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Jonah
Chapter Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 3
This
chapter gives an account of the renewal of Jonah's message to Nineveh
and of
his faithful execution of it
Jonah 3:1; and of
the fruit and effect of it
the conversion of the Ninevites
their faith in
God
repentance of their sins
and reformation from them
Jonah 3:5; and of
God's approbation thereof
by revoking the sentence he had pronounced upon
them
Jonah 3:10.
Jonah 3:1 Now
the word of the Lord
came to Jonah the second time
saying
YLT
1And there is a word of
Jehovah unto Jonah a second time
saying
And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time
.... Jonah
having been scourged by the Lord for his stubbornness and disobedience
and
being humbled under the mighty hand of God
is tried a second time
whether he
would go on the Lord's errand
and do his business; and his commission is
renewed
as it was necessary it should; for it would have been unsafe and
dangerous for him to have proceeded upon the former without a fresh warrant; as
the Israelites
when they refused entering into the land of Canaan to possess
it
upon the report of the spies
and afterwards reflecting upon their sin
would go up without the word of the Lord
and contrary to the advice of Moses
many
of them perished in the attempt
being cut off by the Amalekites
Numbers 14:1; and
this renewal of Jonah's commission shows that he was still continued in his
office as a prophet
notwithstanding his failings; as the apostles were in
theirs
though they all forsook Christ
and Peter denied him
Matthew 26:56; and
that the Lord had heard his prayer
and graciously received him
and took away
his iniquity from him
employing him again in his service
being more fitted
for it:
saying; as follows:
Jonah 3:2 2 “Arise
go to Nineveh
that great city
and preach to it the message that I tell you.”
YLT
2`Rise
go unto Nineveh
the
great city
and proclaim unto it the proclamation that I am speaking unto
thee;'
Arise
go unto Nineveh
that great city
.... So it is
called; See Gill on Jonah 1:2. The
order runs in the same words as before; and the same discouragements are
presented to Jonah
taken from the greatness of the city
the number of its
inhabitants
its being the metropolis of the Assyrian empire
and the seat of
the greatest monarch on earth
to try his faith; but these had not the like
effect as before; for he had now another spirit given him
not of fear
but of
a sound mind; he considered he was sent by a greater King
and that more were
they that were on his side than the inhabitants of this place
who might
possibly be against him:
and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee; that he had
bid him before
declaring and exposing their wickedness
and telling them that
in a short time their city would be destroyed. Jonah must not be gratified with
any alteration in the message; but he must go with it as it had before been
given
or what he now bid
or should bid him; the word of the Lord must be
spoken just as it is delivered; nothing must be added to it
or taken from it;
the whole counsel of God must be declared; prophets and ministers must preach
not as men bid them
but as God bids them. The Targum is
"prophesy
against it the prophecy which I speak with thee.'
Jonah 3:3 3 So
Jonah arose and went to Nineveh
according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh
was an exceedingly great city
a three-day journey[a] in
extent.
YLT
3and Jonah riseth
and he
goeth unto Nineveh
according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a
great city before God
a journey of three days.
So Jonah arose
and went unto Nineveh
according to the word of
the Lord
.... He was no longer disobedient to the heavenly vision; being
taught by the rod
he acts according to the word; he is now made willing to go
on the Lord's errand
and do his business
under the influence of his power and
grace; he stands not consulting with the flesh
but immediately arises and sets
forward on his journey
as directed and commanded
being rid of that timorous
spirit
and those fears
he was before possessed of; his afflictions had been
greatly sanctified to him
to restore his straying soul
and cause him to keep
and observe the word of the Lord; and his going to Nineveh
and preaching to a
Heathen people
after his deliverance out of the fish's belly
was a type of
the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles by the apostles
according to the
commission of Christ renewed unto them
after his resurrection from the dead
Acts 26:23; and
after many failings of theirs;
now Nineveh was an exceeding great city: or "a
city great to God"F13גדולה לאלהים "magna Deo"
Montanus
Vatablus
Tigurine
version
Mercerus
Drusius
Cocceius. ; not dear to him
for it was full of
wickedness; not great in his esteem
with whom the whole earth is as nothing;
but known by him to be what it was; and the name of God is often used of
things
to express the superlative nature and greatness of them
as trees of
God
mountains of God
the flame of God
&c. Psalm 36:7; it was
a greater city than Babylon
of which See Gill on Jonah 1:2;
of three days' journey; in compass
being sixty
miles
as Diodorus SiculusF14Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 92. relates; and
allowing twenty miles for a day's journey on foot
as this was
and which is as
much as a man can ordinarily do to hold it
was just three days journey; and so
HerodotusF15Terpsichore
sive l. 5. c. 53. reckons a day's journey
at an hundred fifty furlongs
which make about nineteen miles; but
according
to the Jewish writers
a middling day's journey is ten "parsas"F16T.
Bab. Pesachim
fol. 94. 1.
and every "parsa" makes four miles
so
that with them it is forty miles: or else it was three days' journey in the
length of it
as Kimchi thinks
from end to end. This is observed to show the
greatness of the city
which was the greatest in the whole world
as well as to
lead on to the following account.
Jonah 3:4 4 And
Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and
said
“Yet forty days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
YLT
4And Jonah beginneth to go
in to the city a journey of one day
and proclaimeth
and saith
`Yet forty
days -- and Nineveh is overturned.'
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey
.... As soon
as he came to it
he did not go into an inn
to refresh himself after his
wearisome journey; or spend his time in gazing upon the city
and to observe
its structure
and the curiosities of it; but immediately sets about his work
and proclaims what he was bid to do; and before he could finish one day's
journey
he had no need to proceed any further
the whole city was alarmed with
his preaching
was terrified with it
and brought to repentance by it:
and he cried; as he went along; he lifted up his voice
like a trumpet
that everyone might hear; he did not mutter it out
as if
afraid to deliver his message
but cried aloud in the hearing of all; and very
probably now and then made a stop in the streets
where there was a concourse
of people
or where more streets met
and there
as a herald
proclaimed what
he had to say:
and said
yet forty days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown; not by a
foreign army besieging and taking it
which was not probable to be done in such
a space of time
but by the immediate power of God; either by fire from heaven
as he overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah
their works being like theirs
as Kimchi
and Ben Melech observe
or by an earthquake; that is
within forty days
or at
the end of forty days
as the Targum; not exceeding such a space
which was
granted for their repentance
which is implied
though not expressed; and must
be understood with this proviso
except it repented
for otherwise why is any
time fixed? and why have they warning given them
or the prophet sent to them?
and why were they not destroyed at once
as Sodom and Gomorrah
without any
notice? doubtless
so it would have been
had not this been the case. The Septuagint
version very wrongly reads
"yet three days"
&c. and as wrongly
does JosephusF17Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2. make Jonah to say
that in a short time they would lose the empire of Asia
when only the
destruction of Nineveh is threatened; though
indeed
that loss followed upon
it.
Jonah 3:5 5 So
the people of Nineveh believed God
proclaimed a fast
and put on sackcloth
from the greatest to the least of them.
YLT
5And the men of Nineveh
believe in God
and proclaim a fast
and put on sackcloth
from their greatest
even unto their least
So the people of Nineveh believed God
.... Or
"in God"F18באלהים "in
Deum"
V. L. : in the word of the Lord
as the Targum; they believed there
was a God
and that he
in whose name Jonah came
was the true God; they
believed the word the prophet spake was not the word of man
but
the word of
God; faith came by hearing the word
which is the spring of true repentance
and the root of all good works. Kimchi and R. Jeshuah
in Aben Ezra
suppose
that the men of the ship
in which Jonah had been
were at Nineveh; and these
testified that they had cast him into the sea
and declared the whole affair
concerning him; and this served greatly to engage their attention to him
and
believe what he said: but this is not certain; and
besides
their faith was
the effect of the divine power that went along with the preaching of Jonah
and
not owing to the persuasion of men;
and proclaimed a fast; not of themselves
but
by the order of their king
as follows; though Kimchi thinks this was before
that:
and put on sackcloth
from the greatest of them even to the least
of them; both
with respect to rank and age
so universal were their
fasting and mourning; in token of which they stripped themselves of their
common and rich apparel
and clothed themselves with sackcloth; as was usual in
extraordinary cases of mourning
not only with the Jews
but other nations.
(Jonah
would be a quite a sight to behold. The digestive juices of the fish would have
turned his skin to a most unnatural colour and his hair was most like all gone.
Indeed
anyone looking like that would attract your attention and give his
message more credence
especially after he told you what had happened to him. A
God who creates storms
prepares large fish to swallow a man and preserves him
in the fish
would not likely have too much trouble destroying your city. Editor)
Jonah 3:6 6 Then
word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside
his robe
covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
YLT
6seeing the word doth come
unto the king of Nineveh
and he riseth from his throne
and removeth his
honourable robe from off him
and spreadeth out sackcloth
and sitteth on the
ashes
For word came unto the king of Nineveh
.... Who was
not Sardanapalus
a very dissolute prince
and abandoned to his lusts; but
rather Pul
the same that came against Menahem king of Israel
2 Kings 15:19
as
Bishop UsherF19Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3233. Vid. Rollin's Ancient
History
vol. 2. p. 30. thinks; to him news were brought that there was such a
prophet come into the city
and published such and such things
which met with
credit among the people; and that these
of all ranks and degrees
age and sex
were afflicted with it
and thrown into the utmost concern about it; so very
swiftly did the ministry of Jonah spread in the city; and what he delivered was
so quickly carried from one to another
that in one day's time it reached the
palace
and the royal ear:
and he arose from his throne; where he sat in great
majesty and splendour
encircled by his nobles
receiving their caresses and
compliments; or
it may be
giving audience to foreign ambassadors
sent to
court his friendship and alliance; or hearing causes
and redressing the
grievances of his subjects; for he appears to be one that did not indulge
himself in hunting
and such like exercises
or in his lusts and pleasures:
and he laid his robe from him; his royal apparel
his
imperial robe
and garments of his glory
as the Targum; or his glorious garments
with which he was richly and most magnificently arrayed; he put off these
and
left his throne
in token of his concern at hearing such dismal tidings as the
overthrow of his capital city
and of his humiliation and abasement:
and covered him with sackcloth; which was
very rough and coarse
and must be very disagreeable to a person so tender and
delicate
and was what the meanest of his subjects wore on this occasion:
and sat in ashes; or "in the" or "that
ashes"F20על האפר
"in cinere illo"
Vatablus
Tarnovius. ; used in such times of
mourning
which were either strewed under him
or put upon his head; and this
with the other
were done to afflict the body
and affect the mind with a sense
of sin
and the misery threatened for sin
and to shaw deep humiliation for it.
Jonah 3:7 7 And
he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his nobles
saying
Let neither man nor beast
herd nor
flock
taste anything; do not let them eat
or drink water.
YLT
7and he crieth and saith in
Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones
saying
`Man and beast
herd and flock -- let them not taste anything
let them not feed
even water
let them not drink;
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh
.... By a
herald or heralds
sent into the several parts of the city:
by the decree of the king and his nobles; with whom he
consulted
and whose advice he took; and who were equally concerned at this
news
and very probably were present when word was brought to the king
concerning it:
saying
let neither man nor beast
herd nor flock
taste anything; a very strict
and general fast this: abstinence from all food was enjoined; not only men of
every rank and age
but the cattle likewise
horses and camels
they used
either for their pleasure or business; their oxen
cows
and calves
of their
herd; their sheep
goats
lambs
and kids
of their flocks:
let them not feed
nor drink water; no food were to be put
into their mangers or folds: nor were they to be suffered to graze in their
pastures
or to be allowed the least quantity of food or drink; this was
ordered
to make the mourning the greater; thus VirgilF21"Non
ulli pastos
illis egere diebus Frigida Daphni boves
ad flumius
nulla neque
amnem Libavit quadrupes
nec graminis attigit herbam". Bucolic. Eclog. 5.
l. 24
&c. describes the mourning for the death of Caesar by the oxen not
coming to the rivers to drink
nor touching the grass of the field; and to
afflict their minds the more
and for their greater mortification
since these
creatures were for their use and pleasure
Fasting was used by the Heathens; as
well as the Jews
in some cases; particularly the Egyptians
as HerodotusF23L.
2. c. 4. & l. 4. c. 186. observes
from whom the Assyrians might take it.
Jonah 3:8 8 But
let man and beast be covered with sackcloth
and cry mightily to God; yes
let
every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
YLT
8and cover themselves [with]
sackcloth let man and beast
and let them call unto God mightily
and let them
turn back each from his evil way
and from the violence that [is] in their
hands.
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth
.... As the
king was
and the people also were; and this order enjoined the same to the
beasts
horses
and camels
whose rich trappings were to be taken off
and
sackcloth put upon them
for the greater solemnity
of the mourning; as at this
day
at the funerals of great persons
not only the horses which draw the
hearse and mourning
coaches are covered with black velvet
to make the
solemnity more awful: but others are led
clothed in like manner:
and cry mightily unto God; which clause stands so
closely connected with the former
as if it respected beasts as well as men
who sometimes are said to cry for food in times of drought and distress
Joel 1:20; and who
here might purposely be kept from food and drink
that they might cry
and so the
more affect the minds of the Ninevites
in their humiliation and abasement; but
men are principally meant
at least who were to cry unto God intensely and
earnestly
with great ardour
fervency
and importunity; not only aloud
and
with a strong voice
but with their whole heart
as Kimchi and Ben Melech
interpret it; heartily
sincerely
and devoutly
for the averting divine wrath
and the pardon of their sins
and the sparing of their city:
yea
let them turn everyone from his evil way; as well
knowing that fasting and prayer would be of no avail
without leaving everyone
their sinful courses
and reforming their life and manners:
and from the violence that is in their hands: their rapine
and oppression
their thefts and robberies
and preying upon the substance of
others; which seem to be the reigning vices of this city
in doing which many
murders were committed also; see Nahum 3:1; the
Jewish writers interpret this of making restitution for rapine and violence
which is a genuine fruit of repentance; see Luke 19:8. The
Septuagint version understands this
not as a direction from the king to the
men of Nineveh what they should do
but as a narrative of what they did; and no
doubt but they did these things
put on sackcloth
fast
pray
and turn from
their evil ways; yet they are the instructions of the king unto them and the
orders he gave them.
Jonah 3:9 9 Who
can tell if God will turn and relent
and turn away from His fierce
anger
so that we may not perish?
YLT
9Who knoweth? He doth turn
back
and God hath repented
and hath turned back from the heat of His anger
and we do not perish.'
Who can tell
.... The Septuagint and Arabic versions
prefix to this the word "saying"
and take them to be
not the words
of the king
but of the Ninevites; though very wrongly: or "who is he that
knows"; which some connect with the next word
"he will return":
that is
that knows the ways of repentance
he will return
as Kimchi and Ben
Melech; or that knows that he has sinned
as Aben Ezra: or that knows the
transgressions he is guilty of
will return
as Jarchi; and so the Targum
"whosoever
knows that sins are in his hands
he will return
or let him return
from
them:'
but
they are the words of the king
with respect to God
encouraging his subjects
to the above things
from the consideration of the probability
or at least possibility
of God's being merciful to them:
if God will turn and repent
and turn away from his fierce wrath
that we perish not? he speaks here not as nor as absolutely
doubting
but as between hope and fear: for
by the light of nature
it is not
certain that God will pardon men upon repentance; it is only probable or
possible he may; neither the light of nature nor the law of Moses connect
repentance and remission of sins
it is the Gospel does this; and it is only by
the Gospel revelation that any can be assured that God will forgive
even
penitent sinners; however
this Heathen prince encourages his subjects not to
despair of
but to hope for
the mercy of God
though they could not be sure of
it; and it may be observed
that he does not put their hope of not perishing
or of salvation
upon their fasting
praying
and reformation
but upon the
will
mercy
and goodness of God.
Jonah 3:10 10 Then
God saw their works
that they turned from their evil way; and God relented
from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them
and He did not do
it.
YLT
10And God seeth their works
that they have turned back from their evil way
and God repenteth of the evil
that He spake of doing to them
and he hath not done [it].
And God saw their words
that they turned from their evil way
.... Not their
outward works
in putting on sackcloth and ashes
and fasting; but their inward
works
their faith in him
and repentance towards him; and which were attended
with fruits and works meet for repentance
in that they forsook their former
course of life
and refrained from it; and these he saw not barely with his eye
of omniscience
as he sees all persons and things
good and bad
but so as to
like them
approve of them
and accept them
in which sense the word is used
Genesis 1:4; and so
the repentance of these men is spoken of with commendation by Christ
and as
what would rise up in judgment
and condemn the men of that generation
Matthew 12:41;
and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do
unto them
and he did it not; this is spoken after the
manner of men
as Aben Ezra observes; and is to be understood
not of any such
affection in God as repentance; but of an effect done by him
which carries in
it a show of repentance
or resembles what is done by men when they repent;
then they change their course and conduct; so
the Lord
though he never
changes his will
nor repents of or revokes his decrees
or alters his
purposes; yet he sometimes wills a change
and makes an alteration in the
dispensations of his providence
according to his unchangeable will. God
in
this case
did not repent of his decrees concerning the Ninevites
but of what
he had said or threatened respecting the overthrow of Nineveh
in case of their
impenitence; it was his will that they should be told of their sin and danger
and by this means be brought to repentance
and the wrath threatened them be
averted; so that here was a change
not of his mind and will concerning them
but of his outward dispensations towards them; see Jeremiah 18:7.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)