Jonah 3:6

For word came unto Rather, And the tidings reached, R.V. The introduction of the word "for" for "and" in A.V. is of the nature of a gloss. Our translators appear to have taken the view that Jonah 3:5 states generallythe effect of Jonah's preaching upon the Ninevites, and that Jonah 3:6 relate more particularly how the fast mentioned in Jonah 3:5 was brought about. "They proclaimed a fast," I said, "and it was by a royal edict that they did so, forthe report of what was going on was brought to the king, and he too was moved like his people, and both inaugurated in his own person and instituted by his authority a national fast." The statement in Jonah 3:5, however, is not necessarily proleptical. It may be intended by the writer to describe the effect produced in each district of the city as Jonah reached it, beforethe Court had any knowledge of what was going on. The people were first impressed, and then their rulers. The tide of penitence and humiliation rose higher and higher, till it reached and included the king and his nobles, and what had been done by spontaneous action, or local authority, received the final sanction and imprimatur of the central government. Whichever view be adopted, the literal translation should be retained.

he arose from his throne, &c. It is in favour of the view that the people did not wait for the royal edict to commence their fast, that the king himself seems to have been the subject of immediate and strong emotion, as soon as the tidings reached him. He first, as by a resistless impulse, humbled himself to the dust, and then took measures, out of the depth of his humiliation, that his subjects should be humbled with him.

The outward form which the humiliation both of king and people took was that common in the East (comp. Ezekiel 26:16; and see Dictionary of the Bible, Article Mourning), as we know both from sacred and secular writings. In the case of the king of Assyria it is the more remarkable both because of his characteristic pride as "the great king" (2 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 18:28), and because of the pomp and luxury with which he was ordinarily surrounded. No greater contrast could well be conceived than between the royal "robe" and "sackcloth," or between the heap of "ashes" and the king's "throne." "In the bas-relief I am describing," writes Layard, "the dress of a king consisted of a long flowing garment, edged with fringes and tassels, descending to his ankles, and confined at the waist by a girdle. Over this robe a second, similarly ornamented and open in front, appears to have been thrown. From his shoulders fell a cape or hood, also adorned with tassels, and to it were attached two long ribbons or lappets. He wore the conical mitre, or tiara, which distinguishes the monarch in Assyrian bas-reliefs, and appears to have been reserved for him alone … Around the neck of the king was a necklace. He wore ear-rings, and his arms, which were bare from a little above the elbow, were encircled by armlets and bracelets remarkable for the beauty of their forms. The clasps were formed by the heads of animals, and the centre by stars and rosettes, probably inlaid with precious stones." (Nineveh, abridged edition, 1851, p. 97.)

Of the throne the same writer says, "The thrones or arm-chairs, supported by animals and human figures, resemble those of the ancient Egyptians, and of the monuments of Kouyunjik, Khorsabad and Persepolis. They also remind us of the throne of Solomon, which had -stays (or arms) on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood by the stays. And twelve lions stood there, on the one side and on the other, upon the six steps." " 1 Kings 10:19-20. (lb.p. 164.)

his robe The same word is used of Achan's "goodly Babylonish garment," Joshua 7:21, which this may have resembled. But it is also used of a garment of rough hair-cloth, Genesis 25:25; Zechariah 13:4, and of Elijah's hairy "mantle," or cloak, 1Ki 19:13; 1 Kings 19:19. The root-meaning of the word is size, amplitude.