Jonah 1:2

Amplified Bible

²“Go to ^[a]Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim [judgment] against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”^(A)

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Footnotes

Jonah 1:2 The city of Nineveh was the magnificent capital of the Assyrian Empire. The great palace of Sennacherib was without rival and contained seventy or more rooms. The city was home to more than 120,000 residents (at least twice the size of Babylon) and had no less than fifteen gates in the wall surrounding the city. During this period of time it was probably the largest city in the known world. Built near the juncture of the Tigris River and its tributary the Khoser, it was served by an elaborate water system of eighteen canals. Nineveh had many suburbs, three are mentioned along with Nineveh in Gen 10:11, 12. Nineveh’s extensive ruins are located near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.

Jonah 1:2 in all English translations

Jonah 3:4

Amplified Bible

⁴Then on the first day’s walk, Jonah ^[a]began to go through the city, and he called out and said, “Forty days more [remain] and [then] Nineveh will be overthrown!”

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Footnotes

Jonah 3:4 Even though it probably would not have taken Jonah long merely to walk from one end of the city to another, to reach the entire population of more than 120,000, Jonah undoubtedly had to work his way through countless streets and alleys. The term “day’s walk” here and in v 3 does not occur elsewhere in Scripture, so perhaps it refers to the time required to visit every part of the city rather than to walk the circumference (see note v 3).

Jonah 3:4 in all English translations