Jonah 3:1
Verse
Context
Sermons
William MacDonald
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
David Wilkerson
James R. Cochrane
John VissersSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And the word of the Lord - The same oracle as that before given; and which, from what he had felt and seen of the justice and mercy of the Lord, he was now prepared to obey.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, to go to Nineveh and proclaim to that city what Jehovah would say to him. קריאה: that which is called out, the proclamation, τὸ κήρυγμα (lxx). Jonah now obeyed the word of Jehovah. But Nineveh was a great city to God (lē'lōhı̄m), i.e., it was regarded by God as a great city. This remark points to the motive for sparing it (cf. Jon 4:11), in case its inhabitants hearkened to the word of God. Its greatness amounted to "a three days' walk." This is usually supposed to refer to the circumference of the city, by which the size of a city is generally determined. But the statement in Jon 3:4, that "Jonah began to enter into the city the walk of a day," i.e., a day's journey, is apparently at variance with this. Hence Hitzig has come to the conclusion that the diameter or length of the city is intended, and that, as the walk of a day in Jon 3:4 evidently points to the walk of three days in Jon 3:3, the latter must also be understood as referring to the length of Nineveh. But according to Diod. ii. 3 the length of the city was 150 stadia, and Herodotus (v. 53) gives just this number of stadia as a day's journey. Hence Jonah would not have commenced his preaching till he had reached the opposite end of the city. This line of argument, the intention of which is to prove the absurdity of the narrative, is based upon the perfectly arbitrary assumption that Jonah went through the entire length of the city in a straight line, which is neither probable in itself, nor implied in בּוא בעיר. This simply means to enter, or go into the city, and says nothing about the direction of the course he took within the city. But in a city, the diameter of which was 150 stadia, and the circumference 480 stadia, one might easily walk for a whole day without reaching the other end, by winding about from one street into another. And Jonah would have to do this to find a suitable place for his preaching, since we are not warranted in assuming that it lay exactly in the geographical centre, or at the end of the street which led from the gate into the city. But if Jonah wandered about in different directions, as Theodoret says, "not going straight through the city, but strolling through market-places, streets, etc.," the distance of a day's journey over which he travelled must not be understood as relating to the diameter or length of the city; so that the objection to the general opinion, that the three days' journey given as the size of the city refers to the circumference, entirely falls to the ground. Moreover, Hitzig has quite overlooked the word ויּחל in his argument. The text does not affirm that Jonah went a day's journey into the city, but that he "began to go into the city a day's journey, and cried out." These words do not affirm that he did not begin to preach till after he had gone a whole day's journey, but simply that he had commenced his day's journey in the city when he found a suitable place and a fitting opportunity for his proclamation. They leave the distance that he had really gone, when he began his preaching, quite indefinite; and by no means necessitate the assumption that he only began to preach in the evening, after his day's journey was ended. All that they distinctly affirm is, that he did not preach directly he entered the city, but only after he had commenced a day's journey, that is to say, had gone some distance into the city. And this is in perfect harmony with all that we know about the size of Nineveh at that time. The circumference of the great city Nineveh, or the length of the boundaries of the city of Nineveh in the broadest sense, was, as Niebuhr says (p. 277), "nearly ninety English miles, not reckoning the smaller windings of the boundary; and this would be just three days' travelling for a good walker on a long journey." "Jonah," he continues, "begins to go a day's journey into the city, then preaches, and the preaching reaches the ears of the king (cf. Jon 3:6). He therefore came very near to the citadel as he went along on his first day's journey. At that time the citadel was probably in Nimrud (Calah). Jonah, who would hardly have travelled through the desert, went by what is now the ordinary caravan road past Amida, and therefore entered the city at Nineveh. And it was on the road from Nineveh to Calah, not far off the city, possibly in the city itself, that he preached. Now the distance between Calah and Nineveh (not reckoning either city), measured in a straight line upon the map, is 18 1/2 English miles." If, then, we add to this, (1) that the road from Nineveh to Calah or Nimrud hardly ran in a perfectly straight line, and therefore would be really longer than the exact distance between the two parts of the city according to the map, and (2) that Jonah had first of all to go through Nineveh, and possibly into Calah, he may very well have walked twenty English miles, or a short day's journey, before he preached. The main point of his preaching is all that is given, viz., the threat that Nineveh would be destroyed, which was the point of chief importance, so far as the object of the book was concerned, and which Jonah of course explained by denouncing the sins and vices of the city. The threat ran thus: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be destroyed." נהפּך, lit., overturned, i.e., destroyed from the very foundations, is the word applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The respite granted is fixed at forty days, according to the number which, even as early as the flood, was taken as the measure for determining the delaying of visitations of God. (Note: The lxx, however, τρεῖς ἡμέρας, probably from a peculiar and arbitrary combination, and not merely from an early error of the pen. The other Greek translators (Aquil., Symm., and Theodot.) had, according to Theodoret, the number forty; and so also had the Syriac.)
John Gill Bible Commentary
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, Num 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, Mat 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:
Tyndale Open Study Notes
3:1–4:11 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. 3:1-2 The second part of the book opens as the first part did (see 1:1-2).
Jonah 3:1
The Ninevites Repent
1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
Audio Sermon: Backsliding
By William MacDonald2.5K1:01:01PSA 51:10PSA 103:12PRO 28:13JOL 2:25JON 3:1ROM 7:181CO 9:27HEB 11:3JAS 4:81JN 1:9
This sermon delves into the theme of backsliding, exploring the consequences and the way back to God's grace. It emphasizes the importance of confession, forsaking sin, and seeking restoration in relationships. The speaker highlights the need for a thorough spiritual house cleaning, including mending broken relationships and living daily in fellowship with the Lord. The message reassures believers of God's willingness to restore and redeem, offering a second chance to those who come back to Him.
The Sacrifice of Praise
By Nancy Leigh DeMoss1.7K54:22PraiseJON 3:1JAS 1:2In this sermon, the speaker discusses the power of praise and how it can lead to deliverance. He uses the examples of Paul and Silas praising God in prison, which resulted in an earthquake and their release from chains. The speaker also talks about David, who despite being in difficult circumstances, chose to praise God and trust in His promises. The sermon also touches on the speaker's personal experiences of loss and suffering, highlighting the importance of faith and praise in difficult times.
Audio Sermon: The Famine Has Begun
By David Wilkerson1.6K49:54JER 1:5AMO 8:11JON 3:1
This sermon is a powerful message about the famine of hearing the word of the Lord, emphasizing the importance of receiving convicting, Holy Ghost preaching in a time of spiritual famine. The speaker highlights the need for true repentance, righteousness, and the role of anointed preachers in warning and guiding people back to God. The sermon calls for a return to seeking the word of the Lord and emphasizes the significance of being fed spiritually in a time of confusion and false teachings.
Abraham, My Friend: 02 in the Beginning god...
By Ron Bailey1.4K12:06AbrahamGEN 1:12CH 33:13PRO 8:22JER 18:4JON 3:1MAL 1:2JHN 17:23GAL 4:19This sermon is the second installment in a series on the life of Abraham, focusing on the theme of beginnings. The speaker emphasizes that every Christian biography should begin with the recognition that God is the ultimate beginning. He encourages listeners not to be discouraged by their past experiences, as God can take them from impossible situations and lead them forward. The sermon highlights the biblical concept of God's mindfulness of humanity, emphasizing that God's love and reach extends to all, even those who have strayed. The speaker references various biblical passages, including Psalm 8, Proverbs, Jonah, Jeremiah, and Galatians, to illustrate the theme of new beginnings and God's unchanging love.
Abraham, My Friend: 07 Back on the Flight Path
By Ron Bailey1.2K12:01AbrahamGEN 12:1GEN 12:4JON 2:7JON 3:1MAT 6:33LUK 15:17ACT 17:30In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of the "Gospel of the Second Chance" using the story of Jonah and Abraham from the Bible. He emphasizes that God is a God of grace and forgiveness, always ready to give a second chance to those who have made mistakes. The speaker encourages listeners who may feel like they have "blown it" to remember that the Bible is full of examples of prodigals who have turned their lives around. He concludes by reminding listeners that God can do great things with ordinary people, and encourages them to embrace their own potential for a fresh start.
Studies in Jonah 02 a Recomissioned Prophet
By James R. Cochrane66642:21JON 3:1In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of the Great Commission and the need for evangelism in today's world. He compares the spiritual ignorance, darkness, superstition, and fear that exist in the world to the city of Nineveh that Jonah was called to preach to. The speaker highlights the love of God for the world, as demonstrated through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He encourages believers to not just have knowledge and vocabulary about Christianity, but to truly grasp the love and heart of God. The sermon concludes with a reminder that it is not by human might or power, but by the Spirit of God that the mission of spreading the gospel is accomplished.
(Jonah) the Depths of Hell - Part 3
By John Vissers3138:54JonahGod's GraceSecond ChancesJON 3:1John Vissers emphasizes the theme of second chances in the story of Jonah, illustrating how God renews Jonah's commission after his initial disobedience. Jonah, having faced the consequences of running from God, is given another opportunity to fulfill his calling to preach to Nineveh. The sermon draws parallels between Jonah's experience and our own struggles with obedience, highlighting that God is always ready to extend grace and mercy, even when we stumble. Vissers encourages listeners to recognize that the Christian journey is filled with challenges, but God's persistent call invites us back into His service. Ultimately, the message is one of hope, reminding us that the game is only half over, and we can always return to God for a fresh start.
The God of Many Second Chances
By Shane Idleman1539:49RepentanceSecond ChancesJON 3:1Shane Idleman emphasizes that God is the God of many second chances, using the story of Jonah to illustrate how God continually offers opportunities for redemption and realignment with His will. He contrasts the common perception of God as a harsh judge with the biblical portrayal of a compassionate God who desires to help us rise after we fall. The sermon encourages believers to obey God's word, seek His guidance through prayer and fasting, and to turn away from sin to experience the fullness of His grace. Idleman highlights the importance of humility and genuine repentance, asserting that true worship stems from recognizing God's mercy and love. Ultimately, he calls for a repositioning of our hearts towards God to receive His blessings and avoid the pitfalls of bitterness and resentment.
Lessons From a Man on the Run
By Charles Stanley0JON 3:1Charles Stanley preaches on the consequences of trying to run from God, using the story of Jonah as an example. He highlights how people often run from God out of selfishness, fear, or a desire to avoid obedience, not realizing the high price of turning away from the Lord. Stanley emphasizes that running from God not only brings personal consequences like embarrassment and guilt but also inflicts pain on innocent people, such as children left fatherless or motherless. Despite the heavy price of rebellion, Stanley also emphasizes God's forgiveness and the countless chances He offers for repentance and restoration.
Commentary Notes - Jonah
By Walter Beuttler02KI 14:25JON 1:1JON 2:1JON 3:1JON 4:1MAT 12:38Walter Beuttler preaches on the book of Jonah, emphasizing its prophetic story nature and historical authenticity validated by Christ. He delves into the life of the prophet Jonah, highlighting his obedience, disobedience, and the lessons in service he provides. The message of the book reveals God's struggle with man's will, the universality of redemption, and the power of divine providence. Jonah's first and second commissions showcase his perversity, chastisement, obedience, displeasure, and prayer, illustrating God's ability to deliver from the most hopeless circumstances.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And the word of the Lord - The same oracle as that before given; and which, from what he had felt and seen of the justice and mercy of the Lord, he was now prepared to obey.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, to go to Nineveh and proclaim to that city what Jehovah would say to him. קריאה: that which is called out, the proclamation, τὸ κήρυγμα (lxx). Jonah now obeyed the word of Jehovah. But Nineveh was a great city to God (lē'lōhı̄m), i.e., it was regarded by God as a great city. This remark points to the motive for sparing it (cf. Jon 4:11), in case its inhabitants hearkened to the word of God. Its greatness amounted to "a three days' walk." This is usually supposed to refer to the circumference of the city, by which the size of a city is generally determined. But the statement in Jon 3:4, that "Jonah began to enter into the city the walk of a day," i.e., a day's journey, is apparently at variance with this. Hence Hitzig has come to the conclusion that the diameter or length of the city is intended, and that, as the walk of a day in Jon 3:4 evidently points to the walk of three days in Jon 3:3, the latter must also be understood as referring to the length of Nineveh. But according to Diod. ii. 3 the length of the city was 150 stadia, and Herodotus (v. 53) gives just this number of stadia as a day's journey. Hence Jonah would not have commenced his preaching till he had reached the opposite end of the city. This line of argument, the intention of which is to prove the absurdity of the narrative, is based upon the perfectly arbitrary assumption that Jonah went through the entire length of the city in a straight line, which is neither probable in itself, nor implied in בּוא בעיר. This simply means to enter, or go into the city, and says nothing about the direction of the course he took within the city. But in a city, the diameter of which was 150 stadia, and the circumference 480 stadia, one might easily walk for a whole day without reaching the other end, by winding about from one street into another. And Jonah would have to do this to find a suitable place for his preaching, since we are not warranted in assuming that it lay exactly in the geographical centre, or at the end of the street which led from the gate into the city. But if Jonah wandered about in different directions, as Theodoret says, "not going straight through the city, but strolling through market-places, streets, etc.," the distance of a day's journey over which he travelled must not be understood as relating to the diameter or length of the city; so that the objection to the general opinion, that the three days' journey given as the size of the city refers to the circumference, entirely falls to the ground. Moreover, Hitzig has quite overlooked the word ויּחל in his argument. The text does not affirm that Jonah went a day's journey into the city, but that he "began to go into the city a day's journey, and cried out." These words do not affirm that he did not begin to preach till after he had gone a whole day's journey, but simply that he had commenced his day's journey in the city when he found a suitable place and a fitting opportunity for his proclamation. They leave the distance that he had really gone, when he began his preaching, quite indefinite; and by no means necessitate the assumption that he only began to preach in the evening, after his day's journey was ended. All that they distinctly affirm is, that he did not preach directly he entered the city, but only after he had commenced a day's journey, that is to say, had gone some distance into the city. And this is in perfect harmony with all that we know about the size of Nineveh at that time. The circumference of the great city Nineveh, or the length of the boundaries of the city of Nineveh in the broadest sense, was, as Niebuhr says (p. 277), "nearly ninety English miles, not reckoning the smaller windings of the boundary; and this would be just three days' travelling for a good walker on a long journey." "Jonah," he continues, "begins to go a day's journey into the city, then preaches, and the preaching reaches the ears of the king (cf. Jon 3:6). He therefore came very near to the citadel as he went along on his first day's journey. At that time the citadel was probably in Nimrud (Calah). Jonah, who would hardly have travelled through the desert, went by what is now the ordinary caravan road past Amida, and therefore entered the city at Nineveh. And it was on the road from Nineveh to Calah, not far off the city, possibly in the city itself, that he preached. Now the distance between Calah and Nineveh (not reckoning either city), measured in a straight line upon the map, is 18 1/2 English miles." If, then, we add to this, (1) that the road from Nineveh to Calah or Nimrud hardly ran in a perfectly straight line, and therefore would be really longer than the exact distance between the two parts of the city according to the map, and (2) that Jonah had first of all to go through Nineveh, and possibly into Calah, he may very well have walked twenty English miles, or a short day's journey, before he preached. The main point of his preaching is all that is given, viz., the threat that Nineveh would be destroyed, which was the point of chief importance, so far as the object of the book was concerned, and which Jonah of course explained by denouncing the sins and vices of the city. The threat ran thus: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be destroyed." נהפּך, lit., overturned, i.e., destroyed from the very foundations, is the word applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The respite granted is fixed at forty days, according to the number which, even as early as the flood, was taken as the measure for determining the delaying of visitations of God. (Note: The lxx, however, τρεῖς ἡμέρας, probably from a peculiar and arbitrary combination, and not merely from an early error of the pen. The other Greek translators (Aquil., Symm., and Theodot.) had, according to Theodoret, the number forty; and so also had the Syriac.)
John Gill Bible Commentary
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, Num 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, Mat 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:
Tyndale Open Study Notes
3:1–4:11 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. 3:1-2 The second part of the book opens as the first part did (see 1:1-2).