Christian Standard Bible
Jonah 3:4
4Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!”
Jonah 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
- New International Version (NIV)Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)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!”
Context of Jonah 3:4
2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.” 3Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command. Now Nineveh was an extremely great city, a three-day walk. Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!” 5Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth — from the greatest of them to the least. 6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Read all of Jonah 3Jonah 3:4 word by word
וַיָּ֤חֶל יוֹנָה֙ לָב֣וֹא בָעִ֔יר מַהֲלַ֖ךְ י֣וֹם אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּקְרָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר ע֚וֹד אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם וְנִֽינְוֵ֖ה נֶהְפָּֽכֶת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Jonahיוֹנָהyônâh · JonahH3124
- beganחָלַלchâlal · to profane/begin: beginH2490
- to enterבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- into the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- aאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
- day’sיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- journeyמַהֲלָךְmahălâk · journeyH4109
- and he criedקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call outH7121
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Yet fortyאַרְבָּעִים'arbâ‛îym · fortyH705
- and Ninevehנִינְוֵהnîynevêh · NinevehH5210
- shall be overthrownהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
Cross-references for Jonah 3:4
- Jonah 3:10God saw their actions — that they had turned from their evil ways — so God relented from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.
- Deuteronomy 18:22When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
- 2 Kings 20:1In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
- Jeremiah 18:7At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.
Commentaries on Jonah 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Yet forty days - Both the Septuagint and Arabic read three days. Probably some early copyist of the Septuagint, from whom our modern editions are derived, mistook the Greek numerals forty for three; or put the three days' journey in preaching instead of the forty days mentioned in the denunciation. One of Kennicott's MSS., instead of ארבעים arbaim, forty, has שלשים sheloshim, thirty: but the Hebrew text is undoubtedly the true reading; and it is followed…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And Jonah began to enter the city a day‘s journey - Perhaps the day‘s journey enabled him to traverse the city from end to end, with his one brief, deep cry of woe; “Yet forty days and Nineveh overthrown.” He prophesied an utter overthrow, a turning it upside down. He does not speak of it as to happen at a time beyond those days. The close of the forty days and the destruction were to be one. He does not say strictly, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!: Jonah's message did not seem to include a condition, such as "But if you repent, God will not destroy you" (note the king’s uncertainty in Jonah 3:9). However, Jonah knew God wanted people to repent instead of being destroyed (Jonah 3:10; 4:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. a day's journey--not going straight forward without stopping: for the city was but eighteen miles in length; but stopping in his progress from time to time to announce his message to the crowds gathering about him. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown--The commission, given indefinitely at his setting out, assumes now on his arrival a definite form, and that severer than before. It is no longer a cry against the sins of Nineveh, but an…Read the comment
Topics related to Jonah 3:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jonah 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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