Jonah 1 · Verse 2

Jonah 1:2

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 1:2, King James Version

Jonah 1:2 in other translations

BSB“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
WEB“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”
ASVArise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
YLT‘Rise, go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it that their wickedness hath come up before Me.'
DARBYArise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
BBEUp! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.
WebsterArise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

What does Jonah 1:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. to Nineveh--east of the Tigris, opposite the modern Mosul. The only case of a prophet being sent to the heathen. Jonah, however, is sent to Nineveh, not solely for Nineveh's good, but also to shame Israel, by the fact of a heathen city repenting at the first preaching of a single stranger, Jonah, whereas God's people will not repent, though preached to by their many national prophets, late and early. Nineveh means "the residence of Ninus," that is, Nimrod. Ge 10:11, where the translation ought to be, "He (Nimrod) went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh." Modern research into the cuneiform inscriptions confirms the Scripture account that Babylon was founded earlier than Nineveh, and that both cities were built by descendants of Ham, encroaching on the territory assigned to Shem (Ge 10:5, 6, 8, 10, 25). great city--four hundred eighty stadia in circumference, one hundred fifty in length, and ninety in breadth [Diodorus Siculus, 2.3]. Taken by Arbaces the Mede, in the reign of Sardanapalus, about the seventh year of Uzziah; and a second time by Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxares the Mede in 625 B.C. See on Jon 3:3. cry--(Is 40:6; 58:1). come up before me--(Ge 4:10; 6:13; 18:21; Ezr 9:6; Re 18:5); that is, their wickedness is so great as to require My open interposition for punishment.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 Go to Nineveh - This was the capital of the Assyrian empire, and one of the most ancient cities of the world, Gen 10:10; and one of the largest, as it was three days' journey in circumference. Ancient writers represent it as oblong; being in length one hundred and fifty stadia, and ninety in breadth, the compass being four hundred and eighty stadia. Now as the stadium is allowed to have been equal to our furlong, eight of which make a mile, this amounts to fifty-four English miles: see on Jon 3:3 (note). But we must not suppose that all this space was covered with compact streets and buildings; it took in a considerable space of country, probably all the cultivated ground necessary to support all the inhabitants of that district. Calmet computes the measurement of the circumference to be equal to twenty-five French leagues. It is reported to have had walls one hundred feet high, and so broad that three chariots might run abreast upon them. It was situated on the Tigris, or a little to the west, or on the west side of that river. It was well peopled, and had at this time one hundred and twenty thousand persons in it reputed to be in a state of infancy, which on a moderate computation would make the whole number six hundred thousand persons. But some, supposing that persons not being able to distinguish their right hand from their left must mean children under two years of age, and reckoning one such child for every twenty persons from that age upwards, make the population amount to two millions five hundred thousand. Nor can this be considered an exaggerated estimate, when we know that London, not one-tenth of the size of ancient Nineveh, contains a population of upwards of one million. But calculations of this kind, relative to matters of such remote antiquity, are generally precarious, and not very useful: and ancient authors, though the only guides, are not always safe conductors. Mosul is generally supposed to be the same as the ancient Nineveh. It is in the province of Dearbekir, on the west bank of the Tigris. Their wickedness is come up before me - This is a personification of evil. It ascends from earth to heaven; and stands before the Supreme Judge, to bear witness against its own delinquency, and that of the persons whom it has seduced.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jonah 1:1-3

It is sad to think how much sin is committed in great cities. Their wickedness, as that of Nineveh, is a bold and open affront to God. Jonah must go at once to Nineveh, and there, on the spot, cry against the wickedness of it. Jonah would not go. Probably there are few among us who would not have tried to decline such a mission. Providence seemed to give him an opportunity to escape; we may be out of the way of…

Read the full comment on Jonah 1:1-3 →

Jonah 1:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ק֠וּםkumariseH6965
לֵ֧ךְlekhgoH1980
אֶל\־'el-toH413
נִֽינְוֵ֛הnin.VehNinevehH5210
הָעִ֥ירha.'Irthe cityH5892
הַגְּדוֹלָ֖הha.ge.do.Lah<the> greatH1419
וּקְרָ֣אu.ke.Ra'and call outH7121
עָלֶ֑יהָ'a.Lei.haon itH5921
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
עָלְתָ֥ה'al.Tahit has come upH5927
רָעָתָ֖םra.'a.Tamwickedness theirH7451
לְפָנָֽי\׃le.fa.Nai<to> before meH6440

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jonah 1:2

  • Genesis 18:20-21

    And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

  • Genesis 10:11

    Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

  • Nahum 1:1

    The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

  • Isaiah 58:1

    Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

  • Jonah 4:11

    And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

  • Jonah 3:2

    Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

  • Zephaniah 2:13-15

    And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

  • Ezekiel 3:5-9

    For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. …

  • Jeremiah 1:7-10

    But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

  • Revelation 18:5

    For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

  • 2 Kings 19:36

    So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

  • Micah 3:8

    But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Nineveh.
3:2; 4:11; Ge 10:11; 2Ki 19:36; Na 1:1; 2:1-3:19; Zep 2:13-15
cry.
3:2; Isa 58:1; Jer 1:7-10; Eze 2:7; 3:5-9; Mic 3:8; Mt 10:18
for.
Ge 18:20,21; Ezr 9:6; Jas 5:4; Re 18:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Jonah 1:1

    Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

  • Jonah 1:2

    Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

  • Jonah 1:3

    But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Read all of Jonah 1

Jonah 1:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Levántate, y ve á Nínive, ciudad grande, y pregona contra ella; porque su maldad ha subido delante de mí.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Lève-toi, va à Ninive, la grande ville, et crie contre elle, car leur méchanceté est montée devant moi.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Mache dich auf, gehe nach Ninive, der großen Stadt, und predige wider sie; denn ihre Bosheit ist vor mich heraufgestiegen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Surge, et vade in Niniven, civitatem grandem, et prædica in ea, quia ascendit malitia ejus coram me.