New Living Translation
Jonah 3:4
4On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
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 and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” 3This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 6When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of 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 had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
- Deuteronomy 18:22If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
- 2 Kings 20:1About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.”
- Jeremiah 18:7If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,
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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