English Standard Version
Jonah 3:4
4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
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.”
- 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!”
- New Living Translation (NLT)On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
Context of Jonah 3:4
2"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his 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 3:10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
- Deuteronomy 18:22when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
- 2 Kings 20:1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.'"
- Jeremiah 18:7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break 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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