New International Version
Jonah 3:9
9Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
Jonah 3:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
Context of Jonah 3:9
7This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Read all of Jonah 3Jonah 3:9 word by word
מִֽי־יוֹדֵ֣עַ יָשׁ֔וּב וְנִחַ֖ם הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְשָׁ֛ב מֵחֲר֥וֹן אַפּ֖וֹ וְלֹ֥א נֹאבֵֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jonah 3:9
- Jonah 1:6The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
- 2 Samuel 12:22He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’
- Psalms 106:45for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
- Joel 2:13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
- Amos 5:15Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
- Luke 15:18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
Commentaries on Jonah 3:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Who can tell if God will turn and repent - There is at least a peradventure for our salvation. God may turn towards us, change his purpose, and save us alive. While there is life there is hope; God has no pleasure in the death of sinners; he is gracious and compassionate. Himself has prescribed repentance; if we repent, and turn to him from our iniquities, who knows then whether God will not turn, etc.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Who 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 There was a wonder of Divine grace in the repentance and reformation of Nineveh. It condemns the men of the gospel generation, Mt 12:41. A very small degree of light may convince men that humbling themselves before God, confessing their sins with prayer, and turning from sin, are means of escaping wrath and obtaining mercy. The people followed the example of the king. It became a national act, and it was necessary it should be so, when it was…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-10God commands Jonah again to preach to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys. Ironically, the city repents, just as Jonah feared, and he becomes angry with God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Who can tell--(Compare Joe 2:14). Their acting on a vague possibility of God's mercy, without any special ground of encouragement, is the more remarkable instance of faith, as they had to break through long-rooted prejudices in giving up idols to seek Jehovah at all. The only ground which their ready faith rested on, was the fact of God sending one to warn them, instead of destroying them at once; this suggested the thought of a possibility of pardon…Read the comment
Topics related to Jonah 3:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jonah 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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