

"... In the Targum, we do not find the verb םחנ. In 1 Samuel 15:35, the Targumist softened (“And the Lord regretted his Memra that he made Saul king over Israel”). In 1 Samuel 15:29, the Targum translator avoided even the negative comparison given in the Masoretic text of 1 Samuel 15:29 (“And also the glory of Israel will not lie and will not repent, for he is not a man so as to repent” – in this negative clause, Ant and Ra offer µετανοέω). He renders the passage as follows: God “does not turn from whatever he says; for he is not like the sons of men who say and act deceitfully, decree and do not carry out.” (In Jonah 3:9, Nahal Hever Minor Prophets Scroll offers twice παρακαλέοµαι whereas the Septuagint of Jonah 3:9. offers µετανοέω. Other translators did not feel free to alter, e.g. the translator of Jonah 3:10) ..."

Meiser, Martin The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (p. 74) Mohr Siebeck, 2022

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.