TEXT [Commentary]

black diamond   II.   The Prophet at Nineveh (3:1–4:11)

A.   Jonah’s Recommissioning and Response (3:1-3a)

1 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh,

NOTES

3:1 second time. Jonah’s recommissioning is stated in words identical to his initial commissioning (1:1), except for the addition of “a second time.” Like Jeremiah (Jer 1:13; 13:3), Jonah experienced a “second word” from the Lord. Although the formula is absent, Ezekiel was also commissioned and recommissioned as a prophetic watchman for his people (Ezek 3:16-17; 33:7).

3:2 Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. The charge to Jonah repeats the phraseology of 1:2. God did not condemn Jonah; he simply repeated the charge.

deliver the message I have given you. Lit., “proclaim the proclamation.” Jonah was commanded to preach against (qara’ ‘al) Nineveh on the first occasion (1:2); here he is told simply to proclaim (qera’ ’el [TH7121/413, ZH7924/448]) God’s message to the city. The change of prepositions allows more latitude in God’s purposes and gives Nineveh an opportunity to react to God’s message. (See Sasson 1990:72-75; see also Sasson 1984:23-79, where he carefully distinguishes between the implications in the difference of prepositions in 1:2 and 3:2.)

3:3a This time Jonah obeyed . . . and went to Nineveh. Lit., “And Jonah got up and went to Nineveh.” Rather than fleeing from the Lord’s presence (1:3), Jonah carried out the divine command. The NLT’s “obeyed” connotes the force of the added Hebrew phrase “according to the word of the LORD.” Stuart (1987:482) observes that Jonah “had learned his lesson about trying to avoid the call of Yahweh.”

COMMENTARY [Text]

Jonah obeyed God’s renewed command to go to Nineveh with the previously assigned divine pronouncement. God’s patience with Jonah illustrates that the heavenly Father often gives his children an undeserved second chance (cf. 1 Kgs 19:1-19). Here was a runaway prophet; yet God reinstated him and gave him the awesome opportunity and privilege of being the bearer of God’s message. While human patience may have dictated the discharge of such a messenger, God saw something in Jonah worth reclaiming (cf. Acts 9:1-20; Gal 1:11-24).

As believers, we too must remember that our opportunities to share God’s Word are likewise a gracious privilege. Moreover, those who proclaim God’s Word must be careful to give it accurately and with less attention to their own opinions.

God’s continued concern for the great city of Nineveh is a reminder of his loving concern for all the world (John 3:16). Jonah’s renewed commission thus stands as a strong missionary charge. There are many “great cities” around the world where God’s message needs to be proclaimed so that people everywhere may hear the word, repent, believe, and be saved (Isa 45:22-23; Acts 1:7-8). May we believers be responsive to God’s commission to take the gospel message to all the world (Matt 28:18-20).