Jonah 3:9

“Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”

The hope then was that God (Elohim) would also ‘turn and repent' in His attitude towards them, in other words would view them in a totally different way because of their change of heart. Note the emphasis all the way through on ‘God' rather than ‘YHWH'. There is no thought that they had come to a full knowledge of YHWH. Only that they had been faced with the reality of the living God, and had therefore been given the opportunity to seek further into the truth. Sadly most probably later slipped back into a state of contentment with their idols. But it was real while it lasted.