Jonah 3.7-The King Of Nineveh And His Nobles Decree A Fast In Nineveh To Be Observed By Humans And Animals
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 16, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 3:7-The King Of Nineveh And His Nobles Decree A Fast In Nineveh To Be Observed By Humans And Animals
Lesson # 43
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:1.
This evening, we will note Jonah 3:7, which records the king of Nineveh along with his nobles issuing a proclamation that decrees a fast in Nineveh which is to be observed not only by humans but also animals.
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. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, ‘In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.” (NASU)
Jonah 3:7 indicates that immediately after the king of Nineveh removed his royal robe from upon himself, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes, he issued a proclamation to the Ninevites to follow his example by fasting and putting on sackcloth.
“He issued a proclamation’ is the third person masculine singular hiphil active imperfect form of the verb zā∙ʿǎq (זָעַק) (zaw-ak), which is used with the king of Nineveh as its subject and means “to issue a proclamation,” i.e., “to send out an official written document with instructions” to citizens of a city, town or nation.
Here it is used of the king of Nineveh issuing an official written document that would be proclaimed throughout the city of Nineveh and the greater Nineveh area instructing its citizens to obey a fast and put on sackcloth.
The purpose of such a proclamation was to demonstrate to Jonah’s God, the God of Israel, Yahweh, of their humility and desire for mercy and forgiveness and was an expression of repentance designed to cause God to relent and not destroy Nineveh.
“In Nineveh” refers not only to the city of Nineveh itself but also the entire district administered by Nineveh, which in the days of the prophet would include Sinjar-Calah-Dur-Sharrukin.
“By the decree of the king and his nobles” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (meen), “by” and the masculine singular construct form of the noun ṭǎ∙ʿǎm (טַעַם) (taw-am), “the decree” and the articular masculine singular construct form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king” and the adjunctive use of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “and,” which is followed by masculine plural construct form of the adjective gadhol (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “nobles” and the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû (־הוּ) (who), “his.”
The noun ṭǎ∙ʿǎm means “to decree” or in other words, a command or order that is stated with force or with authority and speaks of a judgment made by the king of Nineveh and then formalized in writing.
It is the object of the preposition min, which is a marker of cause or reason indicating that this decree was issued “on the basis of” the authority of the king of Nineveh and his nobles.
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” referring to the king of Nineveh, i.e. the head ruler of Nineveh who was 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).
In verse 6, 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 adjective gadhol functions as a substantive and means “nobles” referring to the highest echelon of power around the king and speaks of men of distinction and social rank in Nineveh.
The word refers to the aristocracy in Nineveh including those who helped to administrate Nineveh and its surrounding districts.
Jonah 3:7, “He issued a proclamation and it said, ‘In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.” (NASU)
“Do no let…taste a thing” is composed of the negative particle ʾǎl (אַל) (al), “not” and the third person masculine plural qal active jussive form of the verb ṭā∙ʿǎm (טָעַם) (taw-am), “do taste” and the feminine singular form of the noun meʾû∙mā(h) (מְאוּמָה) (meh-oo-maw), “a thing.”
The verb ṭā∙ʿǎm means “to taste” or in other words, to experience literal food through the taste buds.
The verb’s meaning is negated by the negative particle ʾǎl, which is for a prohibition and is used by the king and his nobles in this urgent decree to the Ninevites denying in a subjective sense the idea of the Ninevites and their animals tasting any food.
“Man” is the articular masculine singular form of the noun ʾā∙ḏām (אָדָם) (aw-dawm), which is used in the generic sense meaning, “human being.”
“Beast” is the articular feminine singular form of the noun behē∙mā(h) (בְּהֵמָה) (be-hay-maw), which refers to all types of “domestic animals,” because of its manifest contrast here with the bā∙qār, “herd” (“cattle” in NET).
“Herd” is the articular masculine singular form of the noun bā∙qār (בָּקָר) (baw-kawr), which means “cattle” since it refers to large mammals of the bovine species, the female cow giving milk as human food or the valued male for sacrifice or the castrated oxen as more controllable for agricultural or carrying tasks.
“Flock” is the articular masculine collective singular form of the noun ṣō(ʾ)n (צֹאן) (tsone), which is the generic term for “small cattle” comprised mostly of sheep and goats, but the emphasis with word is on sheep.
These species are distinct from larger beasts of burden, which are generally not kept in large numbers, which are generally denoted by the noun bā∙qār.
Jonah 3:7, “He issued a proclamation and it said, ‘In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.” (NASU)
“Do not let them eat” is composed of the negative particle ʾǎl (אַל) (al), “not” and the third person masculine plural qal active jussive form of the verb rā∙ʿā(h) (רָעָה) (raw-aw), “do let eat.”
The verb rā∙ʿā(h) means “to graze” and is used with reference here to domestic animals, cattle and flocks comprised of sheep and goats since the word is always used of animals in the Old Testament as its subject.
The verb’s meaning is negated by the negative particle ʾǎl, which is for a prohibition and is used by the king and his nobles in this urgent decree to the Ninevites denying in a subjective sense the idea of the domestic animals, the cattle and flocks of the Ninevites grazing.
“Or drink water” is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “or” and the masculine plural form of the noun mǎ∙yim (מַיִם) (mah-yim), “water” and the negative particle ʾǎl (אַל) (al), “not” and the third person masculine plural qal active jussive form of the verb šā∙ṯā(h) (שָׁתָה) (shaw-thaw), “drink.”
The verb šā∙ṯā(h) means “to drink” and is used with the noun mǎ∙yim, “water”, which refers to fresh water that is needed to sustain the life of the domestic animals, cattle and flocks of the Ninevites.
To summarize, this passage records the king of Nineveh causing a proclamation to be issued in Nineveh and its surrounding districts that was based upon his authority and the authority of his nobles.
This decree obviously presupposes a hastily called counsel of the king’s nobles and was directed towards both man and his animals in Nineveh.
These animals included domestic animals, cattle and flocks consisting of sheep and goats.
This decree prohibited the Ninevites from allowing their domestic animals, cattle as well as their flocks from grazing or drinking any water.
The king recognizes the significance of the forty days in that God is giving him and his people and opportunity to believe in Him and repent from their evil conduct.
Therefore, he issues this urgent decree to his people in order to save the city and its environs.
By this decree, the king is attempting to demonstrate to God that they are taking his threat seriously.