Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 3

How Nineveh developed into a great but wicked city

Jonah 3:3

After the great flood, Noah’s grandson Nimrod found good agricultural land by the river Tigris. There he established several cities (Genesis 10:11-12). Nineveh was the most powerful of these cities. When its king gained power over the other cities, he made them part of Nineveh. So Nineveh became a great and vast city. In time, it became the capital of an even greater country, which was called Assyria.

So, Nineveh’s buildings spread out across a vast area. Jonah refers to a distance that took three days to walk. This seems to be the distance to walk right round the edge of Nineveh: perhaps 60 miles (100 kilometres). This area included the fields and gardens that provided food for Nineveh’s inhabitants, as well as its buildings.

That was very different from how cities developed in Israel. Even the most important cities in Israel were small. The houses were close together, and a strong wall for the city’s defence surrounded the entire city (Psalm 122:3). It was not possible to grow much food in such small cities: the fields were outside the city walls.

Later kings of Nineveh would also build great walls to defend their city against enemy armies. However, it seems that Nineveh formerly had no walls to defend it. That meant that rich people had to build strong walls round their own properties to protect themselves from robbers. Poor people could not afford to do that, so they were in an even weaker situation. That fact made it even easier for cruel people to become rich and powerful. It may explain how Nineveh became such a wicked place (1:2).

In Israel, the city walls did not prevent wicked behaviour, but they did make the legal system stronger. People had to work together to make their cities safe. By night, the guards watched the city from the walls, to try to catch robbers. The city gate, the only entrance through the walls, was the place where the judges had their court.

Next part: 40 days until God will destroy Nineveh (Jonah 3:4)

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