Jonah 3:6

Jonah 3:5 could be a general record of the response of the Ninevites and Jonah 3:6-9 a more detailed account of what happened. Even the king responded by repenting. The king of Nineveh would probably have been the king of Assyria since Nineveh was a leading city of the empire. Similarly King Ahab of Israel was the "king of Samaria" (1 Kings 21:1), King Ahaziah of Israel was the "king of Samaria" (2 Kings 1:3), and King Ben-hadad of Aram was the "king of Damascus" (2 Chronicles 24:23). However the writer described this man as the king of Nineveh. The explanation may be that the focus of Jonah’s prophecy was specifically Nineveh (Jonah 3:4), not the whole Assyrian Empire. His name, though of interest to us, was unnecessary to the writer.

Who was this king? He was probably one of the Assyrian kings who ruled during or near the regency of Jeroboam II in Israel (793-753 B.C.). [Note: See The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 1463.]

Of these perhaps Ashur-dan III is the most likely possibility. [Note: Stuart, pp. 491-97.]

". . . the first half of the eighth century is one of the most poorly documented periods of Assyrian history." [Note: Alexander, p. 123.]

"There is something affecting in the picture of this Oriental monarch so swiftly casting aside such gorgeous robes and taking the place of the penitent. He had the virtue of not holding back in his approach to God." [Note: Gaebelein, p. 106.]

"It must be remembered that an Assyrian king, as a syncretist, would hardly wish automatically to deny the validity of any god or any prophet. And does not an outsider often command far more respect than those with whom one regularly deals-even in the case of prophets and other clergy (cf. Melchizedek and Abraham, Genesis 14:17-24; Moses and Pharaoh, Exodus 5-14; Balaam and Balak, Numbers 22-24; the Levite from Bethlehem and the Danites, Judges 17-18; etc.)?" [Note: Stuart, p. 491.]