Bible HebrewJonah Runs Jonah 1:1–3
Jonah is sent east to Nineveh and heads west to Tarshish. Watch the verbs of motion: “arise”, “go”, and “go down”.
Jonah 1:1
וַיְהִי דְּבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יוֹנָה בֶן־אֲמִתַּי לֵאמֹר
Wayhī dəvar-yəḥawwe ʾel-yōnā ven-ʾămittay lēmōr
“And the word of yəḥawwe came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:”
Word by word
| Hebrew | Sounds | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי | wayhī | and it was / came |
| דְּבַר | dəvar | the word of |
| יְהוָה | yəḥawwe | yəḥawwe |
| אֶל | ʾel | to |
| יוֹנָה | yōnā | Jonah |
| בֶן | ven | son of |
| אֲמִתַּי | ʾămittay | Amittai |
| לֵאמֹר | lēmōr | saying |
- וַיְהִי: The book begins with וַיְהִי, “and it was”, the form that usually continues a story. Several Hebrew books open this way, as if picking up a longer story.
- דְּבַר: A construct chain: דְּבַר “word of” + יְהוָה. “The word of yəḥawwe came to ___” is a standard way of introducing a prophet's message.
- לֵאמֹר: לְ + the infinitive of אָמַר: “to say”, that is, “saying”. It works like opening quotation marks.
- יוֹנָה: The name יוֹנָה also means “dove”.
Jonah 1:2
קוּם לֵךְ אֶל־נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ כִּי־עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי
Qūm lēkh ʾel-nīnəwē hāʿīr haggədhōlā ūqərā ʿālehā kī-ʿāləthā rāʿāthām ləfānāy
“Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
Word by word
| Hebrew | Sounds | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| קוּם | qūm | arise |
| לֵךְ | lēkh | go |
| אֶל | ʾel | to |
| נִינְוֵה | nīnəwē | Nineveh |
| הָעִיר | hāʿīr | the city |
| הַגְּדוֹלָה | haggədhōlā | the great |
| וּקְרָא | ūqərā | and call out |
| עָלֶיהָ | ʿālehā | against her |
| כִּי | kī | for |
| עָלְתָה | ʿāləthā | has come up |
| רָעָתָם | rāʿāthām | their evil |
| לְפָנָי | ləfānāy | before me |
- קוּם: Two commands side by side, קוּם לֵךְ, “arise, go”. The first often just means “get going”; it need not mean standing up.
- הַגְּדוֹלָה: The adjective comes after its noun and repeats the article: הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה, “the city, the great (one)”. That is how Hebrew says “the great city”. Both are feminine: עִיר is a feminine noun even though it has no feminine ending.
- עָלֶיהָ: עַל + the ending ־ֶיהָ “her”. עִיר is feminine, so the city is “her”. עַל can mean “on”, “over” or “against”; after “call out” it is usually read as “against”.
- רָעָתָם: רָעָה + ־ָם “their”. The word covers both wrongdoing and harm or trouble. It comes back in 1:7, 3:10 and 4:1.
Jonah 1:3
וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אָנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה
Wayyāqom yōnā livrōaḥ tarshīshā millifnē yəḥawwe wayyēredh yāfō wayyimṣā ʾāniyyā bāʾā tharshīsh wayyittēn śəkhārāh wayyēredh bāh lāvō ʿimmāhem tarshīshā millifnē yəḥawwe
“And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, away from yəḥawwe. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid its fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from yəḥawwe.”
Word by word
| Hebrew | Sounds | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| וַיָּקָם | wayyāqom | and (he) arose |
| יוֹנָה | yōnā | Jonah |
| לִבְרֹחַ | livrōaḥ | to flee |
| תַּרְשִׁישָׁה | tarshīshā | to Tarshish |
| מִלִּפְנֵי | millifnē | from before |
| יְהוָה | yəḥawwe | yəḥawwe |
| וַיֵּרֶד | wayyēredh | and he went down |
| יָפוֹ | yāfō | (to) Joppa |
| וַיִּמְצָא | wayyimṣā | and he found |
| אָנִיָּה | ʾāniyyā | a ship |
| בָּאָה | bāʾā | going |
| תַרְשִׁישׁ | tharshīsh | (to) Tarshish |
| וַיִּתֵּן | wayyittēn | and he paid |
| שְׂכָרָהּ | śəkhārāh | its fare |
| וַיֵּרֶד | wayyēredh | and he went down |
| בָּהּ | bāh | into it |
| לָבוֹא | lāvō | to go |
| עִמָּהֶם | ʿimmāhem | with them |
| תַּרְשִׁישָׁה | tarshīshā | to Tarshish |
| מִלִּפְנֵי | millifnē | from before |
| יְהוָה | yəḥawwe | yəḥawwe |
- וַיָּקָם: God said קוּם, “arise”, in verse 2. The story answers with the same verb, וַיָּקָם, “and he arose”. The next word shows he arose to do something else.
- תַּרְשִׁישָׁה: The ending ־ָה on תַּרְשִׁישָׁה marks direction: “toward Tarshish”. It is not the feminine ending.
- מִלִּפְנֵי: מִן + לִפְנֵי, literally “from to-the-face-of”: “away from the presence of”. The same phrase opens and closes the verse.
- וַיֵּרֶד: Jonah keeps going down: וַיֵּרֶד twice in this verse, יָרַד in verse 5, and then וַיֵּרָדַם, “he fell fast asleep”, which sounds like it.
- בָּאָה: בָּאָה is a feminine participle of בּוֹא, “coming, going”. It is feminine to agree with אָנִיָּה, “ship”.
- שְׂכָרָהּ: שָׂכָר “hire, fare” + ־ָהּ “her”. “Her” is the ship, a feminine noun: “its fare”.
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