tokrn of mourning wM not confined to the with saokoloth. As we put tr11ppinga on Hehrewe (~ornp. Ezrk. xxvi. 16). horRos in funerols. The LXX. wrongly Ver. 6.-For word oame; and tk6 matt.er l:Df\kes this verse give im. account of tha oamr; fl'Y'Y'""'" o A6')'ot, "the word came exooution of the ediot instead of being part near" (Septuagint). The tokens of peni• of the edict itself: thu■: "And men and tenoo mentioned in ver. 5 were not ex• beasts wore clothed with saokclotb," eto. hibited in obedienoe to a.ny royal command. Cry mightily; i.e. let man cry mightily: Rntber, 88 tbe impl'8S8ion made by the Sl"ptuagiut, lff<Nf, " with intensity; •• prophet spread among tbe people, and u Vulgf\to, i11 /orUtudine. Let them tll.nl they adopted these modee of showing their every one from hie evil way (Jer. uv. 5; eorrow, the news of tbe movement reaohed nxvi. S, 7). The ediot reoognizea the the king. and he put himself at the head truth that outward aot.a of penitence are of it. Tbc reigning monf\rch was probably worthl888 without moral reformation- either Shalm11neser III. or one of the two truth which the Jews themselves had been who snceeeded him, Asshur-danil and very loth to admit (see Isa. !viii.). .AJl.d Assbur-nirari, whose three reigns ext.ended from the violenoe that is m their hanu. from B.O. 781 to 750, Kill robe (adderetl); The acts of violenoe that their bands have the word need for the "Babylonish gar- committed (Job xvi. 17; Pa. vii. S). Thia ment" in Joeh. vii. 21. The magnifioenoe is the special sin of the .Aaayriana, alway1 of the Assyrian kings' attire is attested by grasping after empire, oppressing other the monuments. Bat in uhea (oomp. Job nations, and guilty of :rapine and avarioe at; ii. 8; Estb. iv. 3). home (see Isa. x. IS, 14; mvii. 24, etc.; Ver. 7.-B'.e oaued it, eto.; literally, he Nah. ii. 11, 12; iii. 1). . eauaed procl,amaMt>n to be made, and ,aid, Ver. 9.-Who oan tell I (2 8am. xii. 22). i.e. by the hera.lds. The decree. The word An expreaaion of hope that the Divinr, used here (taam) is an Aocadi&n term, whioh wrath may be averted by the timely repent- he.d become naturalized in .Aasyria, Persia, ance. It is the same form of words aa m and Babylonia, and was applied to a mandate Joel ii. 14, "Perhaps God would thereby iasued with royal authority. It is found in indicat.e that he bad himself put it into their Dan. iii. 10, 29; iv. 6; Ezra iv. 8, eto. mouth.a" (Puaey; comp. Jer. :r:riii. 11). U Jonah introduoes it here as being the very God; i.e. the one God, whom the king and word employed in deecribiug the proclama- hill people now acknowledge u supreme, tion. .And hill :11.0ble1, The monarcba of like the idol-worshippers at Carmel, when Assyris were absolute: and if the king in they fell on their faces, orying, "Jehovah, the present case associat.ed the magnates he is the God" (1 Kings xvili. 39). with himself, he did it in an humility oo- Ver. 10.-§ 4. God accept, tlii• repent- cas.ioned by alarm, and becanse he saw that ance, and Uu, UmiCltened dutructioil w they were of the aame mind u himself t.ffilrled. God 1aw their worlr& There ii no (comp. Dan. vi. 17). Saying. The decree notice in the i11SC?iptiona of this "repen~ extends from here to the end of ver. 9. auoe," or of any change in the polytheiauo Kan nor beast; i.e. domestic animals, honea, worship of the Ninevitea. But the existing mules, distinct from herd aud fook. These records of this period are ■ingularly meagl'e, greo.t cities contained in their area immense and lhow a. state of oa.lamity and depres- open spaces, like our parks, where cattle sion, of intemal commotions and famiue. were kept. The dumb animals were made Nor is it usual in the monnmenta.l history to to share in their masters' fut and sorrow, find mention of any events bot wars and the 88 they shared their joy and feasting; their execution of material works : moral reform► bleo.ting and bellowing were so many appeals tiona are not recorded. God npeDted of the to Heaven for mercy; the punishment of nil (Exod. xnii 14). This is an anthropo- t.hese innocent creatures was a kind of pa.thical mode of speaking; God aot.ed aa if, atouement for the guilt of their lords (comp. taking mau's view of the transaction, ha Hos. iv. 8: Joel L 20; o.nd not.e how the repented. The sentence was oonditional, u brute creation is said to share in the happi- Jonah wt>ll knew (eh. iv. 2), in acoordanoe ness of puadise regained, Isa. xi.). The with the great principle laid down in Jer, comment.a.tore quote Virgil,' Eel.,' v. 24, etc., :xviii. 7, etc., viz. that if a nation against where, however, the poio t is that the grief which sentence is pronounced turn from ita of the shepherd.a hinders them from attend- evil way, the sentence shall not be executed. ing to the wants of their flocks. Herodotus God does not change, but he threatens that (ix. 24) mentions an instance of the Peraiana man may ohange (aee note on .Amoa 'fii. 8 : cutting the manllll and tails of their horsea and observe the 11&11111 prinoiple applied to eud mulee in a case of general moumi.Dg individuals, Ezek. xxxiii. 8, 18-16). B'.a (oomp. Eurip., 'Alcest.,' 428, etc.; Plut., did it not. The evil day was paatponed. 'Alex.,' 72). This partial repentance, though 1t W88 not Vi,r. 8.-Let man and beut be eoverea permaneut and made little luting impre,. OH, III, 1-10.] THE BOOK OF JONAH. 61
eion on the national life, ehowecl that there thia. Thoee records never touch extem"I wu.ssomeelementof good in theee Aesyriane, politics except 11.B closely connected with nnd that they wore not yet ripe for destruo- lsru.el's fortunes; e.nd, derived e.s they were tion. It bns been consirlered to be a proof from no.tione.l o.nnale, it wonld he.ve been of the unhistorical chu.ro.oter of the Book of unne.tnral for them to he.ve narrated events Jonah thu.t no mention of o.ny of the inci- happening so far away, e.nd not likely to be dents ie mode in the Books of Kings and introduced in the documents on which their Ohroniolee ; but there is nothing strange in history was founded.