Jonah 4

²The great fish mentioned in verse 17 may have been a whale. Whales are known to have swallowed humans. In one instance that has been verified, a man survived for ten hours inside a whale’s stomach and made a full recovery from his ordeal. Therefore, it is not necessary to suppose that Jonah’s survival for three days and three nights was a physical impossibility.
     Furthermore, the expression “three days and three nights” does not necessarily mean “seventy-two hours.” According to Middle Eastern reckoning, three days and nights can mean one full day and parts of two others. This is why Jesus compared Jonah’s “three days” in the fish with His own “three days” in the tomb (Matthew 12:40).

³In verse 4, Jonah expresses his intention to look again toward God’s holy temple, the temple in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 8:37–39). In verse 7, Jonah says that his prayer rose up to God’s holy temple, God’s “temple” in heaven. God’s earthly temple is a representation of His heavenly “temple,” His heavenly rule. For further discussion of God’s temple, see 1 Kings 6:1 and comment.

⁴For a discussion of what it means to truly repent, see Word List: Repentance.

⁵Fasting and putting on sackcloth were signs of repentance and mourning.

⁶All Christians should remember this truth: it is not our eloquence, our techniques, our qualifications that win people to Christ; it is God. It is God who opens people’s hearts to respond to our message (see Acts 16:14).

⁷The Ninevites believed God (verse 5). This doesn’t necessarily mean that they were truly converted to the faith of Israel. Neither does it mean their repentance was permanent. However, they did react according to the spiritual understanding they had, and God honored that and spared them—just the opposite of what Jonah had wanted!
     Jesus Himself commended the Ninevites for repenting when they heard Jonah’s preaching and contrasted them with the Jews of His day who rejected the preaching of One who was much greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:41).

⁸Bible scholars have proposed a number of “natural” explanations as to why the Ninevites were so quick to repent, some or all of which could be true. It is known, for example, that around the time Jonah visited Nineveh there had been a major earthquake and a total eclipse in Assyria. Furthermore, Assyria had been under attack from strong enemies in the north. Finally, it’s possible that Jonah’s appearance itself was the “spark” that ignited the Ninevites’ response; perhaps they had heard about Jonah and the great fish. But all of this is speculation; whether or not any of these “natural” factors played a part, it was still God who caused them and who made it possible for the Ninevites to repent.