Jonah 3.8-The King Of Nineveh And His Nobles Decree That Every Man And Animal Put On Sackcloth And Turn From Their Evil Conduct
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday November 17, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 3:8-The King Of Nineveh And His Nobles Decree That Every Man And Animal Put On Sackcloth And Turn From Their Evil Conduct
Lesson # 44
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:1.
This evening, we will note Jonah 3:8, which records the king of Nineveh and his nobles decreeing that every man and animal must put on sackcloth.
This decree also demanded that every person in Nineveh must cry out earnestly to God, which was a plea for forgiveness and mercy.
Also the decree demanded that the Ninevites must turn from their evil way of living and from their violent acts.
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. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.” (NASU)
Verse 8 presents three commands which are in addition to the three prohibitions that are recorded in verse 7.
“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” referring to the human beings in Nineveh.
“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.”
“Must be covered” is the third person masculine plural hithpael middle jussive form of the verb kā∙sā(h) (כָּסָה) (kaw-saw), which means “to clothe oneself” indicating that the king of Nineveh and his nobles were commanding that both men and animals be clothed with sackcloth.
This was to demonstrate humility before God and that the Ninevites were seeking mercy and forgiveness from God and were repenting from their evil conduct in response to His message communicated by the prophet Jonah.
“With sackcloth” is the masculine plural form of the noun śǎq (שַׂק) (sak), which refers to a rough clothe that was coarsely woven, usually from goat hair and then dyed.
The king of Nineveh clothed himself with sackcloth as a sign of repentance and that he was seeking forgiveness from God.
Therefore, the king of Nineveh and his nobles are commanding the Ninevites to clothe themselves and their animals with sackcloth as a sign of repentance.
This would demonstrate to God that they were seeking forgiveness from Him and that they were changing their attitude and conduct towards God’s laws.
Specifically, they would be changing their attitude and conduct toward the inherent law written into their souls by God, which is basically the Ten Commandments (Romans 2:14-15).
Obviously, this command is directed toward the Ninevites rather than their animals since animals can not clothe themselves.
As we noted in verse 7, the clothing of animals in sackcloth was not uncommon in Jonah’s day.
Jonah 3:8, “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.” (NASU)
“And let men call on God earnestly” is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “and,” which is prefixed to the third person masculine plural second person masculine singular qal active jussive form of the verb qā∙rā(ʾ) (קָרָא) (kaw-raw), “let call” and the preposition ʾěl (אַל) (ale), “on” and the masculine plural form of the noun ʾělō∙hîm (אֱלֹהִים) (el-o-heem), “God” and the preposition be (בְּ) (beth) and the feminine singular form of the noun ḥā∙zeqā(h) (חָזְקָה) (khaw-zak), “earnestly.”
The verb qā∙rā(ʾ) means “to cry out” for mercy and forgiveness and is a reference to prayer as an expression of the Ninevites’ faith in Jonah’s God, Yahweh, which would indicate that they have become believers in the Lord and are saved.
The narrator uses ělō∙hîm rather than Yahweh since he wants to emphasize that the Ninevites who were Gentiles were not members of the covenant nation of Israel.
It is also used to emphasize that Yahweh is God, the only true God.
The noun ḥā∙zeqā(h) means “earnest” meaning that the king and his nobles are commanding the Ninevites to call out “earnestly” to God in prayer for mercy and forgiveness emphasizing the intensity and urgency of the situation in Nineveh in light of the message from the Lord communicated by the prophet Jonah.
This calling out in earnest to God was an expression of the Ninevites’ faith in God, which is mentioned in the summary statement in verse 5.
This faith led to a change of conduct in the Ninevites.
It was their faith in God and not their change of conduct that saved them, i.e. gave them eternal salvation and caused God to relent.
The change of conduct was the direct result of their faith in God.
Their faith in God changed their way of living as expressed in the next command.
“That each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands” is not a purpose clause but rather a command that is in addition to the previous one.
“Each” is the distributive use of the masculine singular form of the noun ʾîš (אִישׁ) (eesh), which refers to each individual citizen in Nineveh as distinguished from the animals inhabiting the city and its surrounding districts and speaks of the individual citizen’s responsibility in relation to the laws of God.
The verb šûḇ means “to turn,” i.e. to repent, to change one’s behavior, to change the manner in which one lives his or her life indicating that the Ninevites were to “turn” from their wicked behavior and obey God’s law, i.e. ten commandments, which is inherent in them (Romans 2:14-15).
“From his wicked way” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (meen), “from” and the feminine singular construct form of the noun dě∙rěḵ (דֶּרֶךְ) (deh-rek), “way” and the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû (־הוּ) (who), “his” and the articular feminine singular form of the adjective rā∙ʿā(h) (רָעָה), “wicked.”
The noun dě∙rěḵ refers to the “lifestyle” of the Ninevites or in other words, how they “conduct” their lives in relation to each other and other nations.
It is modified by the adjective rā∙ʿā(h), which means “evil” in the sense of that which is not morally good deserving of divine judgment with the implication that the action is harmful to others in various ways.
It describes the Ninevites’ conduct in relation to each other and other nations as not being morally good with the implication that their actions and way of life is harmful and detrimental to the rest of the human race, which interacts with them.
It describes the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh as conducting their lives independently of God as expressed in their brutality and immoral degeneracy.
“And from the violence which is in his hands” is an epexegetical clause that defines specifically what aspect of the Ninevites’ lives that the king and his nobles want them to turn from.
It is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “and” and the preposition min (מִן) (meen), “from” and the articular masculine singular form of the noun ḥā∙mās (חָמָס) (khaw-mas), “the violence” and the relative particle ʾǎšěr (אֲשֶׁר) (ash-er), “which” and the preposition be (בְּ) (beth), “in” and the feminine dual construct form of the noun kǎp̄ (כַּף) (kaf), “hands” and the third person masculine plural pronomial suffix hē∙mā(h) (־הֵמָה), “his.”
The noun ḥā∙mās means “violence” referring to acts that maim, destroy and kill other human beings, which demonstrate a lack of moral restraint and disregard for the inherent law of God.
It refers specifically to the violent crimes the Ninevites committed against foreign nations and each other.
The word implies that the Ninevites broke the ten commandments, which are inherent in the soul of each and every human being regardless of whether they are a believer in Christ or God or not.
It denotes the violation of another human beings rights or living space or property and violation of one’s duty towards one’s fellow human being to treat them as you would want to be treated.
The word refers to antisocial behavior manifested in opposing justice and righteousness and practicing deceit.
Nineveh was well-known in the ancient Near East for the brutal atrocities it inflicted on its war captives.
Its wickedness comprised, besides her idolatry, her inordinate pride (cp. Is. 10:5 19; 36:18 20), and her cruel oppression of the conquered nations in deporting the entire populace to distant lands (2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; Is. 36:16, 17), her inhuman warfare.
By calling out earnestly to God in prayer the Ninevites are expressing their faith in God and have thus received eternal salvation.
This faith resulted in a change of their conduct.
The Ninevites repented in the sense that they changed their mind about God in the sense that they went from not believing in Him to believing in Him.
They repented also in the sense that they went from disobeying His laws to obeying them.
Their unbelief produced disobedience but their faith in God produced obedience.
