Bible Strands
Jonah 3:6
When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative shifts to the king of Nineveh immediately after the city's inhabitants respond to Jonah's warning with belief and fasting.
The words — The text opens with וַ/יִּגַּ֤ע (va/i.yi.Ga'), literally "and it reached," describing how the report arrived. The king's response begins with וַ/יָּ֙קָם֙ (va/i.Ya.kom), "and he arose," marking an immediate physical reaction.
The thread — Royal humiliation and sackcloth appear in Esther 4:1 when Mordecai reacts to threat, and Job 2:8 when Job sits in ashes during suffering. James 4:6 later frames this posture as the condition for receiving divine grace rather than pride.
Why it lands — The text records the king physically removing his status symbols to adopt a posture of mourning and submission. A reader must acknowledge that external authority is being voluntarily stripped away in direct response to a divine warning.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- James 4:6 But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Job 2:8 And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.
- Daniel 9:3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- Ezekiel 27:30 They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
- Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
- Luke 10:13 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
- James 1:9 The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.
- Jeremiah 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”