3:9 These words of the king echo those of the ship’s captain in 1:6 (see Introduction: “Structure,” p. 219). The concluding expressions of hope are identical in Hebrew, literally, “that we may not perish”; the opening words, “perhaps” in 1:6 and “who knows?” in 3:9, are equivalent in meaning; and the divine response both men desired was essentially the same. The captain was hoping for a present peril to be removed if Jonah’s God should “take notice”; the king was hoping for an anticipated peril to be diverted should he “relent.” In both cases these pagans recognized that, as Jonah declared in 2:9, “salvation comes from the LORD.” It is in God’s hands whether sinners should perish or be delivered. But these pagans correctly rejected determinism, that humans are only actors in a play written and directed by supernatural powers, and that they have no will of their own and no way to affect the outcome.

The word translated “relent” (niḥam) varies in meaning in different grammatical forms and in different contexts, but it always connotes in some sense the feeling of emotional pain. Elsewhere it can mean to “comfort” or “regret.” As Sasson explains, here and in its two other uses in Jonah (3:10; 4:2) it refers to “divine actions that are contemplated but are never fulfilled.” The meaning “repent” or “change one’s mind” is an appropriate translation when the subject is humans (cf. Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). But when it refers to God’s decision to change an announced course of action in response to human repentance, prayer, or some other circumstances, the translation “relent” is preferable (see Amos 7:3 and comments in this volume). In this chapter God decided that in light of Nineveh’s turning, he would save them rather than follow through on his previous announcement to destroy them.

The word that characterizes vv. 8–10 by its repeated use is šûb, whose basic meaning is “return.” Other than its use in 1:13 in the causative stem (lit., “the men rowed hard to return to dry land”), all its uses in Jonah are in these verses. In v. 8 it is part of the king’s decree to turn from (“give up”) evil and violence. In v. 9 the word occurs twice, as reflected in a literal rendering of the central clause: “God may turn so that he relents and turns from his burning anger.” The last use of the verb is in v. 10, referring again to the repentance of the Ninevites.

We can only imagine the anxiety present in Nineveh at this point. There was hope yet no guarantee that God would indeed relent and turn from his fierce anger and spare Nineveh. Did fear increase as the time neared? Did the prophet Jonah make use of this time by sharing the truth of God’s way? The answers to these questions are not given, but one might imagine the increasing trauma during this interim time.

3:9 These words of the king echo those of the ship’s captain in 1:6 (see Introduction: “Structure,” p. 219). The concluding expressions of hope are identical in Hebrew, literally, “that we may not perish”; the opening words, “perhaps” in 1:6 and “who knows?” in 3:9, are equivalent in meaning; and the divine response both men desired was essentially the same. The captain was hoping for a present peril to be removed if Jonah’s God should “take notice”; the king was hoping for an anticipated peril to be diverted should he “relent.” In both cases these pagans recognized that, as Jonah declared in 2:9, “salvation comes from the LORD.” It is in God’s hands whether sinners should perish or be delivered. But these pagans correctly rejected determinism, that humans are only actors in a play written and directed by supernatural powers, and that they have no will of their own and no way to affect the outcome.

The word translated “relent” (niḥam) varies in meaning in different grammatical forms and in different contexts, but it always connotes in some sense the feeling of emotional pain. Elsewhere it can mean to “comfort” or “regret.” As Sasson explains, here and in its two other uses in Jonah (3:10; 4:2) it refers to “divine actions that are contemplated but are never fulfilled.” The meaning “repent” or “change one’s mind” is an appropriate translation when the subject is humans (cf. Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). But when it refers to God’s decision to change an announced course of action in response to human repentance, prayer, or some other circumstances, the translation “relent” is preferable (see Amos 7:3 and comments in this volume). In this chapter God decided that in light of Nineveh’s turning, he would save them rather than follow through on his previous announcement to destroy them.

The word that characterizes vv. 8–10 by its repeated use is šûb, whose basic meaning is “return.” Other than its use in 1:13 in the causative stem (lit., “the men rowed hard to return to dry land”), all its uses in Jonah are in these verses. In v. 8 it is part of the king’s decree to turn from (“give up”) evil and violence. In v. 9 the word occurs twice, as reflected in a literal rendering of the central clause: “God may turn so that he relents and turns from his burning anger.” The last use of the verb is in v. 10, referring again to the repentance of the Ninevites.

We can only imagine the anxiety present in Nineveh at this point. There was hope yet no guarantee that God would indeed relent and turn from his fierce anger and spare Nineveh. Did fear increase as the time neared? Did the prophet Jonah make use of this time by sharing the truth of God’s way? The answers to these questions are not given, but one might imagine the increasing trauma during this interim time.

each must turn The Hebrew term here has the core sense of turning around. Here and elsewhere it is used with the idea of repentance. This contrasts sharply with the adamant refusal to repent that is the typical response that Israelite prophets received at home (compare Jer 5:3 and note).

Furthermore, as Jeremiah 18:7–8 makes clear, prophetic pronouncements of judgment were not absolute, but conditional: ‘If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.’ The fact that God changes his mind here does not represent a divine failing, but rather reveals his earnest desire to be true to his own immutable nature.