Jonah 3:2

Jon 3:2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

Ver. 2. Arise, go unto Nineveh] Begin again, and take better heed; as that Nazarite was to do that had defiled the head of his consecration, Num 6:9; Num 6:12.

Unto Nineveh, that great city] {See Trapp on "Jon 1:2"} There was no city since, by the estimation of Diodorus, had the like compass of ground or stateliness of walls; the height thereof being a hundred feet, the breadth able to receive three carts abreast, adorned with fifteen hundred turrets. Some think (as Annius and Berosus) that those three cities spoken of, Gen 10:11-12, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen, were all included in Nineveh, and they conceive it thus; that when Nimrod had built Babylon, Ninus, disdaining his government, went into the fields of Asshur, and there erected a city after his own name. Raphael Volaterranus saith it was eight years in building, ten thousand men working at it. Quintilian saith, that great Milan, ancient Ravenna, brave Bononia, noble Naples, and other great cities of Italy, are but towers to Rome: but what was Rome to Nineveh? and yet Lipsius hath written a treatise of Rome’s greatness; and when the Emperor Constantine came to Rome, and beheld the companies that entertained him, he repeated a saying of Cineas, the Epirote, that he had seen so many kings as citizens; but, viewing the building of the city, he thought, naturam vires omnes in urbem unam effudisse, that nature had showed the utmost of what she could do in that one great city. {See Trapp on "Jon 3:3"}

And preach unto it the preaching] Heb. Proclaim unto it (or against it) the proclamation that I say to thee, that I have formerly put into thy mouth, and do now so again, sc. that their wickedness is come up before me, and I am even upon the way toward them to punish it grievously. Flagitium et flagellum sunt sicut acus et filium, Who ever waxed fierce against God and prospered? Job 9:4. This wicked men must be boldly told, Isa 3:11, however they take it; neither may God’s ministers steal away the word, Jer 23:30, or keep back from the people any part of God’s counsel, Act 20:27, "handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commend themselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God," 2Co 4:2, as becometh his ambassadors.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. And preach unto it the preaching] וקרא את הקריאה vekera eth hakkeriah, "And cry the cry that I bid thee." Be my herald, and faithfully deliver my message. The word κηρυξ in Greek answers to the Hebrew קורא kore: both signifying a crier, a herald, a preacher; one that makes proclamation with a loud and earnest cry. Such was John Baptist, Isa 40:3; such was Jesus Christ, Joh 7:18-37; and such were all his apostles. And such earnestness becomes a ministry that has to do with immortal souls, asleep and dead in sin, hanging on the brink of perdition, and insensible of their state. The soft-speaking, gentle-toned, unmoved preacher, is never likely to awaken souls. As we preach, so the people hear; scarcely receiving any counsels that appear to have no importance by the manner in which they are delivered. But this earnestness is widely different from that noisy, blustering, screaming rant, that manifests more of the turbulence of disorderly passions, than of the real inspired influence of the Spirit of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The command now follows, Arise, go to Nineveh, to that great city, and preach there the preaching which I command thee. God again repeats what we have observed at the be ginning, — that Nineveh was a great city, that Jonah might provide himself with an invincible courage of mind, and come there well prepared: for it often happens, that many boldly undertake an office, but soon fail, because difficulties had not been sufficiently foreseen by them. Hence, when men find more hardships than they thought of at the beginning, they nearly faint, at least they despond. The Lord, therefore, expressly foretold Jonah how difficult would be his employment; as though he said, “I send thee, a man unknown, and of no rank, and a stranger, to denounce ruin on men, not a few in number, but on a vast multitude, and to carry on a contest with the noblest city, and so populous, that it may seem to be a region of itself.”

We now then understand why this character of the city was added; it was, that Jonah might gird up himself for the contest, that he might not afterwards fail in the middle of his course. This fear indeed frightened him at the beginning, so that he shunned the call of God; but he is not now moved in any degree by the greatness of the city, but resolutely follows where the Lord leads. We hence see, that faith, when once it gains the ascendancy in our hearts, surmounts all obstacles and despises all the greatness of the world; for it is immediately added —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

III.

THE PROPHET FULFILS HIS COMMISSION.

ITS RESULT.

(2) Preach.—In Jon_1:2 the word is rendered “cry.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. that great city] Calvin explains this repeated mention of the greatness of Nineveh (comp. Jon_1:2), as intended to prepare Jonah for the magnitude of the task before him, lest when he came face to face with it he should be appalled and draw back. But perhaps the true key is to be found in Jon_4:11, where the same expression “the great city” occurs as an argument for God’s compassion. It is on no mean errand of mercy, not to save a few only from destruction, that I bid you go.

preach unto it the preaching] Lit., cry to it the crying. The word is rendered cry, Jon_1:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city,.... So it is called; See Gill on Jon 1:2. The order runs in the same words as before; and the same discouragements are presented to Jonah, taken from the greatness of the city, the number of its inhabitants, its being the metropolis of the Assyrian empire, and the seat of the greatest monarch on earth, to try his faith; but these had not the like effect as before; for he had now another spirit given him, not of fear, but of a sound mind; he considered he was sent by a greater King, and that more were they that were on his side than the inhabitants of this place, who might possibly be against him:

and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee; that he had bid him before, declaring and exposing their wickedness, and telling them that in a short time their city would be destroyed. Jonah must not be gratified with any alteration in the message; but he must go with it as it had before been given, or what he now bid, or should bid him; the word of the Lord must be spoken just as it is delivered; nothing must be added to it, or taken from it; the whole counsel of God must be declared; prophets and ministers must preach, not as men bid them, but as God bids them. The Targum is,

"prophesy against it the prophecy which I speak with thee.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and preach (or cry) unto it - God says to Jonah the self-same words which He had said before; only perhaps He gives him an intimation of His purpose of mercy, in that he says no more, “cry against her,” but “cry unto her.” He might “cry against” one doomed to destruction; to “cry unto her,” seems to imply that she had some interest in, and so some hope from, this cry. “The preaching that I bid thee.” This is the only notice which Jonah relates that God took of his disobedience, in that He charged him to obey exactly what He commanded . “He does not say to him, why didst thou not what I commanded?” He had rebuked him in deed; He amended him and upbraided him not . “The rebuke of that shipwreck and the swallowing by the fish sufficed, so that he who had not felt the Lord commanding, might understand Him, delivering.”

Jonah might have seemed unworthy to be again inspired by God. But “whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth;” whom He chasteneth, He loveth . “The hard discipline, the severity and length of the scourge, were the earnests of a great trust and a high destination.” He knew him to be changed into another man, and, by one of His most special favors, gives him that same trust which he had before deserted . “As Christ, when risen, commended His sheep to Peter, wiser now and more fervent, so to Jonah risen He commends the conversion of Nineveh. For so did Christ risen bring about the conversion of the pagan, by sending His Apostles, each into large provinces, as Jonah was sent alone to a large city” . “He bids him declare not only the sentence of God, but in the same words; not to consider his own estimation or the ears of his hearers, nor to mingle soothing with severe words, and convey the message ingeniously, but with all freedom and severity to declare openly what was commanded him. This plainness, though, may be less acceptable to people or princes, is ofttimes more useful, always more approved by God. Nothing should be more sacred to the preacher of God’s word, than truth and simplicity and inviolable sanctity in delivering it. Now alas, all this is changed into vain show at the will of the multitude and the breath of popular favor.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bid thee before, or when thou shalt be there. (Calmet) --- He seems to have retired to Jerusalem. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city; see Amo 1:2; great in extent of ground, in strength of its fortifications, height and breadth of its walls, and multitude of its towers; great in the multitude of its numbers, and riches of its citizens, and every whit as great in the multitude of its sins: but let nothing retard or discourage thee, arise and go.

Preach, publicly, plainly, boldly; cry, Amo 1:2.

Unto it, i.e. against it, publish the near approaching ruin of it, preach to them the necessity of their repentance, and awaken them to it by the terrors of the Lord.

The preaching that I bid thee; either which I did bid thee at first, as Amo 1:2, or what I shall suggest and communicate to thee when thou art come thither.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That great city. (see note on Jon_1:2) Preaching; rendered "cry" in Jon_1:2; Septuagint, khrugma . This time the proclamation is unto it, as interested in the message, not "against it," as doomed to destruction (Pusey).

Ver. 2. City preaching.

In Palestine there were no great cities. The population was scattered through pastoral regions or gathered in small and unimportant towns. This fact gave a character to the national life of the Hebrews and to their national religiousness. It was a strange experience for a Jew like Jonah to be brought into contact with city life upon a grand, colossal scale. We modern Englishmen are more familiar with, this development of human existence and activity. We need to study the relations of religion to city life, its occupations, temptations, and opportunities.

I THE PREACHER IN A GREAT CITY NEEDS TO HAVE HIS IMAGINATION AND HIS HEART FILLED WITH AN IMPRESSION OF ITS MAGNITUDE AND IMPORTANCE. In the view of the Almighty all things earthly may well seem diminutive; yet Jehovah is represented as commissioning Jonah to preach unto Nineveh great city." The population, the wealth, the industry, the political importance of a metropolis should be pondered by one who is required to discharge a public ministry among its inhabitants. Thus he will be more likely to rise to the due height of seriousness, of sympathy. He who labours in "an exceeding great city" needs to fill his soul with a conviction of the spiritual necessities and the spiritual possibilities of such a population.

II THE PREACHER IN A GREAT CITY NERDS TO FULFIL A MINISTRY OF WITNESS. "Cry unto it the cry." Such is the exact language in which Jehovah commissioned his servant. In the university, the private chapel, the select and cultivated congregation, there may be room for argumentative, emotional, poetical, or philosophical preaching. What a great city needs is a voice, a cry, a preaching, in the proper sense of that word. A plain and powerful witness to man"s sin and need, to God"s grace and power to save, a summons to repentance and surrender, such is what the population of a great city for the most part needs.

III THE PREACHER IN A GREAT CITY NEEDS AN UNMISTAKABLE DIVINE COMMISSION AND MESSAGE. "The preaching that I bid thee, such was to be the burden of the prophet"s utterances. It is only the Word of the Lord which should be proclaimed by the minister of religion in any position, in all circumstances. But when standing in the midst of a great metropolis, how can a man, justly sensible of his own ignorance and powerlessness, proceed in his ministry, unless he is assured that the Lord has sent him, unless he can commence his testimony with the preface, "Thus saith the Lord"?

The preaching that God bids.

1. Not the message of our own imagination.

2. Not what me, desire and what will be palatable to them.

3. But what God bids. To the messenger he gives the message from his Word; by his Spirit.

His gospel not altered, not added to, not diminished is to be preached "to every creature." With faithfulness, simplicity, persistence whether men hear or whether men forbear. Like Luther, "I can do no other; God help me! G.T.C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Nineveh

(See Scofield "Nah 1:1")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"Get up...[call out] that which I speak"- [Meaning,] that I spoke to you already and also that which I am now speaking to you, that you should call out to it [the city] that it will be overturned because of their evil.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

"Get up"- He [God] is showing him [Yonah] that he did not go a way that distanced him from Nineveh [since the fish spat him out on the shore of Nineveh], [therefore] if He sends him a second time, he will go.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.