Jonah 3:10

When God saw their actions – they turned ¹  from their evil way of living! ²  – God relented concerning the judgment ³  he had threatened them with ⁴  and he did not destroy them. ⁵ 

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened.

God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He [did] change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn't do.

And God saw what they did, how they were turned from their evil way; and God’s purpose was changed as to the evil which he said he would do to them, and he did it not.

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

When God saw their actions – they turned ¹  from their evil way of living! ²  – God relented concerning the judgment ³  he had threatened them with ⁴  and he did not destroy them. ⁵ 

¹ tn This clause is introduced by כִּי (ki, “that”) and functions as an epexegetical, explanatory clause.

² tn Heb “from their evil way” (so KJV, ASV, NAB); NASB “wicked way.”

³ tn Heb “calamity” or “disaster.” The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result – the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 6). The root רָעָה is repeated three times in vv. 8 and 10. Twice it refers to the Ninevites’ moral “evil” (vv. 8 and 10a) and here it refers to the “calamity” or “disaster” that the Lord had threatened (v. 10b). This repetition of the root forms a polysemantic wordplay that exploits this broad range of meanings of the noun. The wordplay emphasizes that God’s response was appropriate: because the Ninevites repented from their moral “evil” God relented from the “calamity” he had threatened.

⁴ tn Heb “the disaster that he had spoken to do to them.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he did not do it.” See notes on 3:8-9.