Jonah — Chapter 3
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1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
8Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.
9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
1And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
1And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days` journey.
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day`s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5And 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.
6And 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.
7And 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;
8but 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.
9Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10And 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.
1The Lord’s message came to Jonah a second time,
2“Go immediately to Nineveh, that large city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”
3So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, in keeping with the Lord’s message. Now Nineveh was an enormous city—it required three days to walk through it!
4Jonah began to enter the city by going one day’s walk, announcing, “At the end of 40 days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
5The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.
7He issued a proclamation and said, “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water.
8Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do.
9Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.”
10When God saw their actions—that they turned from their evil way of living—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and did not destroy them.
1Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.”
3So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to Yahweh’s word. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across.
4Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
5The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
6The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
8but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
9Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
10God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
Summary
The LORD's message comes to Jonah a second time, commissioning him again to go to Nineveh, and this time Jonah obeys, entering the enormous city and proclaiming that it will be overthrown in forty days (vv. 1-4). Remarkably, the Ninevites believe God, and from the greatest to the least they declare a fast and put on sackcloth (v. 5). The king steps down from his throne, exchanges his robe for sackcloth, and issues a decree calling everyone, even the animals, to fast and cry out to God while turning from their evil ways, in hope that he might relent (vv. 6-9). Seeing their repentance, God relents from the judgment he had threatened and does not destroy the city (v. 10).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Joppa (modern Jaffa/Tel Aviv) — Mediterranean port city where Jonah boards a ship fleeing God's call.
- Tarshish (likely Tartessus in modern Spain) — the farthest west one could sail; the exact OPPOSITE direction from Nineveh.
- Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq) — capital of the Assyrian Empire, located on the Tigris River, approximately 500 miles northeast of Israel.
Places on this map
- Mediterranean SeaCalled simply the Great Sea, and treated as the western edge of the world. Israel's coast has almost no natural harbours, so for most of its history the sea was a boundary rather than a road, and seafaring was left to the Phoenicians. Wikipedia
- Tarshishprobably southern SpainUsually identified with Tartessos near the mouth of the Guadalquivir in southern Spain, at the far western end of the Phoenician trade routes, though the identification is not certain. Either way it meant the end of the known world, and it lies almost exactly opposite Nineveh from Joppa. Wikipedia
- NinevehMosul, IraqAssyria's last capital, on the east bank of the Tigris across from modern Mosul, about 500 miles north-east of Israel. Sennacherib walled in an enormous city here, which is the scale behind Jonah's three days' journey and its 120,000 who cannot tell right from left. Wikipedia
- TigrisTurkey, Syria, IraqThe faster and shorter of Mesopotamia's two rivers, running about 1,150 miles from eastern Turkey to join the Euphrates near the Gulf. Nineveh, Calah and Asshur all sat on it, and Daniel received his last vision on its bank. Wikipedia
- JoppaJaffa, Tel Aviv, IsraelThe one usable harbour on Israel's straight coast, a rock shelf with a gap in it, dangerous but workable. Cedar for both temples was landed here, Jonah sailed from here, and Peter saw his vision on a roof here. Wikipedia
- Assyrianorthern IraqThe upper Tigris heartland around Nineveh, Calah and Asshur. Its armies reached Israel by following the Fertile Crescent north-west and then south down the coast, so the threat always arrived from the north even though Assyria lay to the east. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Jonah -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- A Second Call After Failure (vv.1-2) — God speaks to Jonah again instead of writing him off after his flight to Tarshish. Where do you need to believe that God is still calling you even after you've already said no once?
- The Simplicity of a Faithful Message (v.4) — Jonah's entire sermon is only a handful of words, with no strategy or persuasion behind it, yet it moves an entire city to repentance. Are you holding back from sharing what God has put in front of you because you don't feel eloquent or prepared enough?
- A Whole City Turns Together (v.5) — From the greatest to the least, the Ninevites respond to the warning with genuine humility and fasting. What would it look like for your own household or community to respond that wholeheartedly to conviction?
- Repentance Proven by a Change of Direction (v.10) — God doesn't just see Nineveh's sackcloth; He sees their actual turning from evil, and He relents from the judgment He had planned. Is your own repentance visible in changed behavior, or does it stop at feeling sorry?