Jonah 3:5 (YLT)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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,

Jonah 3:7 and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock--let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "nineveh", "believe", "proclaim", "fast", "sackcloth", "greatest", "even", and "least". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "nineveh" and "believe", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And Jonah beginneth to go in to..." into verse 6's "seeing the word doth come unto the...", so "nineveh" and "believe" 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 "nineveh" and "believe" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.