What is the context?
The Lord’s word comes to Jonah a second time. The command is still to go to Nineveh and proclaim the message God gives him. This time, Jonah goes.
The city is described as exceedingly great, requiring a three-day journey. On his first day there, Jonah announces that Nineveh will be overturned in forty days.
The Hebrew verb הָפַךְ, haphak (hah-FAHK), can mean turn or overturn; Brown–Driver–Briggs identifies its use here as the overthrow of a city. The warning is serious, and the forty days place the hearers under an urgent call to respond. Jonah’s rescue has returned him to the commission he previously refused.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry emphasizes Jonah’s renewed obedience. Wesley and Cambridge understand the threatened destruction in light of the opportunity to repent, which the rest of the chapter brings into view.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
A parallel of renewed service appears in John 21:15–19. Peter, who had denied Jesus, is addressed by the risen Lord, entrusted with care for His sheep and called again to follow Him.
The failures and commissions differ, but the connection is mercy that leads to renewed obedience and service. God’s purpose includes work done through servants who have themselves needed restoration. In Peter’s case, that renewed service is entrusted directly by the risen Christ.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.