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Jonah 3:6

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Jonah 3:6 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jonah 3:6 — American Standard Version

Context — Jonah 3

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days` journey.
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day`s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
8but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
9Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
← Jonah 3:5Jonah 3:7 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“For word came unto the king of Nineveh, etc.] Who was not Sardanapalus, a very dissolute prince, and abandoned to his lusts; but rather Pul, the same that came against Menahem king of Israel, (<121519>2 Kings 15:19), as Bishop Usherf66 thinks; to him news were brought that there was such a prophet come into the city, and published such and such things, which met with credit among the people; and that these, of all ranks and degrees, age and sex, were afflicted with it, and thrown into the utmost concern about it; so very swiftly did the ministry of Jonah spread in the city; and what he delivered was so quickly carried from one to another, that in one day’s time it reached the palace, and the…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“in ashes--emblem of the deepest humiliation (; ).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“For word came - , rather, “And the matter came,” i. e., the “whole account,” as we say. “The word, word,” throughout Holy Scripture, as in so many languages stands for that which is reported of. “The whole account,” namely, how this stranger, in strange austere attire, had come, what had happened to him before he came, how he preached, how the people had believed him, what they had done, as had just been related, “came to the king.” The form of words implies that what Jonah relates in this verse took place after what had been mentioned before. People are slow to carry to sovereigns matters of distress, in which they cannot help. This was no matter of peril from man, in which the counsel or…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The king - Probably Phul Belochus. His robe - Put off his rich apparel. Jonah 3:7”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“3:6 The king of Nineveh was either an unknown governor of the city or perhaps the king of Assyria, who might have used Nineveh as a regular seat of government (cp. 2 Kgs 19:9-13).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“word: Jer 13:18 and he arose: Psa 2:10-12; Jam 1:9, Jam 1:10, Jam 4:6-10 and covered: Est 4:1-4; Job 2:8, Job 42:6; Jer 6:26; Lam 3:29; Dan 9:3; Mic 1:10; Mat 11:21; Luk 10:13 Jonah 3:7”
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Related study paths

Read Jonah 3 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification