Jonah 3:1-10

Repentance and Pardon of the Ninevites

3. An exceeding great city] lit. ’great unto God,’ i.e. regarded as great by God: cp. Genesis 10:1.

Of three days’ journey] i.e. in breadth.

8. Even the cattle join in the mourning. Neglected by their owners, they fill the air with their groanings. Cp. Joel 1:20, ’The beasts of the field pant unto thee,’ and for an interesting parallel, Judith 4:9-15. The Persians are said, by Herodotus, to have clipped the hair of the horses and baggage animals that they might seem to share in the mourning for a general.

10. For the term ’repentance’ = ’change of purpose,’ as applied to God, cp. Jeremiah 18:8, and for the action Exodus 32:14.