Jonah 3:6

3:5-10 There was a wonder of Divine grace in the repentance and reformation of Nineveh. It condemns the men of the gospel generation, Mt 12:41. A very small degree of light may convince men that humbling themselves before God, confessing their sins with prayer, and turning from sin, are means of escaping wrath and obtaining mercy. The people followed the example of the king. It became a national act, and it was necessary it should be so, when it was to prevent a national ruin. Let even the brute creatures' cries and moans for want of food remind their owners to cry to God. In prayer we must cry mightily, with fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and devout affections. It concerns us in prayer to stir up all that is within us. It is not enough to fast for sin, but we must fast from sin; and, in order to the success of our prayers, we must no more regard iniquity in our hearts, Ps 66:18. The work of a fast-day is not done with the day. The Ninevites hoped that God would turn from his fierce anger; and that thus their ruin would be prevented. They could not be so confident of finding mercy upon their repentance, as we may be, who have the death and merits of Christ, to which we may trust for pardon upon repentance. They dared not presume, but they did not despair. Hope of mercy is the great encouragement to repentance and reformation. Let us boldly cast ourselves down at the footstool of free grace, and God will look upon us with compassion.

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 Usher (s) 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 rou

(6) For word came. —Rather, And the matter reached. The Authorised Version treats the royal edict that follows as the same with the proclamation in Jonah 3:5 . This is possible, but it is more probable that the writer intended to describe the effect produced on each district of the vast city in succession, and on all grades of people. The piercing cry uttered from street to street, from square to square, reaches at last the king on his throne of state. And he laid . . .—Stripping off the state mantle (the Hebrew word implies amplitude. See 1Kings 19:13.) It is interesting to find it used of the “Babylonish garment,” found in Achan’s tent. See Joshua 7:21), the monarch assumes a mourning dress. To form a conception of the change involved, the descriptions of Assyrian royal magnificence should be studied in Layard, or their representations in the Assyrian courts of the Crystal Palace. For the usual signs of Oriental mourning, comp. Genesis 37:34; 2Samuel 3:31; Job 2:8; Psalm 35:13; Ezekiel 26:16, &c.

This now accounteth for the people’s proclaiming a fast, Jonah 3:5 , they did it because it was commanded, and they had the king’s example herein. Word came to the king: whether Jonah did particularly speak to his hearers to send word to the king, or whether the strangeness of the thing might move some or other to report it to the courtiers, and they to the king, is not specified; certain it is that the king had word brought him, and it was considered by him: nor is it said who this king was; Sardanapalus seems too early, Pul-belochus is with more probability thought to be this king. Arose from his throne; came down from his royal seat. Laid his robe from him; put off his rich, gorgeous, and luxurious apparel. Covered him with sackcloth; put on the rough and uneasy garments of a mourner. And sat in ashes, as Esther 4:3 Job 2:8 42:6 .

Verse 6. - For word came; and the mater came ; ἤγγισεν ὁ λόγος , "the word came near" (Septuagint). The tokens of penitence mentioned in ver. 5 were not exhibited in obedience to any royal command. Rather, as the impression made by the prophet spread among the people, and as they adopted these modes of showing their sorrow, the news of the movement reached the king, and he put himself at the head of it. The reigning monarch was probably either Shalmaneser III. or one of the two who succeeded him, Asshur-danil and Asshur-nirari, whose three reigns extended from B.C. 781 to 750. His robe ( addereth ); the word used for the "Babylonish garment" in Joshua 7:21 . The magnificence of the Assyrian kings attire is attested by the monuments. Sat in ashes (comp. Job 2:8 ; Esther 4:3 ). Jonah 3:6

6 . For word came unto ] Rather, And the tidings reached , R.V. The introduction of the word “for” for “and” in A.V. is of the nature of a gloss. Our translators appear to have taken the view that Jonah 3:5 states generally the effect of Jonah’s preaching upon the Ninevites, and that Jonah 3:6-9 relate more particularly how the fast mentioned in Jonah 3:5 was brought about. “They proclaimed a fast,” I said, “and it was by a royal edict that they did so, for the report of what was going on was brought to the king, and he too was moved like his people, and both inaugurated in his own person and instituted by his authority a national fast.” The statement in Jonah 3:5 , however, is not necessarily proleptical. It may be intended by the writer to describe the effect produced in each district of the city as Jonah reached it, before the Court had any knowledge of what was going on. The people were first impressed, and then their rulers. The tide of penitence and humiliation rose higher and higher, till it reached and included the king and his nobles, and what had been done by spontaneous action, or local authority, received the final sanction and imprimatur of the central government.

Whichever view be adopted, the literal translation should be retained. he arose from his throne , &c.] It is in favour of the view that the people did not wait for the royal edict to commence their fast, that the king himself seems to have been the subject of immediate and strong emotion, as soon as the tidings reached him. He first, as by a resistless impulse, humbled himself to the dust, and then took measures, out of the depth of his humiliation, that his subjects should be humbled with him. The outward form which the humiliation both of king and people took was that common in the East (comp. Ezekiel 26:16 ; and see Dictionary of the Bible , Article Mourning ), as we know both from sacred and secular writings. In the case of the king of Assyria it is the more remarkable both because of his characteristic pride as “the great king” ( 2 Kings 18:19 ; 2 Kings 18:28 ), and because of the pomp and luxury with which he was ordinarily surrounded. No greater contrast could well be conceived than between the royal “robe” and “sackcloth,” or between the heap of “ashes” and the king’s “throne.” “In the bas-relief I am describing,” writes Layard, “the dress of a king consisted of a long flowing garment, edged with fringes and tassels, descending to his ankles, and confined at the waist by a girdle. Over this robe a second, similarly ornamented and open in front, appears to have been thrown.