Jonah 3:5 (GNV)

Passage

So the people of Nineueh beleeued God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from ye greatest of the euen to the least of them.

Nearby Context

Jonah 3:3 So Ionah arose and went to Nineueh according to ye word of the Lord: now Nineueh was a great and excellent citie of three dayes iourney.

Jonah 3:4 And Ionah began to enter into the citie a dayes iourney, and he cryed, and said, Yet fourtie dayes, and Nineueh shalbe ouerthrowen.

Jonah 3:5 So the people of Nineueh beleeued God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from ye greatest of the euen to the least of them.

Jonah 3:6 For worde came vnto the King of Nineueh, and he rose from his throne, and he layed his robe from him, and couered him with sackecloth, and sate in ashes.

Jonah 3:7 And he proclaimed and said through Nineueh, (by the counsell of ye king and his nobles) saying, Let neither man, nor beast, bullock nor sheep taste any thing, neither feed nor drinke water.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "nineueh", "beleeued", "proclaimed", "fast", "sackcloth", "greatest", and "euen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "nineueh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And Ionah began to enter into the..." into verse 6's "For worde came vnto the King of...", so "people" and "nineueh" 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 "people" and "nineueh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.