Jonah 3:2
“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →God again commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim the message He gives him.
What Does Jonah 3:2 Mean?
The second commission echoes the first: arise, go to Nineveh, that great city. But the wording shifts slightly. Where before Jonah was to cry against the city, now he is to preach the preaching that God bids him, to proclaim the message God will give. The emphasis falls on faithful delivery of God's own word, neither more nor less. Jonah is to be a herald, speaking what he is told.
There is great freedom and great responsibility in this charge. The prophet is not asked to craft a clever message or to guarantee results; he is asked only to speak what God gives him. So it is with all who carry God's word: our task is faithfulness to the message, and the outcome rests with the Lord. Nineveh is still called great, still the formidable enemy, but God's word is greater. The same command that once met refusal now meets a chastened prophet, and the city's hour of mercy is at hand.
In the Original Language
qara' (קָרָא), 'preach' -- to call out or proclaim aloud; the prophet's work is to announce God's message plainly, as a herald cries a king's word.