JonahChapter 3

Jonah Chapter 3: Meaning

God sends Jonah to Nineveh a second time, and the whole city repents, so God chooses not to destroy it.

Summary

God spoke to Jonah a second time and told him again to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeyed. Nineveh was a huge city, it took three days just to walk through it. Jonah walked into the city and preached a short message: in forty days, Nineveh would be destroyed.

Something amazing happened. The people of Nineveh believed Jonah. Everyone, from the poorest person to the richest, stopped eating and put on rough clothing called sackcloth to show they were sorry. When the king heard the news, he got off his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He made a law that everyone must fast and pray and turn away from their evil.

God saw that the people of Nineveh were truly sorry and had changed their ways. So God changed his plan and did not destroy the city. The people had listened and turned around, and God showed them mercy.

Historical Context

Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, one of the most powerful and feared empires of the ancient world. It was located near what is today the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It was a massive city with hundreds of thousands of people.

The fact that an entire city, including its king, responded to one prophet's short message is remarkable. Jonah only said five words in Hebrew: 'Forty more days and Nineveh falls.' The speed and completeness of Nineveh's repentance was later pointed to by Jesus as an example of what real repentance looks like.