Jonah 3
Summary for Jonah 3:1-4:11: 3:1–4:11 a God again commands Jonah to preach to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeys, leading to an irony: The city repents, as Jonah had feared, and he is angry at God.Summary for Jonah 3:1-2: 3:1-2 b The second part of the book opens as the first part did (see 1:1-2 c).
3:3 d a city so large that it took three days to see it all: God desired to save rather than destroy such a vast city, one teeming with human and natural resources (4:11 e). This desire on God’s part was precisely what Jonah fought against (see 4:2 f, 10-11 g).
• The city’s circumference was roughly three miles, and it would not have taken three days to walk around it. This description possibly indicates how long it took Jonah to spread his message throughout the city. It might also include the surrounding villages along with the city.
3:4 h Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed! Jonah’s message apparently did not include a contingency clause—e.g., “But if you repent, God will not destroy you” (note the king’s uncertainty in 3:9 i). Jonah knew, however, of God’s desire for people to repent rather than be destroyed (3:10 j; 4:2 k).
Summary for Jonah 3:5-6: 3:5-6 l For the second time in this short book, pagans respond favorably to the Lord (cp. 1:16 m).
• In ancient Israel, fasting would often accompany prayer and repentance in times of distress (see 2 Sam 1:12 n; Neh 1:4 o). Wearing burlap and sitting on a heap of ashes would often accompany mourning and sorrowful repentance (see Gen 37:34 p; Job 16:15 q; Lam 2:10 r). The Assyrians apparently had similar customs. These activities allowed the participants to express their grief in a tangible way for all, including God, to see.
• The repentance of the Ninevites was an indictment against the hard-hearted in Jesus’ day (Matt 12:41 s).
3:6 t The king of Nineveh was either an unknown governor of the city or perhaps the king of Assyria, who might have used Nineveh as a regular seat of government (cp. 2 Kgs 19:9-13 u).
Summary for Jonah 3:7-8: 3:7-8 v By extending the fast and the mourning rituals to animals, the king communicated that this dire emergency required all normal operations to cease so that everyone might pray earnestly and repent of their evil ways. The violence that had come to permeate their society topped the list.
3:10 w he changed his mind: Had the people of Nineveh not repented, God would have destroyed them (3:4 x). But God was ready to meet their repentance with mercy (see 4:2 y, 11 z). In God’s mind, the change did not reverse his original intention, because his disposition always included the possibility of mercy. Nor does this change in God’s mind say anything about God’s foreknowledge. Historically, the church has believed that God knows the future fully (see Ps 139:4 aa; Isa 46:10 ab; Dan 2:28-29 ac; Matt 24:36 ad). Nothing in this account contradicts that belief.
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