Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Jonah
Chapter 3: The People of Nineveh Believed God
Jonah 3 is a chapter of second chances and stunning grace. 'The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time', God does not cast off the failed prophet but commissions him again. This time Jonah goes, and preaches a message of only eight words in Hebrew: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.' No promise of mercy is offered, no altar call given, and yet the pagan city does what Israel would not: 'the people of Nineveh believed God.' From the king on his throne to the least in the streets, they fast, put on sackcloth, and 'turn every one from his evil way.' And the God whose mercy Jonah dreaded does exactly what Jonah feared: 'God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil.' The Lord Jesus held up these repenting Ninevites as a rebuke to a generation that would not repent at a greater than Jonah.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Jonah chapter 3, the second commissioning of Jonah and the great repentance of Nineveh. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter shows the mercy of God to a failed prophet and to a pagan city, and the power of preaching to turn a whole people. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
A Second Time
God recommissions the prophet who ran away.
Yet Forty Days
A short, stern warning of coming overthrow.
They Believed God
A whole city turns, from the king to the least.
God Repented of the Evil
The judgment turned aside when they turned to God.
The Word of the LORD Came the Second Time (Jonah 3:1-4)
God graciously calls the failed prophet again, and this time Jonah obeys, walking into the vast city with a blunt eight-word warning of judgment forty days away.
Yet Forty Days, and Nineveh Shall Be Overthrown
"And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 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."
Hebrew Study
"the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time." These are among the most hopeful words in the book. Jonah had disobeyed, fled, and had to be rescued from the sea, and yet God comes to him again. The God of the "second time" is the God of second chances. He did not discard Jonah for his failure but recommissioned him, "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:29). This is grace for every servant of God who has failed, Peter after his denial, Mark after he turned back, and countless since, the LORD is willing to speak "the second time." His mercy restores not only sinners but stumbling saints, and puts them back into service.
"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown," haphak (הָפַךְ), to overthrow, overturn. The Hebrew is remarkably short, only a handful of words, a bare warning with no offer of mercy attached. The verb haphak is the same word used of the "overthrow" of Sodom (Genesis 19:25), so the threat was severe. Yet the very word can also mean to "turn" or be "turned", and that is what happened: the city that was warned of overthrow was itself overturned, turned around, in repentance. God's warnings are often His mercy in disguise; the threat of overthrow, believed and heeded, became the means of the city's turning and salvation.
Explanation
The chapter opens with grace: "the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time." The commission is almost word for word the same as chapter 1, "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach," but now with the added note, "the preaching that I bid thee." Jonah is to speak God's message, not his own. And this time, "Jonah arose, and went... according to the word of the LORD." The runaway has become the obedient.
Nineveh is described as "an exceeding great city of three days' journey", a vast metropolis. Jonah goes "a day's journey" into it and delivers his sermon, stark and short: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." There is no "unless," no offer of pardon, no gospel invitation, just a warning of doom in forty days. By every human measure it was the least promising sermon imaginable: a foreign prophet, a bare threat, a hostile pagan city. Yet God was in it, and what followed was one of the greatest revivals in all of Scripture.
Gospel Focus
"The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time" is a lifeline for every believer who has failed. God is not finished with those who stumble. He restores the fallen and calls them back into usefulness, not because they deserve it, but because His mercy delights to give second chances. If you have run from God, been disciplined, and feel disqualified, hear this: the God who spoke to Jonah "the second time" is willing to speak to you again. "A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again" (Proverbs 24:16), and the God who raises him is the God of the second word.
And notice how unpromising the means were, one prophet, eight blunt words, no eloquence, no invitation, and yet a whole city turned. This is the power of God's word, not the skill of the preacher. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21). We are tempted to think a message must be polished, positive, and persuasive to work; Jonah's sermon was blunt warning, and it shook Nineveh, because God's word "shall not return unto me void" (Isaiah 55:11). Preach the word faithfully, even the hard word, and trust God to do what no eloquence could.
God Repented of the Evil (Jonah 3:5-10)
From the greatest to the least, Nineveh believes God and turns; the king himself descends from his throne into sackcloth and ashes and decrees a fast, and God, seeing their changed lives, turns away the judgment He had threatened.
The People of Nineveh Believed God
"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. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
Hebrew Study
"the people of Nineveh believed God," aman (אָמַן), to believe, trust, rely on. This is the same verb used of Abraham, who "believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). The Ninevites did not merely fear; they "believed God", they took His word as true and trusted His warning. And their faith showed itself at once in action: fasting, sackcloth, and turning from evil. Genuine faith always works; "faith, if it hath not works, is dead" (James 2:17). The response ran "from the greatest of them even to the least", no one was exempt, from the king to the beggar. It is a picture of true, whole-hearted repentance, believing God's word and turning from sin.
"God repented of the evil, that he had said... and he did it not," nacham (נָחַם). As in Amos and Exodus, "God repented" does not mean God sinned or changed His nature; it means He relented from a threatened judgment when the people repented. God's warnings of judgment often carry an unspoken "unless", they are calls to repentance, and when the condition is met, the mercy flows. "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation... to destroy it; if that nation... turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them" (Jeremiah 18:7-8). God did not change His character; He acted in perfect consistency with it, for He is "a gracious God, and merciful," and mercy is exactly what He longs to show to the penitent.
Explanation
The response is immediate and total. "The people of Nineveh believed God," and their faith produced a fast and sackcloth "from the greatest of them even to the least." Even "the king of Nineveh" is moved: he "arose from his throne," laid aside his royal robe, "covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes." A king humbling himself in the dust is a stunning sight. He then issues a decree for the whole city, man and beast, to fast and, most importantly, to "turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." True repentance is not just ritual sorrow but a turning from sin.
The king's hope is humble and uncertain, "Who can tell if God will turn and repent... that we perish not?" They had no promise, only the possibility of mercy, and they cast themselves on it. And God answered: "God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil... and he did it not." What He saw was not merely their sackcloth but "their works", their changed lives. The threatened overthrow was turned aside because the city turned to God. The most violent city of the ancient world became a monument to the mercy of God to all who repent.
Gospel Focus
Nineveh's repentance is one of the Bible's great encouragements about the reach of God's mercy. This was no godly city but the brutal capital of Assyria, famous for cruelty, and yet when they "believed God" and turned, God spared them. No one is beyond the mercy of God, no person, no city, no people, if they will believe His word and turn from their sin. The Lord Jesus made this the very point: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here" (Matthew 12:41). If pagan Nineveh repented at a reluctant prophet's eight words, how much more should we repent at the preaching of Christ Himself.
See too what real repentance looks like: they "believed God," and they "turned every one from his evil way." It was not just feeling sorry or performing a ritual, but faith that changed lives, "God saw their works, that they turned." This is the repentance the gospel calls for, "repent... and do works meet for repentance" (Acts 26:20). And see the heart of God: He "repented of the evil... and he did it not." He takes no pleasure in judgment; He relents the moment sinners turn, for He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). The God of Nineveh is the God who still spares every soul that believes His word and turns to Him.
Chapter 3 in Review
Jonah 3 is a chapter of second chances and astonishing mercy. "The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time," and the restored prophet obeys, walking into the great city with a blunt warning: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Against all expectation, "the people of Nineveh believed God," and turned, from the king who left his throne for sackcloth and ashes to the least in the streets, crying to God and turning "every one from his evil way." And God, seeing "their works, that they turned," "repented of the evil... and he did it not." The threatened judgment became a citywide salvation.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter shines with grace on every side. It shows a God who restores failed servants and speaks to them "the second time," a lifeline for everyone who has stumbled. It displays the power of God's faithful word, even a stark warning, to turn a whole people, for salvation is God's work, not the preacher's polish. It defines true repentance as believing God and turning from sin, faith that changes lives. And it reveals the boundless reach of God's mercy: if brutal Nineveh could be spared, no one is beyond hope who will turn. The Lord Jesus pointed to these repenting Ninevites to shame the impenitent, for "a greater than Jonas is here." The God who spared Nineveh still spares all who believe His word and turn to Him.
- God is the God of second chances: "the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time" (3:1; Romans 11:29).
- God's word has power to save, even a blunt warning by an unlikely preacher (3:4; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Isaiah 55:11).
- True repentance is believing God and turning from sin, from the greatest to the least (3:5, 8; James 2:17).
- God relents from judgment when sinners truly turn: "God repented of the evil" (3:10; Jeremiah 18:7-8).
- No one is beyond God's mercy, not even brutal Nineveh (Matthew 12:41).
- God takes no pleasure in judgment; He is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you received God's "second time," His grace to begin again after failure?
- Do you trust the power of God's word, even when the means seem weak?
- Is your repentance mere feeling, or does it "turn from the evil way" in real change?
- Is there any person or people you have written off as beyond God's mercy?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: haphak ("overthrown," verse 4, the word used of Sodom); aman ("believed," verse 5); nacham ("repented," relented, verses 9-10). God's second commission and restoration of failed servants: Romans 11:29; Proverbs 24:16; John 21:15-17; 2 Timothy 4:11; Mark 16:7. The power of the preached word: Isaiah 55:10-11; Jeremiah 23:29; 1 Corinthians 1:18-21; Romans 10:14-17; Hebrews 4:12. Nineveh's repentance and the greater than Jonah: Matthew 12:39-41; Luke 11:29-32. Genuine repentance shown in works and turning from sin: Ezekiel 18:21-23, 30-32; Acts 26:20; James 2:17-18; 2 Corinthians 7:10. God relenting when a nation turns: Jeremiah 18:7-10; Exodus 32:14; Joel 2:13-14; and God's unchanging nature, Numbers 23:19; James 1:17. God's desire that none perish: Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- God's second word to Jonah and the blunt preaching that shook a city: Jonah 3:1-4; Romans 11:29; 1 Corinthians 1:21.
- Nineveh's whole-hearted repentance and God's mercy in relenting: Jonah 3:5-10; Matthew 12:41; 2 Peter 3:9.