Jeremy Thompson Catholic PhD in Biblical Languages, Programmer, Runner

Nineveh has been the focus of a post here in the past, but this one’s a little different.  It’s a translational issue.  I’ve pointed out in the past that many if not most translations are relatively boring.  Jonah 3:3, which is a part of today’s lectionary reading, is a wonderful case in point.  Here’s a task for you (please don’t peak down, I think it’s a better learning experience if you do this yourself):  Compare the King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, and New American Standard Bible in their renderings of Jonah 3:3 (Here’s a good site for doing so).  Pay particular attention to the description of Nineveh.

Notice anything interesting about the description of Nineveh? …

Nope.  And, you very well should not have.  The relevant translations are “an exceedingly great city” (KJV), “an exceedingly large city” (NRSV), and “an exceeding great city” (NASB).

Boooo … booooooriiiiiiing.  The Hebrew text underlying those translations is actually something along the lines of “a great city to God” (my fakey Hebrew transliteration ‘iyr gedolah lelohim).  Now that’s more interesting.  What could it mean for a city to be “great to God”?  If it’s exceedingly great, that’s one thing.  But, if it’s great to God, that’s quite another.  That’s really huge.  That’s as big as the vacant cavity inside Joel‘s skull (sorry I had to take my shot back after that little jab ;-)).

Well, I guess that’s one of the many wonderful benefits of knowing some Biblical Hebrew.  You can see random stuff like that and get completely distracted from the whole point of the lectionary reading you were reading for your spiritual benefit … and then you can blog about it and really blow some good quality time … consign it sheol I did it again.

Related:

Don’t Blame Me Moses … That Calf Just Came Out

Genesis 1.1 and the Importance of Comparing Translations

Psalm 1.1 – Translation Comparison

Isaiah 41 – An Interesting Translation Issue

An Ancient of Days or The Ancient of Days: Does it Really Matter?

In today’s Old Testament reading from Jonah 3, we find the Ninevites as the model of repentance.  Check out the perfect pattern of repentance here:

When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth
and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive,
and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.” (NAB)

Clothes are stripped off, sackcloth is adorned, the king trades his customary throne for a throne of ash, and a total fast is put in place for man and beast.  But, the Ninevites are supposed to be evil pagans, namely the evil pagans that God used to punish the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722/21 when the Assyrians conquered it.

But, this is really the pattern in the Book of Jonah.  First, the pagan sailors in chapter one who are calling on their gods display exceptional qualities (i.e. they do everything they can to try to save Jonah) and experience conversion (i.e. they make vows and sacrifice to YHWH).  Then in chapter 3, we find this ideal repentance from the evil pagan Ninevites.  Yet the prophet Jonah is the antithesis; Jonah runs away from YHWH and protests against his mercy.

The story of Jonah as I said yesterday would have been pertinent for the people in exile.  In chapter 1, I noted the importance of the idea that YHWH can deal with Jonah on his way to Tarshish.  This means that YHWH is not confined to a particular space.  In addition, these positive portrayals of foreigners (and perhaps even the negative portrayal of the Israelite prophet) would have been important either for those in exile who were living among foreigners or for those after the exile who were living under foreign rule.  This is in direct contrast to the Book of Nahum, and in fact Jonah’s attitude very much resembles that of Nahum, where the downfall and destruction of the Assyrians is a cause for joy (e.g. in the NRSV, the section beginning in Nahum 1.12 is entitled “Good News for Judah”).

I dare not get to homiletical here, but the book still today makes us examine our attitudes about foreigners and those who are different from ourselves.  And considering the past encounters of Israel and Nineveh, the book today makes us examine our attitudes even toward those who have done us harm.