Jonah 3:10

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
saw	וַיַּ֤רְא vai.Yar'	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
works	מַ֣עֲשֵׂיהֶ֔ם ma.'a.sei.Hem	H4639	an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
turned	שָׁ֖בוּ Sha.vu	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
evil	הָרָעָ֑ה ha.ra.'Ah	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
way	מִדַּרְכָּ֣ם mi.dar.Kam	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
God	הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
repented	וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם vai.yi.Na.chem	H5162	properly · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
evil	הָרָעָ֛ה ha.ra.'Ah	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
said	דִּבֶּ֥ר di.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
do	לַעֲשׂוֹת la.'a.sot-	H6213	to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
did	עָשָֽׂה 'a.Sah	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Jeremiah 18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
1 Kings 21:27-29 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackclo…
Exodus 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Amos 7:6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
Luke 11:32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and…
Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his…
Amos 7:3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 31:18-20 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 3:10

God repented of the evil--When the message was sent to them, they were so ripe for judgment that a purpose of destruction to take effect in forty days was the only word God's righteous abhorrence of sin admitted of as to them. But when they repented, the position in which they stood towards God's righteousness was altered. So God's mode of dealing with them must alter accordingly, if God is not to be inconsistent with His own immutable character of dealing with men according to their works and state of heart, taking vengeance at last on the hardened impenitent, and delighting to show mercy on the penitent. Compare Abraham's reasoning, ; ; . What was really a change in them and in God's corre…

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Adam Clarke on Jonah 3:10

And Gods saw their works - They repented, and brought forth fruits meet for repentance; works which showed that they did most earnestly repent. He therefore changed his purpose, and the city was saved. The purpose was: If the Ninevites do not return from their evil ways, and the violence that is in their hands, within forty days, I will destroy the city. The Ninevites did return, etc., and therefore escaped the threatened judgment. Thus we see that the threatening was conditional.

John Gill on Jonah 3:10

And God saw their words, that they turned from their evil way,.... Not their outward works, in putting on sackcloth and ashes, and fasting; but their inward works, their faith in him, and repentance towards him; and which were attended with fruits and works meet for repentance, in that they forsook their former course of life, and refrained from it; and these he saw not barely with his eye of omniscience, as he sees all persons and things, good and bad, but so as to like them, approve of them, and accept them, in which sense the word is used, Genesis 1:4; and so the repentance of these men is spoken of with commendation by Christ, and as what would rise up in judgment, and condemn the men of…

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John Calvin

The Church Fathers

In uncertainty they repented and obtained certain mercy.
— Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 50

For if the world is converted, God is converted; and when the sinners change their life, He will change His sentence.
— Haimo of Auxerre,

Now, if [forgiveness of sin had not] been predicted of Christ, I should find in the Creator examples of such benignity as would hold out to me the promise of similar affections also in the Son of whom he is the Father. I see how the Ninevites obtained forgiveness of their sins from the Creator—not to say from Christ [by way of anticipation], even then, because from the beginning he was acting in the Father's name.
— Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.10

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Contingencies · IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN — IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN
God · Repentance attributed to — Repentance attributed to
Heathen · .The Ninevites — .The Ninevites
Orator · .Jonah — .Jonah
Repentance · 2:18; — 2:18;
Revivals · .In Nineveh — .In Nineveh
Sins, National · Should be: Turned from — Should be: Turned from

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Jonah 3:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 3:10

Adam Clarke on Jonah 3:10

John Gill on Jonah 3:10

John Calvin

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Jonah 3:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jonah 3:10

Adam Clarke on Jonah 3:10

John Gill on Jonah 3:10

John Calvin

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Jonah 3:10–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Jonah 3:10

Rashi on Jonah 3:10