Jonah 3:7

Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The king of Nineveh, having personally repented by discarding his robe and sitting in ashes, issues a city-wide decree to his nobles and all inhabitants. This proclamation follows immediately upon Jonah’s warning and the monarch’s own humiliation.

The words — The verb זָעַק (zāʿaq) renders “he had a proclamation made,” while the prepositional phrase מִטַּעַם (miṭṭaʿam) specifies “from the decree of” the king and his great ones. These terms establish the command as an urgent, top-down royal mandate.

The thread — This royal fast mirrors Jehoshaphat’s nationwide proclamation in Judah (2 Chronicles 20:3) and the call to consecrate a fast in Zion (Joel 2:15). It also aligns with the livestock distress noted in Joel 1:18, extending mourning to all creation.

Why it lands — The text commands total abstinence from food and drink for both people and animals as a public marker of crisis. It requires readers to acknowledge that political power can enforce collective repentance when confronted with 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

וַיַּזְעֵ֗קva/i.yaz.'Ekand/ he had a proclamation made וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙va/i.Yo.merand/ he said בְּנִֽינְוֵ֔הbe./ni.ne.Vehin/ Nineveh מִטַּ֧עַםmi./Ta.'amfrom/ [the] decree of הַמֶּ֛לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king וּגְדֹלָ֖יוu./ge.do.La/vand/ great [people]/ his לֵאמֹ֑רle./Mor<to>/ saying הָאָדָ֨םha./'a.Damthe/ people וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜הve./ha./be.he.Mahand/ the/ livestock הַבָּקָ֣רha./ba.Karthe/ cattle וְהַצֹּ֗אןve./ha./Tzonand/ the/ flock[s]אַֽל־'al-may not יִטְעֲמוּ֙yit.'a.Muthey taste מְא֔וּמָהme.'U.mahanything אַ֨ל־'Al-may not יִרְע֔וּyir.'Uthey graze וּמַ֖יִםu./Ma.yimand/ water אַל־'al-may not יִשְׁתּֽוּ׃yish.Tuthey drink

King James Version

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 20:3 Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
Joel 1:18 How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
Joel 2:15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
Jonah 3:5 And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
Ezra 8:21 And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

Places named

Nineveh