Jonah 3:6

"And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes."

"The tidings came to the king ..." What tidings? A thorough and accurate account of Jonah's miraculous deliverance, of course.

"We cannot imagine the people of Nineveh (including the king himself) having been motivated to fasting and cessation of violence and wickedness on the mere cry of impending ruin by a stranger of whom they were totally ignorant."[26]

The Saviour's words that Jonah was a "sign" unto the Ninevites (Luke 11:30) has often been cited by Bible scholars as the basis for understanding that, "Jonah's experience in the great fish was made known to the Ninevites."[27] Such knowledge would have included the fact of Jonah's rebellion against God and the subsequent mercy that came to him; and, in the matter of Jonah himself, though in rebellion against God, having received God's mercy, there also appears the slender little thread of hope upon which the Ninevites based their hopeful surmise that he might also spare them.

"The king of Nineveh ..." Upon this phrase, we are again treated to the profound wisdom (!) of the critics:

"The reference to the "king of Nineveh" is another indication of the non-historical character of the book, for nowhere else is the king of Assyria so named.[28] It is another indication of the author's remoteness from an actual historical situation, that he uses this title, instead of King of Assyria, and gives the king no proper name."[29]

To begin with, Nineveh was not the capital of Assyria until a period about a hundred years after the times of Jonah; and there is not the slightest evidence anywhere that "The King of Assyria" ever lived in Nineveh until the times of Sennacherib and Ashur-banipal (704 B.C. until the total destruction of the city).[30] Thus, the expression "king of Nineveh," as used by Jonah proves that he wrote earlier at a time when the historical situation is exactly represented by the title he ascribed to the ruler of Nineveh, somewhere in the half century 800-750 B.C. Pinches also affirmed that, "It is unknown how long Nineveh was the capital of Assyria."[31]

Another fact which refutes the allegations of the Biblical enemies on this passage was given by Banks:

"The Hebrew word from which `king' comes in this phrase is a Semitic word "m-l-k", in its Akkadian sense meaning `prince' or `governor.'"[32]

Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia summarizes the refutation of critical objections to the title, "king of Nineveh," thus:

"The king of Nineveh" is a metonmy with adequate precedent in the Old Testament (1 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 24:23; Genesis 14:18; and Jeremiah 8:19), in which references the chief officer, or ruler of each of the cities: Samaria, Damascus, Salem, and Zion is called "king of Samaria, etc." Furthermore, Nineveh was not yet the capital of Assyria. Also, the word [~melek] may be used here as a transliteration of the Akkadian `malku' meaning `governor'."[33]

It is simply monotonous how invariably and completely the objections to the divine record are frustrated, exploded, and exposed as fradulent by a little investigation.

As for the quibble that Jonah did not include the name of the king of Nineveh, it should be observed that it was not in his style of writing to include such personal designations. He did not give the name of the ship, nor of the captain with whom he sailed, nor any one of a dozen other things that would have satisfied human curiosity. This is after the manner of holy writers throughout the Bible.

"Covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes ..." It is quite significant that the ancient governor of Nineveh, along with his people, knew exactly the posture and attitudes of repentance, as a comparison with Job 2:8 and Ezekiel 27:30 will reveal. Surely, there is a trace of the original monotheism in this, a residual remembrance in the heart of dissolute and wicked men of the righteousness and mercy of God. This fundamental conception of God's righteousness and of human wickedness appears to be from the very beginning of man's creation, not instinctive, perhaps, but nearly so.