And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| proclaimed | וַיַּזְעֵ֗ק vai.yaz.'Ek | H2199 | to shriek (from anguish or danger) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
| published | וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ vai.Yo.mer | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
| Nineveh | בְּנִֽינְוֵ֔ה be.ni.ne.Veh | H5210 | Nineveh · preposition + proper noun, a place name |
| decree | מִטַּ֧עַם mi.Ta.'am | H2940 | properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct |
| king | הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh | H4428 | a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| nobles | וּגְדֹלָ֖יו u.ge.do.Lav | H1419 | great (in any sense) · conjunction + adjective, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular |
| saying | לֵאמֹ֑ר le.Mor | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| man | הָאָדָ֨ם ha.'a.Dam | H120 | ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| beast | וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜ה ve.ha.be.he.Mah | H929 | properly · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| herd | הַבָּקָ֣ר ha.ba.Kar | H1241 | beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gen… · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute |
| flock | וְהַצֹּ֗אן ve.ha.Tzon | H6629 | a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute |
| taste | יִטְעֲמוּ֙ yit.'a.Mu | H2938 | to taste · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine plural |
| thing | מְא֔וּמָה me.'U.mah | H3972 | properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| feed | יִרְע֔וּ yir.'U | H7462 | to tend a flock · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine plural |
| drink | יִשְׁתּֽוּ yish.Tu | H8354 | to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine plural |
| water | וּמַ֖יִם u.Ma.yim | H4325 | water · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
neither . . . beast . . . taste any thing--The brute creatures share in the evil effects of man's sin (; , ); so they here according to Eastern custom, are made to share in man's outward indications of humiliation. "When the Persian general Masistias was slain, the horses and mules of the Persians were shorn, as well as themselves" [NEWCOME from PLUTARCH; also HERODOTUS, 9.24].
Word came unto the king - This, some think, was Pul; others, Sardanapalus his son, king of Assyria, who flourished in the reign of Jeroboam the Second: but it seems more probable that the monarch here alluded to was a king of Assyria contemporary with Joash, king of Judah. It was by the decree of the king that the fast was instituted, and became general.
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh,.... By a herald or heralds, sent into the several parts of the city: by the decree of the king and his nobles; with whom he consulted, and whose advice he took; and who were equally concerned at this news, and very probably were present when word was brought to the king concerning it: saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; a very strict and general fast this: abstinence from all food was enjoined; not only men of every rank and age, but the cattle likewise, horses and camels, they used either for their pleasure or business; their oxen, cows, and calves, of their herd; their sheep, goats, lambs, and…
Read the whole note in the consoleJonah 3:6-8 6. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 6. Et pervenit verbum (sermo, vel, res) ad regem Nineveh; et surrexit e solio suo, et abjecit splendidam suam vestem a seipso, et induit saccum, et sedit super pulverem: 7. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 7. Et promulgavit ac dixit per Nineveh ex consilio regis et magnatum ejus, dicendo, Homo et jumentum (vel, bestia,) bos et ovis, ne gustent quidpi…
Now why should the little children, who had committed no sin, fast? Evidently, the innocent fasted in order that sinners might escape punishment; the little child cried out that the older man might not perish. But even if the fasting of infants was necessary, why the further fasting of flocks and herds? Surely, in order that the hunger of even the animals might manifest the repentance of men.
The king conquered enemies with a display of valor. He conquered God, however, by humility. He is a wise king who, in order to save his people, owns himself a sinner rather than a king. He forgets that he is a king, fearing God the King of all. He does not bring to mind his own power but rather comes to possess the power of the Godhead. Marvelous! When he forgets that he is a king of men, he begins to be a king of righteousness. The prince, becoming religious, did not lose his empire but changed it. Before he held a princedom of military discipline. Now he obtained a princedom in heavenly disciplines.
Let us see then how the Ninevites fasted, and how they were delivered from that wrath—"Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything," saith (the prophet). What sayest thou? Tell me—must even the irrational things fast, and the horses and the mules be covered with sackcloth? "Even so," he replies. For as when, at the decease of some rich man, the relatives clothe not only the men servants and maid servants, but the horses also with sackcloth, and give orders that they should follow the procession to the sepulchre, led by their grooms; thus signifying the greatness of the calamity, and inviting all to pity; thus also, indeed, when that city was about to be destroyed, even the irrational nature was enveloped in sackcloth, and subjected to the yoke of fasting. "It is not possible," saith he, "that irrational creatures should learn the wrath of God by means of reason; let them be taught by means of fasting, that this stroke is of divine infliction. For if the city should be overturned, not only would it be one common sepulchre for us, the dwellers therein, but for these likewise. Inasmuch then as these would participate in the punishment, let them also do so in the fast."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Ninevites believed in God, since they hearkened to the preaching of the prophet sent to them by God, and humbled themselves before God with repentance. They proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth (penitential garments: see at Joe 1:13-14; Kg1 21:27, etc.), "from their great one even to their small one," i.e., both old and young, all without exception. Even the king, when the matter (had-dâbhâr) came to his knowledge, i.e., when he was informed of Jonah's coming, and of his threatening prediction, descended from his throne, laid aside his royal robe ('addereth, see at Jos 7:21), wrapt himself in a sackcloth, and sat down in ashes, as a sign of the deepest mourning (compare Job 2:8), an…
Read the whole note in the consoleBy extending the fast and the mourning rituals to animals, the king communicated that this dire emergency required all normal operations to cease so that everyone might pray earnestly and repent of their evil ways. The violence that had come to permeate their society topped the list.
And he caused it to be proclaimed Heb. וַיַּזְעֵק, he commanded to proclaim By the counsel of the king and his nobles—By the counsel of the king and his nobles, they commanded to announce.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
