Jonah 3:4 (YLT)

Passage

And Jonah beginneth to go in to the city a journey of one day, and proclaimeth, and saith, `Yet forty days--and Nineveh is overturned.'

Nearby Context

Jonah 3:2 `Rise, go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim unto it the proclamation that I am speaking unto thee;'

Jonah 3:3 and Jonah riseth, and he goeth unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a great city before God, a journey of three days.

Jonah 3:4 And Jonah beginneth to go in to the city a journey of one day, and proclaimeth, and saith, `Yet forty days--and Nineveh is overturned.'

Jonah 3:5 And the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even unto their least,

Jonah 3:6 seeing the word doth come unto the king of Nineveh, and he riseth from his throne, and removeth his honourable robe from off him, and spreadeth out sackcloth, and sitteth on the ashes,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jonah", "beginneth", "city", "journey", "proclaimeth", "saith", "forty", and "days--and". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jonah" and "beginneth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "and Jonah riseth and he goeth unto..." into verse 5's "And the men of Nineveh believe in...", so "jonah" and "beginneth" 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 "beginneth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.