Jonah 3:7

Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

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:

ASV

And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;

YLT

and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock--let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink;

DBT

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On this verse

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 …

Caesarius of Arles· Commentary (church-history corpus), 542patristic

Related commentary

"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.

Jerome· Commentary on Jonah, Chapter 3, 420patristic

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh,....

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh; - literally, And he cried and said, etc. The cry or proclamation of the king corresponded with the cry of Jonah. Where the prophets cry, calling to repentance, had reached, the proclamation of the king followed, obeying. By the decree of the king and his nobles. This is a hint of the political state of Nineveh, beyond what we have elsewhere. It was not then an absolute monarchy.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

Taste any thing - Man and beast are to forbear to eat and drink, that the fast might be most solemn, that the cry of man, seconded with the cry of hungry cattle, might enter the ears of God, who preserveth man and beast.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

In prayer we must cry mightily, with a fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and fervour of pious and devout affections. By crying mightily we wrestle with God; we take hold of him; and we are concerned to do so when he is not only departing from us as a friend, but coming forth against us as an enemy. It therefore concerns us in prayer to stir up all that is within us.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

11 linked verses

The verses this one reaches11

2 Chronicles 20:3
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
Joel 2:15–16
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
Jonah 3:5
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
Joel 1:18
How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
Ezra 8:21
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
Romans 8:20–22
For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
Ezra 7:28
and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.
Luke 4:2
where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
Isaiah 58:4
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Ezekiel 14:6
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations.
Joel 2:16
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Who & where

PlaceAssyriaNinevehThe great city of Assyria, three days' journey across, that repented in sackcloth at Jonah's preaching — and a century later fell…

About this book

Jonah Preaches to the Ninevites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866) — public domain

Jonah — A reluctant prophet fleeing from Nineveh, a storm, a great fish, a repentant city, and a bush. The only prophet whose book is entirely narrative — and whose complaint against God's mercy is the book's real subject.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: The book is anonymous; Jonah son of Amittai is the subject (1:1; cf. 2 Kings 14:25)
Date: Jonah's historical ministry c. 8th c. BC under Jeroboam II; book's composition disputed

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ezra 8:21
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our…
leads to
- Joel 1:14
  Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 20:3
  Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
- Isaiah 30:21
  And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
- 1 Samuel 7:6
  When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged…
- Jonah 3:5
  And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
Through
2 Chronicles 20:3
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
leads to
- Daniel 9:3
  So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Jonah 3:5
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
leads to
- Luke 11:32
  The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
- Joel 2:12–17
  “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

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