The indirect discourse in 10b must often be changed to direct discourse; for example, “Jonah went on to tell them, ‘I am running away from the Lord.’ ” In many languages, however, one cannot speak of “the Lord,” for the relationship between a person and his Lord is an obligatory relationship that must be expressed as “my Lord” or even “the Lord of all people.” In this context, however, it would seem more appropriate for Jonah to speak of “my Lord,” since he is not assuming that Yahweh is the Lord of these particular sailors.
A literal rendering of running away from could suggest that the Lord was somehow chasing after Jonah. It is important to avoid such an implication, and perhaps this can be done in some instances by saying “I am trying to escape from the Lord,” or perhaps “I am going to a place where the Lord cannot see me.”
The indirect discourse in 10b must often be changed to direct discourse; for example, “Jonah went on to tell them, ‘I am running away from the Lord.’ ” In many languages, however, one cannot speak of “the Lord,” for the relationship between a person and his Lord is an obligatory relationship that must be expressed as “my Lord” or even “the Lord of all people.” In this context, however, it would seem more appropriate for Jonah to speak of “my Lord,” since he is not assuming that Yahweh is the Lord of these particular sailors.
A literal rendering of running away from could suggest that the Lord was somehow chasing after Jonah. It is important to avoid such an implication, and perhaps this can be done in some instances by saying “I am trying to escape from the Lord,” or perhaps “I am going to a place where the Lord cannot see me.”Here again the text causes some problems, which are dealt with differently by different translators.
The first part of the verse, The sailors were terrified, does not relate very closely to what precedes. Why should the sailors be terrified because Jonah tells them that he worships the maker of the sea and the dry land? Were they afraid that, in spite of their innocence, they too would now be involved in the punishment for his crime? The word “fear” or “be terrified” is the same as that which Jonah has just used for worship. In other words, the author is contrasting the genuine awe of the heathen sailors, who were aware that the storm was sent by Jonah’s God, with the merely nominal or conventional confession of faith on the part of the Hebrew Jonah. The sailors are already said to have been afraid in verse 5, but here the description is intensified, which justifies New English Bible here, “were even more afraid.” The form the Hebrew takes is “feared with a great fear.” This linking of a noun similar in form to a verb is known as “cognate accusative” and is often used in Hebrew to add strength to the verb itself; for example, Zech 1.14; Isa 66.10; Psa 14.5.
If the text of Good News Translation is arranged in the order of the Hebrew, the result would be The sailors were terrified, and said to him, “That was an awful thing to do!” (They knew) he was running away from the LORD. Jonah went on to tell them. But Good News Translation has been rearranged in a more logical order, to indicate the sequence of cause and effect. This one verse in Hebrew has three occurrences of the word ki, which, as noted in verse 2, can have the meaning of either “for” or “that.” This is brought out clearly in Revised Standard Version: “For … that … because….” In other words, there is here a double flashback, answering two successive questions:
(a) Why did the sailors exclaim as they did?
Because they knew Jonah was fleeing from the LORD.
(b) How did they know this?
Because Jonah had already told them.
Since this final sentence is required to give the reader the clue to the behavior of the sailors, Good News Translation places it at the beginning of the verse and at the same time supplies an indication of when Jonah’s explanation occurred. In other word, his confession is taken to be a continuation of his speech in verse 9, hence went on to tell them. There is, however, no indication in the Hebrew of the time when Jonah disclosed his “business” (verse 8) or his reason for being on the ship, so the treatment in New English Bible is quite as legitimate, with its insertion of “already” and its use of the pluperfect “had told.” In any event, it was this disclosure on Jonah’s part that led the sailors to exclaim as they did (compare Gen 3.13): “That was an awful thing to do!” with specific reference to Jonah’s attempt to flee from God (so also Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, An American Translation, Moffatt, Zürcher Bibel).
On the other hand, the words of the sailors can be taken as a question, as in New English Bible, “What can you have done wrong?” implying their concern to know what induced Jonah to attempt to flee. This is also the force of the footnote in Good News Translation, “Why did you have to run away like that?” Living Bible, Luther 1984, Jerusalem Bible, Chinese Union Version also suppose that the sailors are asking a question. The Hebrew text, however, does not offer an answer to such a question, and it is better to treat the words as an exclamation. Mwkl considers the last sentence to be an addition to the text, arising out of a misunderstanding of the verb “knew,” which it interprets as “perceived.” There is no textual evidence in favor of the supposition that the last part of the verse is a later addition, brought in to account for the preceding sentence.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Jonah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .