New King James Version
Jonah 3:4
4And 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!”
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 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 preach to 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, a three-day journey in extent. 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!” 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside 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 3:10Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
- Deuteronomy 18:22when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
- 2 Kings 20:1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ ”
- Jeremiah 18:7The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries