Jon 3:10 | NETfull | STEP | When God saw their actions – they turned from their evil way of living! – God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them.

Jonah 3:10

10 When God saw their actions – they turned ^{▼▼ This clause is introduced by כִּי (ki, “that”) and functions as an epexegetical, explanatory clause.} from their evil way of living! ^{▼▼ Heb “from their evil way” (so KJV, ASV, NAB); NASB “wicked way.”} – God relented concerning the judgment ^{▼▼ 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.} he had threatened them with ^{▼▼ Heb “the disaster that he had spoken to do to them.”} and he did not destroy them. ^{▼▼ Heb “and he did not do it.” See notes on 3:8–9.}