אַפּ֖וֹ (’ap·pōw) in Jonah 3:9: Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
אַפּ֖וֹ (’ap·pōw) in Jonah 3:9
Source Word
At Jonah 3:9, the source token אַפּ֖וֹ is H639, N-msc | 3ms. The BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
Anger renders the Hebrew body idiom contextually, and His represents the third-person masculine suffix. Nineveh has no presumption of safety, only hope that real turning from evil may meet divine compassion rather than destruction.
How To Communicate It
Explain His as referring to God and preserve Who knows? as humble uncertainty rather than a formula for controlling mercy.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not literalize the nose image, portray divine wrath as capricious rage, or make repentance a bargaining mechanism.
- The root noun literally relates to nose and breath but commonly expresses anger through an embodied idiom.
- Read anger within Jonah 3:9 as this H639 occurrence; broader theology requires the passage.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-nominal
Noun
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Masculine
Singular
Construct
3Ms
This possessed noun identifies the threatened disposition and action; the surrounding verbs express possible turning.
The third masculine singular suffix points to God, and the noun stands within the phrase from His fierce anger.
What The Form Does In This Verse
God as the possessor of the fierce anger the Ninevites hope he will turn from
The king's uncertain appeal that turning and relenting may avert destruction
The masculine singular noun with third-person suffix names His anger, using the Hebrew heat or nose idiom for divine wrath.
The bodily image does not assign God uncontrolled passion or make the Ninevites capable of manipulating him.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: Nineveh has no presumption of safety, only hope that real turning from evil may meet divine compassion rather than destruction.
The third masculine singular suffix points to God, and the noun stands within the phrase from His fierce anger.. The masculine singular noun with third-person suffix names His anger, using the Hebrew heat or nose idiom for divine wrath.. Attached to God as the possessor of the fierce anger the Ninevites hope he will turn from. Governed by the king's uncertain appeal that turning and relenting may avert destruction. The bodily image does not assign God uncontrolled passion or make the Ninevites capable of manipulating him.
Whose anger do the Ninevites hope will turn away? The suffix points to God, whose threatened judgment they approach with humility rather than entitlement.
Direct: Anger renders the Hebrew body idiom contextually, and His represents the third-person masculine suffix.
The root noun literally relates to nose and breath but commonly expresses anger through an embodied idiom. Who knows? leaves the outcome to God; it does not express disbelief that he is compassionate.
Anthropomorphic noun means divine loss of control: The idiom communicates real wrath in human language without defining God as volatile. repentance mechanically cancels judgment: The king appeals and turns from evil while leaving the decision to God.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
At Jonah 3:9, the source token אַפּ֖וֹ is H639, N-msc | 3ms. The BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
אַף is the lemma behind anger here. Within Jonah 3:9, H639 retains this exact lexical identity.
The third masculine singular suffix points to God, and the noun stands within the phrase from His fierce anger.
Nineveh has no presumption of safety, only hope that real turning from evil may meet divine compassion rather than destruction.
God's wrath against evil is personal and holy, while his mercy cannot be coerced by ritual technique.
Explain His as referring to God and preserve Who knows? as humble uncertainty rather than a formula for controlling mercy.
Do not literalize the nose image, portray divine wrath as capricious rage, or make repentance a bargaining mechanism.