Jonah 3 · ESV Study Bible

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

JONAH 3 [†]Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to l Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now l Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, [1] three days’ journey in breadth. [2] 4[†]Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5[^][†] m And the people of Nineveh believed God. n They called for a fast and o put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

6[†]The word reached [3] the king of Nineveh, and p he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, q and sat in ashes. 7[†]And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, r “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor s beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8but let man and s beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. t Let everyone turn from his evil way and from u the violence that is in his hands. 9[†] v Who knows? God may turn and relent w and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10[^][†]When God saw what they did, x how they turned from their evil way, x God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:4 Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! “Overthrown” is the same verb used for God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:21, 25, 29). Although the threat sounds unconditional, a condition was implied: If people repent, God will relent (see Jer. 18:7–8). Jonah knows this condition is included (see Jonah 4:2), and the king of Nineveh will hope that it is (see 3:9).

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:5 Believed is the first word in the Hebrew text of the sentence, and the grammar underscores the immediacy of Nineveh’s repentance. To fast and wear sackcloth were ancient demonstrations of mourning (Neh. 9:1; Est. 4:3; Dan. 9:3).

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:9 Who knows? expresses hope (see 2 Sam. 12:22) that God may turn and relent—the exact hope of the prophet Joel for the people of Judah (Joel 2:14). we may not perish. This is the third time a pagan has been concerned that people not perish (see Jonah 1:14 and note on 1:6); ironically, Jonah has not expressed any such concern.

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:7–8 issued a proclamation. It seems odd that the king would tell everyone to fast and put on sackcloth when they had already done so (v. 5). Therefore it is more likely that v. 5 and vv. 6–9 are in topical rather than chronological order. First the king issued the proclamation, and then the people carried it out (see a similar summons to repentance in Joel 1:13–14). By putting the people’s response ahead of the king’s proclamation, the author underscores the immediacy of the people’s response and that they are responding to Jonah’s message, not just to the king’s command. The Ninevites each turn from his evil way, whereas the Israelites did not (cf. 2 Kings 17:13–14).

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:1–3a Jonah’s Recommissioning and Compliance. The fourth episode parallels the first (1:1–3) and focuses on the second question raised at the beginning of the story: “What will happen to the Ninevites?” (see note on 1:1–3).

JONAH—NOTE ON 3:1–2 The second time underscores God’s determination to get his message to the Ninevites and to use Jonah in the process. The message that I tell you replaces “for their evil has come up before me” (1:2).