Chapter 3
And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
the word
the second
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
Nineveh
Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was situated on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, opposite the present Mosul, about 280 miles north of Babylon, 400 N. E. of Damascus, in latitude 36 degrees 20' N. longitude 73 degrees 10' E. It was not only a very ancient, (Ge 10:11,) but also a very great city. Strabo says that it was much larger than Babylon, the circuit of which he estimates at 385 furlongs; and, according to Diodorus Siculus, it was an oblong parallelogram, extending 150 furlongs in length, 90 in breadth, and 480 in circumference, i.e., about 20 miles long, 12 broad, and 60 in compass. This agrees with the account given here of its being "an exceeding great city of three days' journey," i.e., in circuit; for 20 miles a day was the common computation for a pedestrian. It was surrounded by large walls 100 feet high, so broad that three chariots could drive abreast on them, and defended by 1,500 towers 200 feet in height. See notes on Nahum.
preach
Jeremiah 1:17 15:19-21 Ezekiel 2:7 3:17 Matthew 3:8 John 5:14
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
arose
Genesis 22:3 Matthew 21:28,29 2 Timothy 4:11
an exceeding great city
Heb. a city great of God. So.
Genesis 30:8 *marg:; Psalms 36:6 *marg:; Psalms 80:10 *marg:
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.
Yet
10 Deuteronomy 18:22 2 Kings 20:1,6 Jeremiah 18:7-10
So 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.
believed
Exodus 9:18-21 Matthew 12:41 Luke 11:32 Acts 27:25 Hebrews 11:1,7
and proclaimed
2 Chronicles 20:3 Ezra 8:21 Jeremiah 36:9 Joel 1:14 2:12-17
from
Jeremiah 31:34 42:1,8 Acts 8:10
For 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.
word
and he arose
Psalms 2:10-12 James 1:9,10 4:6-10
and covered
Esther 4:1-4 Job 2:8 42:6 Jeremiah 6:26 Lamentations 3:29 Daniel 9:3 Micah 1:10 Matthew 11:21 Luke 10:13
And 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:
caused
5 2 Chronicles 20:3 Ezra 8:21 Joel 2:15,16
published
Heb. said. nobles. Heb. great men. herd.
But 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.
cry
let
Isaiah 1:16-19 55:6,7 58:6 Ezekiel 18:21-24,27,28,30-32 33:11 Daniel 4:27 Matthew 3:8 Acts 3:19 26:20
the violence
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
1:6 2 Samuel 12:22 Psalms 106:45 Joel 2:13,14 Amos 5:15 Luke 15:18-20
And 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.
God saw
1 Kings 21:27-29 Job 33:27,28 Jeremiah 31:18-20 Luke 11:32 15:20