Jonah 3.6-When The Message Reached The King Of Nineveh, He Arose From His Throne, Removed His Robe, Clothed Himself With Sackcloth And Sat On The Ashes
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday November 11, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 3:6-When Jonah’s Message Reached The King Of Nineveh, He Arose From His Throne, Removed His Royal Robe, Clothed Himself With Sackcloth And Sat On The Ashes
Lesson # 41
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:1.
This evening, we will study Jonah 3:6, which records that when Jonah’s message to the Ninevites from the Lord reached the king, he arose from his throne, removed his royal robe, clothed himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.
Jonah 3:1, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.’ 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.” (NASU)
Verse 6 is a temporal clause, which joins two points of time that occur roughly simultaneously with each other.
The first is the king receiving Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh from the Lord that the city would be overthrown at the end of forty days.
The second that is simultaneous with the first is the king arising from his throne and laying aside his robe, covering himself with sackcloth and sitting on the ashes.
“The word” is the articular masculine singular form of the noun dā∙ḇār (דָּבָר) (דָּבָר) (daw-bawr), which means “message” referring to the prophet Jonah’s message to the Ninevites from the Lord.
The content of this message is related in verse 4 and declares that at the end of forty days, Nineveh will be overturned.
It does not mean “news” referring to the events recorded in verse 5 that the Ninevites believed in God and declared a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
But rather it simply refers to Jonah’s message recorded in verse 4 since the events recorded in verse 5 are simply a summary statement that every aspect of Ninevite society including the king believed in God as a result of Jonah’s message.
That the king is included is indicated by the two prepositional phrases at the end of verse, “from the greatest to the least of them.”
Verses 6-9 provide the reader with specific details with emphasis upon the king’s actions in response to Jonah’s message.
The verb nā∙ḡǎʿ is employed with the preposition ʾěl and the king of Nineveh as its object and means “to reach” in the sense of arriving at a particular destination.
Here the verb speaks of Jonah’s message “reaching” the king’s ears.
Some contend that the common people of Nineveh were the first to hear Jonah’s message from the Lord with the king hearing about the news of the common people believing in God and declaring a fast and putting on sackcloth.
However, the protocol would call for the king or at least his administrators hearing the message from Jonah first and then the common people.
As we have noted in verses 3 and 4, to enter Nineveh, Jonah, like any other diplomat or emissary would have had to follow accepted protocol.
The first day would mark Jonah’s arrival in the city, followed by a customary day of visiting, business, and rest; then the third day is for departure.
This suggestion would accord with the ancient oriental practice of hospitality whereby the first day is for arrival, the second for the primary purpose of the visit and the third for return.
The first and third days of Jonah’s visit would involve meetings and explanations, perhaps even formal hearings.
As Stuart suggests Jonah “may even have presented gifts to city officials upon his arrival, as was the custom in the case of official state visits, though his contacts may have been less formal and less highlevel.”
Therefore, Jonah did not simply stroll into Nineveh proclaiming judgment against its inhabitants but rather would have had to follow accepted protocol.
This would explain why in Jonah 3:6-7 the king of Nineveh issued a proclamation to his subjects to repent.
The king along with his political and military leadership would have been the first to hear of this message of judgment from the Lord.
Also, indicating that the king of Nineveh was one of the first or maybe even the first of his officials to hear Jonah’s message is that verse 5 as we noted is a summary statement.
The events recorded in verse 5 are simply a summary statement that every aspect of Ninevite society including the king believed in God as a result of Jonah’s message.
That the king is included is indicated by the two prepositional phrases at the end of verse, “from the greatest to the least of them.”
Verses 6-9 provide the reader with specific details with emphasis upon the king’s actions in response to Jonah’s message.
Verse 5 says that the people of Nineveh declared a fast, which is something that the common people would not have the authority to do, only the king would have that authority, which he exercises as recorded in verses 7-9.
So the decree by the king to the people of Nineveh to fast and put on sackcloth was the reason why the people did so since the king heard the message from Jonah first, which corresponds to the protocol of the day and the king was the only one in Nineveh with the authority to do such a thing.
“The king of Nineveh” is composed of the preposition ʾěl (אֶל) (al) whose object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king of” and the feminine singular form of the proper noun nî∙newē(h) (נִינְוֵה) (nee-nev-ay), “Nineveh.”
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” referring to the king of Nineveh, i.e. the head ruler of Nineveh.
The book of Jonah does not identify who the king of Nineveh was that humbled himself in response to the Lord’s message that was communicated by the prophet Jonah to the Ninevites.
However, it appears to be Aššur-dān III (773–756) since he was a contemporary of Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753) during whose reign Jonah ben Amittai prophesied in the north (2 Kings 14:25).
The expression “king of Nineveh” does not refer to the king of Assyria but more than likely it refers to the head of not only the city of Nineveh but also the province to which it belonged since cuneiform evidence seems to suggest that no distinction is made between city and province in designating a governor.
The custom common in that area of the world in that day was to give provincial capitals the same name as the province.
Nowhere in the book of Jonah is the nation of Assyria ever mentioned but only Nineveh.
Also, cuneiform documents never use this phrase to designate the reigning Assyrian monarch.
Second, the Old Testament never uses this title elsewhere, but instead refers to “the king of Assyria” (e.g., Is 36:13).
When Jonah’s message reached the ears of the king of Nineveh, he believed in God. Not only did he believe that God would fulfill His Word to Nineveh but also he cast himself upon the mercy of God.
This is indicated by the statement in verse 5 that the people of Nineveh believed in God from the greatest to the least.
Jonah 3:6, “When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.” (NASU)
These actions on the part of the king of Nineveh demonstrated his faith in God.
It demonstrated that he was placing his confidence upon God in the sense that he was casting himself upon the mercy of God whereas before he did not.
So the king of Nineveh believed in God in the sense that he was casting himself upon God’s mercy for forgiveness.
These actions demonstrated his repentance before Him as well as a change of attitude on his part.
Specifically, he was changing his attitude and conduct toward the inherent law written into his soul by God, which is basically the Ten Commandments (Romans 2:14-15).
This change of attitude and conduct is demonstrated by his arising from his throne and laying aside his robe, putting on of sackcloth and sitting on the ashes.