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Jonah 3

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Jonah Obeys the Second Command 1–4

1
And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ​
2
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. ​
3
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days’ journey. ​
4
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. ​

Nineveh Repents and God Relents 5–10

5
And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. ​
6
And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ​
7
And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; ​
8
but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. ​
9
Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? ​
10
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jonah 3

Verse 1

the second time — The words are those of 1:1, 'the word of the LORD came unto Jonah', with 'the second time' added, as in Jer 13:3, 'the word of the LORD came unto me the second time'. Jonah's flight and the fish have not changed the commission, and v.2 gives it in the words of 1:2.

Verse 2

Arise, go unto Nineveh — The command repeats 1:2, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city', with 'cry against it' replaced by 'preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee'. Qeriah, 'preaching', occurs only here in the Old Testament; Christ says the men of Nineveh 'repented at the preaching of Jonas' (Matt 12:41).

Verse 3

So Jonah arose, and went — The verbs of 1:3 are reversed: there Jonah 'rose up' and 'went down' to flee; here he 'arose, and went' (qum, halak) 'according to the word of the LORD'. 'An exceeding great city' is literally 'a great city to God' (Elohim); 'three days' journey' gives its size, and v.4 says he entered it one day's journey.

Verse 4

Nineveh shall be overthrown — Haphak, to turn over, is the verb of God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:25), recalled for Israel in Amos 4:11. It is also the verb for a turning of sorrow into joy (Esth 9:22), and of feasts into mourning (Amos 8:10). The warning gives 'forty days' and no promise of mercy; Jonah's cry is again qara, 'cried'.

Verse 5

the people of Nineveh believed God — 'Believed' is aman, the verb of 'he believed in the LORD' (Gen 15:6). From here to v.10 the verses say 'God' (Elohim), where 1:1 and 3:1 say 'the LORD'. They 'proclaimed' (qara) a fast, the verb of Jonah's 'cried', and the response runs 'from the greatest… to the least', the gadol of the book and qatan of Amos 7:2, 5.

Verse 6

he arose from his throne — The king 'arose' (qum), the verb of Jonah's obedience in v.3. 'Word came unto the king' is literally that the matter reached him, and he 'covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes', the two signs named together in Esth 4:1, 3. In v.8 the same verb 'covered' is used of man and beast.

Verse 7

Let neither man nor beast… taste any thing — The decree goes out 'by the decree of the king and his nobles' (literally his 'great ones', gadol) and covers herd and flock as well as people. Beasts are drawn into a day of judgment in Joel 1:18 also, 'How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed'. Neither food nor water is allowed, a fast without exception.

Verse 8

turn every one from his evil way — Shuv, 'turn', is the prophets' call, as in 'Turn ye from your evil ways' (2 Kings 17:13) and 'return ye now every one from his evil way' (Jer 18:11). 'Evil' is ra'ah, the word of 1:2. 'Violence' (chamas) is the charge of Gen 6:11, 'the earth was filled with violence'. 'Cry mightily' is the verb qara once more.

Verse 9

Who can tell if God will turn and repent — The king's words follow Moses' prayer, 'Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people' (Ex 32:12): charon aph, 'fierce anger', and nacham, 'repent'. 'Who can tell' is David's language over the child (2 Sam 12:22) and Joel's 'Who knoweth' (2:14). 'That we perish not' is the shipmaster's phrase in 1:6.

Verse 10

God repented of the evil — The same word ra'ah, 'evil', is used twice: their 'evil way' and the 'evil' God had said he would do. The verse applies the rule of Jer 18:7–8, 'If that nation… turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them'. Nacham, 'repented', is the verb of Amos 7:3, 6 and Ex 32:14.