Jonah 3 · Verse 5

Jonah 3:5

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jonah 3:5, King James Version

Jonah 3:5 in other translations

BSBAnd the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
WEBThe people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
ASVAnd the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
YLTAnd the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even unto their least,
DARBYAnd the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
BBEAnd the people of Nineveh had belief in God; and a time was fixed for going without food, and they put on haircloth, from the greatest to the least.
WebsterSo the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

What does Jonah 3:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. believed God--gave credit to Jonah's message from God; thus recognizing Jehovah as the true God. fast ... sackcloth--In the East outward actions are often used as symbolical expressions of inward feelings. So fasting and clothing in sackcloth were customary in humiliation. Compare in Ahab's case, parallel to that of Nineveh, both receiving a respite on penitence (1Ki 21:27; 20:31, 32; Joe 1:13). from the greatest ... to the least--The penitence was not partial, but pervading all classes.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 The people of Nineveh believed God - They had no doubt that the threatening would be fulfilled, unless their speedy conversion prevented it; but, though not expressed, they knew that the threatening was conditional. "The promises and threatenings of God, which are merely personal, either to any particular man or number of men, are always conditional, because the wisdom of God hath thought fit to make these depend on the behavior of men." - Dr. S. Clarke's Sermons, vol. i. Proclaimed a fast - And never was there one so general, so deep, and so effectual. Men and women, old and young, high and low, and even the cattle themselves, all kept such a fast as the total abstinence from food implies.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jonah 3:5-10
There was a wonder of Divine grace in the repentance and reformation of Nineveh. It condemns the men of the gospel generation, Mt 12:41. A very small degree of light may convince men that humbling themselves before God, confessing their sins with prayer, and turning from sin, are means of escaping wrath and obtaining mercy. The people followed the example of the king. It became a national act, and it was necessary it should be so, when it was to prevent a national ruin. Let even the brute creatures' cries and moans for want of food remind their owners to cry to God. In prayer we must cry mightily, with fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and devout affections. It concerns us in prayer to stir up all that is within us. It is not enough to fast for sin, but we must fast from sin; and, in order to the success of our prayers, we must no more regard iniquity in our hearts, Psa 66:18. The work of a fast-day is not done with the day. The Ninevites hoped that God would turn from his fierce anger; and that thus their ruin would be prevented. They could not be so confident of finding mercy upon their repentance, as we may be, who have the death and merits of Christ, to which we may trust for pardon upon repentance. They dared not presume, but they did not despair. Hope of mercy is the great encouragement to repentance and reformation. Let us boldly cast ourselves down at the footstool of free grace, and God will look upon us with compassion. God sees who turn from their evil ways, and who do not. Thus he spared Nineveh. We read of no sacrifices offered to God to make atonement for sin; but a broken and a contrite heart, such as the Ninevites then had, he will not despise.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Jonah 3:5 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.

וַֽיַּאֲמִ֛ינוּvai.ya.'a.Mi.nuand they believedH539
אַנְשֵׁ֥י'an.Shei[the] people ofH582
נִֽינְוֵ֖הnin.VehNinevehH5210
בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑יםbe.lo.Himin GodH430
וַיִּקְרְאוּ\־vai.yik.re.'u-and they proclaimedH7121
צוֹם֙tzOma fastH6685
וַיִּלְבְּשׁ֣וּvai.yil.be.Shuand they woreH3847
שַׂקִּ֔יםsa.Kimsackcloth<s>H8242
מִגְּדוֹלָ֖םmi.ge.do.Lamfrom great theirH1419
וְעַד\־ve.'ad-and untoH5704
קְטַנָּֽם\׃ke.ta.Naminsignificant theirH6996

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

Cross references for Jonah 3:5

  • Luke 11:32

    The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

  • Daniel 9:3

    And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

  • Matthew 12:41

    The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

  • Joel 2:12-17

    Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: …

  • 2 Chronicles 20:3

    And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

  • Joel 1:14

    Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,

  • Exodus 9:18-21

    Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

  • Jeremiah 36:9

    And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

  • Acts 27:25

    Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

  • Hebrews 11:7

    By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

  • Jeremiah 31:34

    And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

  • Acts 8:10

    To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
believed.
Ex 9:18-21; Mt 12:41; Lu 11:32; Ac 27:25; Heb 11:1,7
and proclaimed.
2Ch 20:3; Ezr 8:21; Jer 36:9; Joe 1:14; 2:12-17
from.
Jer 31:34; 42:1,8; Ac 8:10

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

Context

  • Jonah 3:4

    And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

  • Jonah 3:5

    So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

  • Jonah 3:6

    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.

Read all of Jonah 3

Jonah 3:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los hombres de Nínive creyeron á Dios, y pregonaron ayuno, y vistiéronse de sacos desde el mayor de ellos hasta el menor de ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les hommes de Ninive crurent Dieu, et proclamèrent un jeûne, et se vêtirent de sacs, depuis les plus grands d’entre eux jusqu’aux plus petits.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Leute von Ninive glaubten Gott; und sie riefen ein Fasten aus und kleideten sich in Sacktuch, von ihrem Größten bis zu ihrem Kleinsten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et crediderunt viri Ninivitæ in Deum, et prædicaverunt jejunium, et vestiti sunt saccis, a majore usque ad minorem.