Jonah Chapter 3
Repentance
1–2. Apart from the replacement of ‘son of Amittai’ (1:1) by the Hebrew term šēnît, ‘second’ (3:1), the initial words of chapters 1 and 3 are identical. The first significant divergence occurs after the verb proclaim. Whereas Jonah is commanded in 1:2 to cry ‘al, ‘against’, Nineveh, here in 3:2 he is instructed to cry ’el, ‘to’, it (cf. RSV, NIV). Opinions are divided on the importance of this change of wording. Many writers see no significant difference in meaning between the prepositions ’el and ‘al when used with the verb qārā’, ‘call’. However, as J. M. Sasson has forcefully argued, qārā’ ‘al (cf. 1:2) probably carries the connotation ‘to denounce’ (cf. NEB), whereas qārā’ ’el means merely ‘to proclaim to’. This subtle change in the wording of Jonah’s call is perhaps intended to prepare the reader for the unexpected consequences of his mission.
As a consequence of trusting God, they declared a fast, and … put on sackcloth. This was a common means in the ancient world of expressing grief, humility and penitence—the hallmarks of true repentance.
The sackcloth used was a thick coarse cloth, normally made from goat’s hair; to wear it symbolized the rejection of earthly comforts and pleasures. The response of the Ninevites was unanimous: from the greatest to the least. No class or section of Ninevite society felt exempt from the need to humble itself before God.
The English verb ‘relent’ (JB, cf. NIV) conveys better the meaning of the Hebrew. Furthermore, as Jeremiah 18:7–8 makes clear, prophetic pronouncements of judgment were not absolute, but conditional: ‘If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned