Jonah 1:1

The Lord said ¹  to Jonah son of Amittai, ² 

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:

The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,

The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:

One day long ago, GOD's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son:

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

The Lord said ¹  to Jonah son of Amittai, ² 

¹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord.” The genitive noun in the construction דְּבַר־יְהוָה (dÿvar-yÿhvah, “word of the Lord”) could function as a possessive genitive (“the Lord’s word”; see IBHS 145 §9.5.1g), but more likely it functions as a subjective genitive (“the Lord said”; see IBHS 143 §9.5.1a). The Aramaic translation of Jonah 1:1 (Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible are known as Targums) interprets the Hebrew as “There was a word of prophecy from the Lord” (cf. Tg. Hos 1:1).

² tn Heb “The word of the Lord was to Jonah…saying….” The infinitive לֵאמֹר (le’mor, “saying”) introduces direct discourse and is untranslated in English.