THE KING’S REPENTANCE AND DECREE IN 3:6-9
The vav-consecutive serves as a link between verses 5 and 6 with the wayyiyqtol serving as a marker to “introduce events that occurred in temporal sequence.” The first point of time is when the king receives the word. The qal prefix of נגע means ‘touched’ although “the use of the root followed by the preposition אֶל often results in a meaning similar ‘to come’ or ‘to reach’.” According to Wiseman, the king may have personally received it from Jonah. It is significant to note here that the title ‘king of Nineveh’ appears only in verse 6 and in no other Old Testament scriptures. There is a probability also that ‘king of Nineveh’ would have been the king of Assyria, since Nineveh was a major city of the empire. Constable
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The second point of time that is simultaneous with the first is the king arising from his throne and laying aside his robe, covering himself with sackcloth and sitting on the ashes. This chiasm of four movements, the king arises (6b) to sit (6e) and puts off his royal attire (6c) to clothe in more humble attire (6d) reveals to us the seriousness in which the king received the message. The narrator uses the contrast between these two sets of verbs in this movement, first is קום (arise) and ישׁב (sat), secondly, עבר (to pass over) which in the hiphil is “a powerful word for ‘put away’ and is used especially for things that are offensive to Yahweh” and כסה (cover) to reveal how the king humbles himself. Just like the Ninevites, the king of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and sits on ashes again as a sign of penance. The king’s actions express his belief in the word that was given, his repentance before God as well as his desire to receive forgiveness from