Jonah 3:4 (DBY)

Passage

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!

Nearby Context

Jonah 3:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I shall bid thee.

Jonah 3:3 And Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

Jonah 3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!

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

Jonah 3:6 And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jonah", "began", "enter", "city", "day's", "journey", "cried", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jonah" and "began", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh..." into verse 5's "And the men of Nineveh believed God...", so "jonah" and "began" belong inside that flow. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jonah" and "began" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.