Jonah 1:1
Jonah Tries to Run from the Lord
1:1 The Lord said 1 to Jonah son of Amittai, 2
Matthew 12:39-40
12:39 But he answered them,
3 “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
12:40 For just as Jonah was
in the belly of the huge fish 4 for three days and three nights,
5 so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
Matthew 16:4
16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then
6 he left them and went away.
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.
3 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
4 tn Grk “large sea creature.”
5 sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.