Jonah 3:9 BSB — MannaFest

Jonah 3:9

Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

KJV

Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

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Commentary

4 voices

Tertullian

Against Marcion Book II (220)

Look here then, say you: I discover a self-incriminating case in the matter of the Ninevites, when the book of Jonah declares, "And God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not." In accordance with which Jonah himself says unto the Lord, "Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish; for I knew that Thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

They cannot object against the equity of the judgment, they pretend not to set it aside by appealing to a higher court, but hope in God himself, that he will repent, and that his own mercy (to which they fly) shall rejoice against judgment.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Who can tell if God will turn and repent? - The Ninevites use the same form of words, which God suggested by Joel to Judah. Perhaps He would thereby indicate that He had Himself put it into their mouths. “In uncertainty they repented, and obtained certain mercy” . “It is therefore left uncertain, that men, being doubtful of their salvation, may repent the more vehemently and the more draw down on themselves the mercy of God” . “Most certain are the promises of God, whereby He has promised pardon to the penitent.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
מִֽי־	mi-	who?	H4310 →
יוֹדֵ֣עַ	yo.De.a'	[is] knowing	H3045 →
יָשׁ֔וּב	ya.Shuv	he will turn	H7725 →
וְנִחַ֖ם	ve.ni.Cham	and he will relent	H5162 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים	ha.'E.lo.Him	<the> God	H430 →
וְשָׁ֛ב	ve.Shav	and he will turn back	H7725 →
מֵחֲר֥וֹן	me.cha.Ron	from [the] burning of	H2740 →
אַפּ֖וֹ	'a.Po	anger his	H639 →
וְלֹ֥א	ve.Lo'	and not	H3808 →
נֹאבֵֽד׃	no.Ved	we will perish	H6 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jonah 1:6
The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
leads to
- Psalms 107:28–29
  Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
- 2 Samuel 12:22
  David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’
- Ephesians 5:14
  So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Mark 4:37–41
  Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped.
Through
Psalms 106:45
And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
leads to
- Psalms 105:8
  He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- 2 Kings 13:23
  But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been…
- Lamentations 3:32
  Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
- Judges 2:18
  Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was…

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About Jonah

Jonah Preaches to the Ninevites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Jonah: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Continue: Jonah 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Jonah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Jonah