Jonah 3:5

Translations

Modern

And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

Traditional

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Literal

And the people of Nineveh trusted in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Latin

Et crediderunt viri Ninivitæ in Deum, et prædicaverunt jejunium, et vestiti sunt saccis, a majore usque ad minorem.

Original

Hebrew

English

And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

Notes

Jonah 3:5–6

For the second time in this short book, non-believers respond positively to the Lord (compare Jonah 1:16).
In ancient Israel, people often fasted during prayer and repentance in difficult times (see 2 Samuel 1:12; Nehemiah 1:4). Wearing burlap and sitting on ashes often showed mourning and deep repentance (see Genesis 37:34; Job 16:15; Lamentations 2:10). The Assyrians had similar customs. These actions allowed people to show their grief in a visible way for everyone, including God, to see.
The repentance of the Ninevites criticized the stubbornness of people in the time of Jesus (Matthew 12:41).

Jonah 3:1–4:11

God commands Jonah again to preach to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys. Ironically, the city repents, just as Jonah feared, and he becomes angry with God.

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria God as Holy Warrior God’s Justice

Events

Prophecies of Jonahc. 825 BC

Related verses

Luke 11:32
The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
Daniel 9:3
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Joel 2:12–17
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
Matthew 12:41
The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
Joel 1:14
Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 20:3
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
Exodus 9:18–21
Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
Acts 27:25
So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Jeremiah 36:9
Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.
Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

Parallels

Matthew 12:38–42 Luke 11:29–32

Places

Nineveh: The capital of Assyria, known for its wickedness and repentance

Glossary

Book of Jonah Psalms, Book of Sackcloth

Topics

Christian Minister: Success Attending: Jonah Faith: Ninevites, in Obeying Jonah Fasting: National Exemplified: Ninevites Fasting: Ninevites, when Jonah Preached to Them Heathen: The Ninevites Judgments: should Lead to Humiliation Missions: General Scriptures Concerning National Sins: should be Repented of Nineveh: Inhabitants of, Repented at Jonah's Preaching Obedience: Ninevites Orator: Jonah Repentance: The Ninevites, by the Preaching of Jonah Repentance: True: Nineveh Revivals in Nineveh Sackcloth was Worn by Persons in Affliction

Jonah 3:5

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