Jonah 3:6 (KJV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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 So the people 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 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.

Jonah 3:7 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:

Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "word", "came", "king", "nineveh", "arose", "throne", "laid", and "robe". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "word" and "came", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "So the people of Nineveh believed God..." into verse 7's "And he caused it to be proclaimed...", so "word" and "came" 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 "word" and "came" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.