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3:1And the word of the Lord came the second time, saying, 3:2”Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it according to the message *before, which I spoke to you”

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:1-2 “But God immediately commanded Jonah again to do these things which he heard earlier, both to go down to that great city and to bear the message of terrible destruction. Having learned by trial the penalty which resisting God brings, he makes his journey as commanded and arrives at Nineveh. And let no one foolishly be excessively concerned as to how the whale vomited him out, for all things are possible when God wills them; nor let anyone be excessively concerned as to what kind of shore God led him out, for this is also characteristic of excessively curious people. But may all who are devout be content with the teaching of the Spirit.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:1 “With the prophet now on dry land, God bade him go off to Nineveh and preach what had formerly been told him by him. From this it emerges that it was not without purpose that he had told him to preach this message, ‘three days more and Nineveh will be destroyed,’ even if divine scripture seems to express it this way for conciseness; rather, its purpose was also to convey that he threatens this would happen unless they desisted from their bad habits and repented. Hence he says, ‘preach in it the message I told you before,’ suggesting to him all the instruction he had previously given him for delivery to the Ninevites” (Sprenger 185.5-15; trans Hill, 201).

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:2 “For his part the prophet, now the wiser for the experience, pressed on to put God’s directions into effect” (Sprenger 185.15-17; trans. Hill, 201).

Cyril, Commentary on Jonah 3:1-2 (Pusey 1.585-18-586.5). Jonah’s proclamation to Jeroboam II about the extension of Israel’s borders relates to Jesus’ message to his own people when he was alive. Jonah’s second and third proclamation to the Gentiles in Nineveh relates to Jesus preaching to the nations after his resurrection.

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:1-2 “'and the message of God came to Jonah a second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach there this message that I have told you'. He did not say to the prophet, "why have you not done what you were ordered to do?." But the punishment of the shipwreck and his drowning are enough for him to understand the Lord, the liberator, whom he hadn't known to be ordering. Moreover it is superfluous to see his wounds as those of a false servant of God, once he has been smitten, for such a punishment is less of a correction than a reproof. And our Lord is sent to Nineveh a second time after his resurrection: he who had fled by whatever means beforehand when he said, "My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass me by"[139], and who had not wanted to give bread of children to dogs, now the children have cried out, "crucify him, crucify him! we have no king except Caesar"[140], he makes his way towards Nineveh of his own accord to preach after his resurrection that he underwent as he was ordered to do before his suffering. The command is given, he hears it, he refuses, then he is forced to want, and the second time he carries out the will of the Father: all of this is connected to man and to the "form of a slave"[141], to whom such expressions are appropriate. 3:3And Jonah arose, and he went into Nineveh as the Lord had spoken. And Nineveh was a great city to God, of a three days journey.



3:3And Jonah arose, and he went into Nineveh as the Lord had spoken. And Nineveh was a great city to God, of a three days journey.
3:4And Jonah began to proceed into the city, as of day one. And he preached and said, “Yet *three days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed.”

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:3 “And Nineveh,” it says, was a great city to God, about a walking journey of three days.” God places great value upon the salvation of this city, it says, because he fashioned many men and women in it. And with regard to “about a walking journey of three days,” some have understood the meaning as the area which came under the jurisdiction of the city being a three day’s journey {S 1471}according to both its length and breadth. But, others have understood the meaning as the one who was preaching was able to wander around the whole city in three days. But whether someone accepts the meaning one way or the other, he does not cause any injury to the truth. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the second interpretation is more reliable, and what follows compels me to choose this version.

Cyril, Commentary on Jonah 3:3-4 (Pusey 1.586.27-587.1). that Nineveh is so large it would take an individual three days to go through all its portions.

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:3 'so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city of godly size, around three days in journey. Jonah began to enter the city, about one day's travel.' Jonah immediately carries out the command that he has been given. Nineveh to which the prophet was journeying, was a great city, which it took around three days' journey to circle. But he remembers the command he has been given and the recent shipwreck and makes the normal journey of three days in one day. However, there are some people who believe that he simply proclaimed his message in a third of the city, and that his speech quickly was made known to the other inhabitants. And our Lord is said to arise and speak of his own accord after being in hell, and announces the word of the Lord when he sends the apostles to baptise those who were in Nineveh in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit[142]. So there are the three days of journey! And this sacrament of mankind's safety is "a journey of one day", that is it is finished by the proclamation of one sole God. Jonah preaches not so much to the apostles but more by the method of the apostles. He himself says, "and I will be with you always until the end of the world"[143]. There is no doubt that Nineveh was a city of godly magnitude because the world and all things have existed through God and because without Him nothing would ever have existed.[144] Note too that he has not said, "of three days and three nights" or "of one day and of one night", but simply "and of three days", and "of one day", to show that in the sacrament of the Trinity and of the confession of one sole God there is no darkness.



3:4And Jonah began to proceed into the city, as of day one. And he preached and said, “Yet *three days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed.”

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:4 “For Jonah began,” it says, “to enter the city about a one day’s journey.” Not immediately passing through the city, but wandering through the marketplaces, highways, and byways, preaching that “in yet three days Nineveh will be destroyed.” 113 But Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion said “forty,” and both the Syrian and the Hebrew114 agree with these. But this number (forty) is the most likely. For at one time, Jonah wandered through the entire city in three days. At another time the Ninevites, offering to God that painful repentance, had the benefit of the salvation from him. And at still another time, Jonah, sitting in front of the gates, awaited the outcome of his prophecy. Therefore, it seems to me that the forty days is more reliable. It is likely that the Seventy had put down the number which agrees with the othersAnd, that the ones who first wrote it down erred concerning this number, thus the rendering existed in this way in all the copies.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:4 “ On entering the city, the prophet began to go around it part by part, and spent about a day preaching and saying ‘three days more and Nineveh will be destroyed,’ and as much else as he could say to those present in each part of the city in sequence by way of instructing the listeners” (Sprenger 185.28-186.3; trans. Hill, 201).

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:4 'he proclaimed and said, another three days and Nineveh will be destroyed". The umber three written in the Septuagint does not agree with the penitence, and I am quite astonished at this translation, for in Hebrew neither the letters or syllables or accents or the word show any common element. For three is said, salos and forty arbaim. Moreover the prophet who was sent from Judea to the Assyrians was to claim after such a journey penitence worthy of his prediction to cure with a long-present dressing his old and putrid wounds. Moreover the number forty is appropriate to sinners, to hunger, to prayer, to sackcloth, to tears and to perseverance in prayer. In this way Moses fasted for forty days on mount Sinai[145] and Elijah fleeing Jezebel[146] is presented to us as having fasted for forty days after having told Israel about the famine[147], when the anger of God was upon them. And the Lord Himself, the true Jonah who is sent to preach to the world fasts for forty days[148]. And he leaves us as hereditary fasting to prepare our spirits, by this number of forty, as the food of his body. "he cried out": the Gospel shows this expression more fully: "standing, he cried out in the temple: if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and he shall drink"[149], for all speech of the Saviour is called a cry because he speaks about weighty subjects.

Cyril, Commentary on Jonah 3:3-4 (Pusey 1.586.20-21). The rapid spread of Jonah’s message in the three day period was due to God’s presence in his preaching. Jonah was a foreigner in the city of Nineveh, a Hebrew man who came out from another people and was not recognized on the streets…….. Israel disobeyed the law and the prophets and killed Jesus; in contrast, the Ninevites believed. Israel does not listen to the prophets, so God sends prophets to outside the house of Israel.

St. John of the Cross The Ascent of Mount Carmel Chapter 20:2-3 “This did not happen because of the threat, their sins, ceased on account of the penance that was done. But if they had not done penance the warning would have been carried out. Although God may have revealed or affirmed some fact to a person, it can become greater or less, or change, or be taken away entirely according to the variation of this person’s tendency or of the cause upon which it is based. Thus the event may not turn out as expected, and frequently no one but God knows why.”

St. Augustine City of God Book XLV Chapter 44 “But someone may say, ‘How shall I know whether the prophet Jonah said to the Ninevites, ‘Yet three days and Nineveh shall be destroyed’, ‘or forty days.’’ I rather think what is read in the Hebrew, ‘Yet forty days.’ Yet the Septuagint, translating afterward, could say what was different and yet applicable to the matter. And this may admonish the reader not to despise the authority of either. I also, according to my capacity, following the footsteps of the apostles, who themselves have quoted both, that is, from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, have thought that both are one, and divine…. Christ Himself was signified both by the forty and by the three days: by the forty, because He spent that number of days with His disciples after the resurrection, and then ascended into Heaven, but by the three days, because He rose on the third day. So that, if the reader desires nothing else to adhere to the history of events, he may be aroused from his sleep by the Septuagint translators, as well as the Hebrew.”

St. John Chrysostom Hom. On Paralytic 3 “God threatens to destroy the city of Nineveh for the very reason that He might not destroy it. When God makes a threat concerning our sins, He makes the threat beforehand so that we may be sobered by fear, so that our repentance will bring about God’s mercy so He will not have to follow through with the threat.”

St. John Chrysostom Homilies On Timothy XV. 20 “Nineveh would have not stood had it not been for this threat. And if Hell had not been threatened, we should all have fallen into Hell. If the fire had not been denounced, no one would have escaped the fire. God wills that death not come to a sinner, and therefore He threatens the sinner with death, that He may not have to inflict death.”

Summa Theologica II-II 3, 6



3:5And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest to the least.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:5 “Three days more and Nineveh will be destroyed: they could never have believed in God on the basis of this remark alone, from a completely unknown foreigner threatening them with destruction and adding nothing further, not even letting the listeners know by whom he was sent. Rather it was obvious that he mentioned God, the Lord of all, and said that he was sent by him. “Three days more and Nineveh will be destroyed: they could never have believed in God on the basis of this remark alone, from a completely unknown foreigner threatening them with destruction and adding nothing further, not even letting the listeners know by whom he was sent. Rather it was obvious that he mentioned God, the Lord of all, and said that he was sent by him. “The mighty and the commoners all putting on sackcloth, and adopting the mien of mourners” (Sprenger 186.21-24; trans. Hill, 202).

John Chrysostom, On Repentance and Almsgiving 5.2 “Why does he establish the appointed time to be only for a period of three days? So tat you may learn even the virtue of the barbarians. I call the Ninevites barbarians who were able to annul in three days such anger caused by sin—and for you to marvel at the philanthropy of God, who was satisfied with three days of repentance for so many transgressions; and furthermore, so you will not sink into despair, although you have innumerable sins. “He came to the city and read the decision like a royal epistle that withheld punishment and proclaimed, saying, Three days yet and Nineveh shall be overthrown. They heard all these things. It was not difficult for them to believe them. They did not despise these things; however they all, men, women, slaves, masters, leaders, followers, children, the elderly, immediately took one road, the road of fasting” ( Trans. Christos, 65).

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:5 Nineveh believed but Israel did not believe; the foreskin believed, but circumcision remained without faith. First of all the men of Nineveh believed who had arrived at the age of Christ[150]: they announced a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest to the smallest of them. This regime and clothing is very worthy of penitence, so that those who had offended God through their indulgence or lust appeased him by condemning all that they had previously offended with. Sackcloth and fasting are the weapons of penitence, the rescue of sinners. First of all fasting, then sackcloth; first of all what is not seen, then what is visible; the one is always shown to God, the other sometimes to man. And if it were necessary to remove one from the two then I would rather keep fasting without sackcloth than have sackcloth without fasting. Elder men give the example which pertains to youths: for no one is without sin; and if his life only lasted one day, the years of his life would still be counted[151]. For if the stars are not pure before God, they are still more so than a worm or putrefaction, and those who are held by the sin of Adam, the great offender. Note here too the order, which is well written: God commands the prophet, the prophet proclaims to the city. First of all the men believe, announce fasting, and then everyone puts on sackcloth. The men do not announce the putting on of sackcloth, but only the fasting. All the same, with reason, those to whom penitence has been proscribed wear sackcloth and fast so that empty stomach and mourning clothes give the Lord more of an opportunity to remit.

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:5 And the Ninevites, although they saw an ignorant and foreign man making a harsh proclamation, neither became annoyed, nor shot him down; but believing in his prediction and wearing sackcloth, they brought their supplications to God, both the people abounding in wealth and the ones living in poverty. For it says this: “from the small, even up to the great of these.” {S 1472}

Ephrem, On the Repentance of the Ninevites, 1:1-5 “The just man Jonah opened his mouth, Nineveh listened and was troubled. A single Hebrew preacher made the whole city to fear. His mouth spake and delivered its doom” ( Trans Burgess, 6).

Ephrem, Hymns on Virginity and the Symbols of the Lord, 45:4-5 “The vine as a bride I led out from Egypt. Instead of blossoms she bore sins. Nineveh as clusters of grapes bore fasts, and as bunches of grapes all just deeds” (trans. McVey, 446).

Ephrem, The Repentance of Nineveh 3: 33-37 “Who was able to endure the plaintive voice of children, who loving a long life, had heard that their days were cut off? Who further could contain himself to hear the groaning of aged men, for those desiring the grave and those who should bury them, had heard that the city should be overthrown? Who was able to endure the great weeping of the young men who, while anticipating their nuptials, were invited as guests to their death? Who was able to endure the weeping voice of the brides who, when sitting in their bridal chambers, were invited to the depths of the earth?” ( Trans. Burgess, 29-30).

St. Augustine On Forgiveness of Sins, and Baptism Book III Chapter 12 “In Jerome’s commentary on Jonah, he comes to the passage where the infants were mentioned as chastened by the fast, he says; ‘The greatest age comes first, and then all the rest is spread down to the least. For there is no man without sin, whether the span of his age be but that of a single day or many years, since we all are held subject to the sin of Adam.’”

St. Ambrose On Repentance 5:4 “Learn how delighted God is when fasting is honored. Like a heavenly power overseeing Nineveh’s charge, fasting snatched the city from these gates of death and returned Nineveh to life.”





3:6And the word came to the king of Nineveh and he rose up from his throne, and he removed his robe from himself, and put on sackcloth, and sat upon ashes.

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:6 And when the king himself heard and obeyed 120 these words, he left behind his gold plated and gem studded throne, stripped off his purple robe as useless, and took on the garment of sackcloth instead of this.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:6 “When the report got as far as the king, not even he was seen to ignore what was happening. Paying scant respect to his royal dignity, he left the throne, cast off the royal vesture, actually donning the sackcloth in his own case, and took to sitting in ashes” (Sprenger 186.24-28; trans. Hill, 202).

St. Caesarius of Arles Sermon 144. 2 “The king preferred to escape in a hair-shirt, rather than to perish in purple garments. We must understand, dearly beloved, that lowliness avails more than power.”

St. Augustine Letter 185.5.19 “A king serves God one way as a man, another as a king. He serves him as a man by living according to faith. He serves Him as king by exerting the necessary strength to sanction laws that command goodness and prohibit its opposite. The king of the Ninevites served God by compelling the whole city to appease the Lord.”

St. Maximus of Turin Commentary on Jonah “The king won God over by humility. He is a wise king who, in order to save his people, owns himself a sinner rather than a king. He forgot that he is a king, fearing God the King of all. He does not bring to mind his own power but rather comes to possess the power of the Godhead. Marvelous! When he forgets that he is a king of men, he begins to be a king of righteousness. The prince, becoming religious, did not lose his empire but changed it.”

Cyril, Commentary on Jonah 3:6-9 (Pusey 1.590.2-5). The king readily obeys, leaving his throne, taking off his purple robe, and wearing sackcloth.

Ephrem, The Repentance of Nineveh 3:49-61 Who could refrain from tears before the King who was weeping, who instead of his royal palace, was invited to descend to Sheol; and who, now king among the living, should be as dust among the dead; who, in place of his chariot of state should be overwhelmed; in place of his delicacies and pleasures it was reported that death should swallow him up; and instead of his couch of ease, both the city and its king suddenly were invited to the abyss of wrath” (Trans. Burgess, 30).

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:6-9 “The king of Nineveh replaced his purple robe with sackcloth, his ointments with mud, his neatness with baseness, not baseness of opinions, but of words……..it is difficult for people who are powerful and noble and rich—and for the eloquent much more difficult than these---to believe in God, for their minds are blinded with riches, might, and luxury, and being surrounded by vices they are not able to see virtue” (Duval 278.217-280.225; trans. Hegedus, 54).

Targum Jonathan Jonah 3:6 “And the matter reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his royal seat and removed his precious garb, covered himself sackcloth and sat on ashes” ( trans. Levine, 86-87).

Pseudo Philo’s Homily on Jonah adds that the king gives up his power.

Catechism of the Council of Trent 2/5/28: "Our contrition may also be true and efficacious, although unaccompanied by tears. Penitential tears, however, are much to be desired and commended. On this subject St. Augustine has well said: The spirit of Christian charity lives not within you, if you lament the body from which the soul has departed, but lament not the soul from which God has departed. To the same effect are the words of the Redeemer above cited: Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long since done penance, in sack­cloth and ashes. To establish this truth it will suffice to recall the well-known examples of the Ninivites, of David, of the woman who was a sinner, and of the Prince of the Apostles, all. of whom obtained the pardon of their sins when they implored the mercy of God with abundant tears."



3:7And it was proclaimed and spoken in Nineveh from the king, and from his chief men, saying, “Do not let the people, and the cattle, and the oxen, and the sheep, taste nor eat * anything, and do not let them drink water.”

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:7-8 He commanded not only the men and women to observe a fast, but also the various types of animals not to have benefit from any nourishment, so that when oppressed by hunger, some lowing and others bleating, each one making use of its individual voice, then the humans would offer more fervent tears and open up the springs of God’s mercy. Not only using sackcloth and fasting did they offer supplications to God, but “each turned from his evil way and the injustice in his hands,” saying:

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:7-8 “Orders were then given by the king and the leaders in that place, not only for human beings but also for the animals in their service, to abstain from food and drink of all kinds” (Spenger 186.28-31; trans. Hill, 202).

St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica “It is fitting that children should exercise themselves in fasting, more or less, in accordance with their age. Nevertheless when some great calamity threatens, even children are commanded to fast, in sign of more severe penance, as in Jonah 3:7, ‘Do not let the people, and the cattle, and the oxen, and the sheep, taste nor eat * anything, and do not let them drink water.’”

St. John Chysostom Concerning Statues Homily III. 9 “You may say, “Why must even the animals fast?” Inasmuch then as these would participate in the punishment, let them also do so in the fast.”

St. John Chrysostom Homilies on Genesis 1:7 “The Ninevites made use of the remedy of fasting and won from the Lord a relief. Animals as well as human beings were included in the fast, so that all living things would abstain from evil practices. This response won the favor of the Lord of all.”

St. Caesarius of Arles Sermon 144. 3 “Now why should the little children , who had committed no sin, fast? Evidently, the innocent fasted in order that sinners might escape punishment; the little child cried out that the older man might not perish. But even if the fasting of infants was necessary, why the further fasting of flocks and herds? Surely, in order that the hunger of even the animals might manifest the repentance of men. By their roaring to God beneath their burden, what was committed by a few men was to be redeemed by all creatures.”

Ephrem, The Repentance of Nineveh 5:153-157 “The beasts who had fasted from water, uttered cries in their different manners. There was a loud wailing in all voices, both of human beings and brute creatures. Justice heard their groaning, and grace redeemed their city” ( Trans. Burgess, 60-61).





3:8And the people and the cattle put on sackcloth, and cried out earnestly * to God. And *they each turned from their evil way, and from the iniquity in their hands, saying,

St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica “Coarseness of attire is sometimes a sign of sorrow: wherefore those who are in sorrow want to wear coarser clothes, just as on the other hand in times of festivity and joy they wear finer clothes. Just as a man’s mind is uplifted by fine clothes, so is it humbled by lowly apparel.”

John Cassian Institutes Book 1 Chapter 2 “They had a covering of sackcloth at a time when, since all were mourning over the approaching destruction of the city and were clothed with the same garments, none could be accused of excessive display.”

John Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 3.9 “Must even the irrational things fast, and the horses and the mules be covered with sackcloth? Even so, he replies. For as when, at the decease of some rich man, the relatives clothe not only the men servants but also the maidservants, and also the horses with sackcloth, and give the orders that they should follow the procession to the sepulchre, led by their grooms, thus signifying the greatness of the calamity, and inviting all to pity. Thus also indeed when that city was about to be destroyed, even the irrational creature was enveloped in sackcloth and subject to fasting” (Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 3.9 [NPNF1 9:358]).

John Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 3:9 “When therefore, aforetime, famine had seized upon the Jews, and a great drought oppressed their county, and all things were being consumed, one of the prophets spoke thus: The young heifers leaped in their stalls, the herds of oxen wept, because there was no pasture; all the cattle of the field looked upward to thee because the streams of water were dried up” (Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 3.9 [NPNF1 9:358]).

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:6-9 'the message reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, took off his robe and covered himself with sackcloth, and he sat down upon the earth. And by the order of the king and his nobles it was announced throughout Nineveh, saying, it is forbidden for any man or beast or oxen or sheep to eat anything, to drink any water. Men and beasts were covered in sackcloth and cried out to the Lord mightily. Let each one turn away from his wicked practises and from the unfairness that was in his hands, saying, who knows if God will turn and repent, if he will not abandon the fierceness of his wrath so that we might not die?'. I know certain men for whom the king of Nineveh, (who is the last to hear the proclamation and who descends from his throne, and forgoes the ornaments of his former vices and dressed in sackcloth sits on the ground, he is not content with his own conversion, preaches penitence to others with his leaders, saying, "let the men and beasts, big and small of size, be tortured by hunger, let them put on sackcloth, condemn their former sins and betake themselves without reservation to penitence!) is the symbol of the devil, who at the end of the world, (because no spiritual creature that is made reasoning by God will perish), will descend from his pride and do penitence and will be restored to his former position. To support this opinion they use this example of Daniel in which Nebuchadnezzar after seven years of penitence is returned to his former reign.[152] But because this idea is not in the Holy Scripture and since it completely destroys the fear of God, (for men will slide easily into vices if they believe that even the devil, the creator of wickedness and the source of all sins, can be saved if he does penitence), we must eradicate this from our spirits. Let us remember though that the sinners in the Gospel are sent to the eternal fire[153], which is prepared for the devil and his angels, about whom is said, "their worm will not die and their fire will not be extinguished"[154]. All the same we know that God is mild, and we sinners do not enjoy his cruelty, but we read, "the Lord is kindly and righteous, and our God will be merciful"[155]. The justice of God is surrounded by mercy, and it is by this route that he proceeds to judgement: he spares to judge, he judges to be merciful. "Mercy and Truth are to be found in our path; Justice and Peace are to be embraced"[156]. Moreover if all spiritual creatures are equal and if they raise themselves up by their virtues to heaven, or by their vices take themselves to the depths, then after a long circuit and infinite centuries, if all are returned to their original state with the same worthiness to all conflicting, what difference will there be between the virgin and the prostitute? What distinction will there be between the mother of the Lord and (it is wicked to say) the victims of public pleasures? Will Gabriel be like the devil? Will the apostles be as demons? Will the prophets be as pseudoprophets? Martyrs as their persecutors? Imagine all that you will, increase by two-fold the years and the time, take infinite time for torture: if the end for all is the same, all the past is then nothing, for what is of importance to us is not what we are at any given moment, but what we will be forever more. I am not forgetting what is often said to argue against this point, preparing hope for oneself and some kind of safety with the devil. But this is not the appropriate time to write at length against the opinion of the wicked and against the synphragma[157]of the devil from those who teach one thing in private only to deny it in public. It is enough for me to have shown what I believe this passage signifies, and as is appropriate in a commentary, to remark briefly who the king of Nineveh is, he who is the last to hear the word of God. Just how much eloquence and secular knowledge are worth to mankind can be seen in Demosthenes, Cicero, Plato, Xenophon, Theophrastus, Aristotle and the other philosophers and orators who are considered kings and their precepts are not taken as the work of mortals but as oracles of the gods. About which Plato says, happy are those states where philosophers rule, or if kings are philosophers. How difficult it is for such men to believe in God! I am neglecting though those examples from daily life, and pass over the stories of pagans and content myself with the text of the apostle who writes in Corinthians, saying, "look, brothers, to your vocation, among you. For there are not many who are wise about their flesh, nor many powerful, or noble. But there is much madness in the world, and this is what God has chosen to confuse wise men. That which is weak in the world, this is what God has chosen to confuse strength, and that which is in the world without good birth this is what God has chosen…"[158] and again he says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reprove the knowledge of those who know."[159] And: "see that no one robs you, through philosophy, this is a vain seduction"[160]. From this the predication of Christ is clear, the kings of the world hear last; then they put down the clamour of eloquence and the beautiful appearance of words, they abandon themselves completely to all simplicity and rusticity, and return to the ways of peasants, sitting in the dirt and destroying what they had formerly said was good before. Let us take as an example the benevolent Cyprian: who is firstly the champion of idolatry, and had such a reputation of good speaking that he taught the art of rhetoric at Carthage. He finishes by listening to the speech of Jonah, is converted to repent and gains such courage as to preach about Christ in public and lays his neck under the sword for him. For sure we know that the King of Nineveh descended from his throne, exchanged his red gown for sackcloth, his perfumes for mud, and cleanness for uncleanness- not uncleanness of meanings but of his words. In the same way in Jeremiah it is said about Babylon that "Babylon is a golden chalice which makes all the earth drunk"[161]. Which man has not been made drunk by secular eloquence? Whose spirit has not been shot through by the composition of words and by the brightness of his elegant speech? Those powerful, noble and rich have great difficulty in believing in God; then how much more so for the masters of speech! Their spirit is blinded by riches, wealth, abundance, they are prevented by their sins and cannot see their virtues; they judge the simplicity of the Holy Scripture not on the majesty of its meanings, but out of the baseness of its words. But when they who have previously taught wickedness are converted to repent and start to teach what is good then we will see the people of Nineveh converted with a single proclamation, and the speech that we read in Isaiah will come true: "is a people thus born in one go?".[162] Men and animals are covered with sackcloth, crying out to the Lord, this is to be understood by the same meaning as this: that those who have reason and those who do not, the wise and the simple repent according to that phrase said elsewhere: "You will save men and the animals O Lord"[163]. It is possible however to interpret differently the animals covered in sackcloth, especially according to those passages in which we read, "the sun and moon will be dressed in sackcloth"[164], and in another passage, "I will cover the heavens with sackcloth".[165] This will be the clothing of mourning, the worry and sadness that are designated metaphorically by sackcloth. And this phrase: "who knows if God will turn and pardon?" places us in uncertainty and doubt. Thus men in hypothetical cleanness repent with more intent and arouse even more God's mercy.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:7-8 “They proclaimed a fast throughout the city, the text says, the mighty and the commoners all putting on sackcloth and adopting the mien of mourners they begged God to be propitious to them. Far from setting this limit to repentance, they desisted from their former evil practices and denied themselves all injustice to others in high expectation that God would repent of his decision against them and completely cancel the sentence” (Sprenger 186.32-187.4; trans. Hill, 202).

John Chrysostom, On the Statues, Homily 20:21 “Within three days they laid aside the whole of their evil customs. The fornicator became chaste, the bold man meek, the grasping and extortionate moderate and king; the slothful industrious. They did not, indeed, reform one, or two, or three, or four vices by way of remedy, but the whole of their iniquity” (John Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 20.21 [NPNF1 9:480]).

John Chrysostom, Homily 4, on 2 Corinthians “That we may not then fruitlessly afflict ourselves, let us address a few words to women of this character, for to women this disorder especially belongs. Praiseworthy indeed is even that which now ye do, your fasting and lying on the ground and ashes; but except the rest be added, these are of no avail. God hath showed how he remitteth sins. When forsaking that path do ye carve another for yourselves? In old times, the Ninevites sineed, and they did these things which you are now doing…..God saw that they turned everyone from his evil way, and he repented of the evil he would do unto them. He said not, He saw their fasting with sackcloth and ashes. And I say this not to overturn fasting, but to exhort you that with fasting, ye do that which is better than fasting, abstaining from evil.” John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Corinthians 2.5 [NPNF1 12:280]).

John Chrysostom, On the Statues, Homily 3:8 “The Ninevites fasted and won the favor of God. The Jews fasted too, and profited nothing, nay they departed with blame. Since then the danger in fasting is so great to those who do not know how they ought to fast, we should learn the laws of this exercise, in order that we may not run uncertainly nor beat the air, nor while we are fighting contend with a shadow.” (John Chrysostom, Homily on the Statues 3.8 [NPNF1 9:357]).

John Chrysostom, A Treatise to Prove that No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Injure Himself, 14 “So at least the Jews were not profited by those great miracles, nor on the other hand were the Ninevites harmed by having no share in them. But inasmuch as they were inwardly well disposed, having laid hold of a slight opportunity they became better, barbarians and foreigners though they were, ignorant of all divine revelation, and dwelling at a distance from Palestine” (John Chrysostom, A treatise to prove that no one can harm the man who does not injure himself 14 [NPNF1 9:281]).

Ephrem, The Repentance of Nineveh 5:77 -87 “Jonah saw this and wonder seized him. He blushed for the children of his own people. He saw the Ninevites were victorious. And he wept for the seed of Abraham. He saw the seed of Canaan in sound mind, while the seed of Jacob was infatuated; He saw the uncircumcised cut to the heart, while the circumcised had hardened it. The former gloried in the Sabbath, while they of the circumcision despised it, and placed it between life and death” (Trans. Burgess, 58).

Pseudo Philo, Homily on Jonah 38 (trans. Siegert, 35-36). when the people fasted, they turned their minds towards godly intentions. The men in power gave it up, masters set their slaves free, lamps were dimmed, whining and crying replaced joyful music.






3:9”Who knows if God will change His mind and turn from the anger of His rage, so that we shall never perish.”

Theodoret, Commmentary on Jonah 3:9 “Who knows whether God might turn around and relent, and turn away from the wrath of his anger and we will not be destroyed.” For this is the definition of true repentance, for it says, “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps 33:14)125, and again, “Cease from your evil ways; learn to do good” (Is 1:16-17).126 Therefore, the Ninevites, after they ceased from their previous sin and accepted the change of character for the better, benefited from divine favor.

Theodore, Commentary on Jonah 3:9 “The text says, in fact, ‘Who knows if God will repent, yield to supplication, and turn from his anger, and we shall not perish?’ This could not have been said by them unless they had been instructed by the statements of the prophet. The prophet says this actually happened: when God saw them forsaking worse things and turning to better, he even cancelled the sentence he had delivered against them” (Sprenger 187.5-12; trans. Hill, 202-203).

St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica “God is said ‘to change His mind,’ metaphorically, inasmuch as He bears Himself after the manner of one who repents, by ‘changing His sentence, although He does not change His plan.”

Tertullian Against Marcion Book II Chapter XXIV “God will never repent of an act of justice. Although man repents frequently on the recollection of sin, and occasionally even from the unpleasantness of some good action, this is never the case with God. For inasmuch as God neither commits sin nor condemns a good action, in so far is there no room in Him for repentance of either a good or an evil deed. Divine repentance takes in all cases a different form from that of man, in that it is never regarded as the result of improvidence or of fickleness, or of any condemnation of a good or an evil work. For it will have no other meaning than a simple change of a prior purpose; and this is admissible without any blame even in a man, much more in God, whose every purpose is faultless. Now in Greek the word for repentance (METANOIA) is formed, not from the confession of sin, but from a change of mind, which in God we have shown to be regulated by the occurrence of varying circumstances.”

St. Clement of Rome 1 Corinthians VII “They, repenting of their sins, satisfied God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens to the covenant of God”

St. John Chrysostom Letter to the Fallen Theodore Letter 1.15 “Now if barbarians, and unreasoning men could perceive so much, much more ought we to do this who have been trained in the divine doctrines and have seen such a crowd of examples of this kind both in history and actual experiences.”






3:10And God saw their works, and that they turned from their evil ways: and God changed His mind over the wickedness in which He spoke of doing to them, and He did not do it.

Theodoret, Commentary on Jonah 3:10 “God saw their deeds, that they turned away from their evil ways, and God changed his mind about the evil which he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” 127 He did not pay attention to their fasting, but to their abstinence from evil. Therefore, God grants repentance by repentance, not changing his mind similar to us (for God does not will this now but that later). {S 1473} But, he called the change from the threat “repentance.” On account of this, he made the threat. If he wishes to chastise, he would not have offered a threat, but he would have inflicted that punishment himself. Since he rejoices in salvation alone, he threatens painful things in order that he might not inflict pain. And he called that threat “evil,” not since it is evil by nature, for how could the thing bringing the end of evil and the acquisition of virtue and good order be evil?_ But the divine scriptures, employing expressions which are used customarily by us, called the threat of punishment “evil,” on the grounds that it is able to result in evil and create trouble. The prophet, when he observed this benevolence of God, is saddened and troubled, since the prophecy is refuted and appears false. Then praying to God and explaining the reason for his flight…

Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 3:10 'God saw their works since they turned from their wicked ways. And God repented for their wickedness that he had said he would do to them and he did not do it.' According to the two meanings of this passage God is threatening the town of Assyria and threatens the people of the world every day so that they repent: if they convert then he will change his judgement, and it will be changed by the conversion of the people. Jeremiah and Ezekiel explain this more clearly: the Lord has not fulfilled the good that he has promised to do if the good turn to sinners; nor the wickedness that he threatened the wicked if they return to safety. Thus now God sees their works, since they turn from their wicked way. But he did not hear those vain promises that Israel was in the custom of making: "all that God has said, we shall do"[166], but he sees the works. And because he prefers a sinner's repentance rather than his death[167] he willingly changes his sentence because he has seen a change in the works. Or rather God has continued in his proposition, since he wanted to pity right from the beginning. No one in fact who desires to punish, threatens what he will actually do. The word 'wickedness' as we have noted above, can be taken to mean supplication or torture, not that God could think to do nothing on account of the wickedness.

St. John Chrysostom Concerning Statues Homily V. 16 “For the fear was the cause of its safety. The threatening effected the deliverance from the peril. The sentence of destruction put a stop to the destruction. O strange and astonishing event! The threatening of death brought forth life.”

St. Augustine City of God Book XXI Chapter XXIV “Though the Prophet was provoked that the destruction which the inhabitants dreaded, because of his prediction, it did not take place, yet that which God’s foreknowledge had predicted did take place, for He who foretold the destruction knew how it should be fulfilled in a less calamitous sense.”

St. Augustine On the Psalms Psalm LI. 11 “I think that it was fulfilled that Nineveh was destroyed. Destroyed in evil, built up in good. Just as Saul of Tarsus the persecutor was destroyed, Paul the Apostle was built (Acts 9:4).”

St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica “A punishment threatened prophetically is only then commuted when there is a change in the merits of the person threatened. So: ‘I will suddenly speak against a nation and against a kingdom, to root out and to pull down and to destroy it. If that nation…. shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought to do to them’ (Jeremiah 18:7). Nevertheless the prophecy of destruction is always fulfilled in a certain sense, because as Augustine says (De Civ. Dea. Xxi, 24): ‘Nineveh has been destroyed, that was evil, and a good Nineveh is built up, that was not: for while the walls and the houses remained standing, the city was destroyed in its wicked ways.’”

St. John Chrysostom Concerning Statues XX.21 “After this, are we not ashamed, must we not blush, if it turns out that in three days only the barbarians laid aside all their wickedness, but that we, who have been urged and taught, have not got the better of our bad habits? Nevertheless, with three days they were capable of being transformed to a state of complete virtue. For where the fear of God is, there is no need of days, or of an interval of time; as likewise, on the contrary, days are of no service where there is this kind of holy fear.”

St. John Chrysostom None Can Harm Him Who Does Not Injure Himself XIV “ You see that he who is temperate and watchful not only suffers no injury at the hands of man, but even turns back Heaven-sent wrath!”

John Cassian 2nd Conference of John Abbot Joseph Chapter XXV “God foreknew that Nineveh would repent. Though each man’s end is known beforehand to Him before his birth, yet somehow He so orders all things by a plan and method for all, and with regard to man’s disposition, that He decides on everything not by mere exercise of His power, nor according to the ineffable knowledge which His Prescience possesses, but according to the present actions of men, and rejects or draws to Himself each one, and daily either grants or withholds His grace.”

John Cassian The Conference of Theodore Chapter VI ‘and God changed His mind over the wickedness in which He spoke of doing to them’ “Not that these are properly wicked or evil in their nature, but because they are imagined to be wicked or evil by those on whom they are brought upon. For when divine judgment is reasoning with men it must speak with the language and feelings of men.”

St. John Chrysostom Concerning Statues Homily V. 15 “Nineveh arose and it has become still more distinguished; and long as is the time which has elapsed, it has not effaced its glory, but we still celebrate and admire it even to this day.”

Salvian the Presbyter Letter 4 “At one time, God had been offended by the sins of the Ninevites. He was appeased by the crying and the wailing of children. For, though we read that the whole people wept, yet the lot and the innocence of the little ones merited the greatest mercy.”

John Chrysostom, Homily 15 on 1 Timothy “ Nineveh would not have stood but for the threat, Nineveh shall be overthrown. And if hell had not been threatened, we should all have fallen into hell. If the fire had not been denounced, no one would have escaped the fire. God declared that he will do that which he desires not to do, that he may do that which he desires to do. He willeth not the death of the sinner, and therefore he threatens the sinner with death that he might not have to inflict death” (Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Timothy 1 5 (NPNF1 13:462). For similar interpretations, see also On the Statues, Homily 5:15. Cf. Homily on the Paralytic Let Down Through the Roof, Homily 2 on 2 Corinthians, and Homily on Genesis #24:18.

Chapter 3: Sources of Catholic Dogma 898: "And though without the sacrament of penance it cannot lead per se lead the sinner to justification, nevertheless it does dispose him to obtain the grace of God in the sacrament of penance. For the Ninivites, struck in a salutary way by this fear in consequence of the preaching of Jonas which was full of terror, did penance and obtained mercy from the Lord."