Jonah 3:4

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“Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you.” 3Jonah immediately went to Nineveh as the Lord told him. Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to walk through it. Jonah entered the city and walked for about a day. Then he said, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.” 5The people of Nineveh believed God. They decided to fast, and everyone, from the most important to the least important, dressed in sackcloth. 6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Jonah 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 what they did. He saw that they turned from their wicked ways. So God reconsidered his threat to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.
• Deuteronomy 18:22If a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name and what he says doesn’t happen or come true, then it didn’t come from the Lord. That prophet has spoken on his own authority. Never be afraid of him.
• 2 Kings 20:1In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Give final instructions to your household, because you’re about to die. You won’t get well.”
• Jeremiah 18:7“At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.

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

• Assyria
• Day
• Forty
• Minister, Christian
• Missions
• Nineveh
• Orator
• Revivals

In the dictionaries

• Jonah
• Nineveh
• Nineveh, Ninevite
• Day's Journey
• Lay
• Mightily
• Jonah, the Book of
• Number
• fast, fasting

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