하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

6 The word reached3 the king of Nineveh, and phe arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, qand sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, r“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor sbeast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and sbeast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. tLet everyone turn from his evil way and from uthe violence that is in his hands. 9 vWho knows? God may turn and relent wand turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did, xhow they turned from their evil way, xGod relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

3 Or had reached

p [Job 1:20; Ezek. 26:16]

q Job 2:8

r [Dan. 6:26]

s [ch. 4:11; Ps. 36:6; Joel 1:18, 20]

s [See ver. 7 above]

t Jer. 18:11; 36:3

u Isa. 59:6

v 2 Sam. 12:22; Joel 2:14

w Ps. 85:3

x [Jer. 18:8]

x [Jer. 18:8]

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 욘 3:6–10.

6 그 일이 니느웨 왕에게 들리매 왕이 보좌에서 일어나 왕복을 벗고 굵은 베 옷을 입고 재 위에 앉으니라

7 왕과 그의 대신들이 조서를 내려 니느웨에 선포하여 이르되 사람이나 짐승이나 소 떼나 양 떼나 아무것도 입에 대지 말지니 곧 먹지도 말 것이요 물도 마시지 말 것이며

8 사람이든지 짐승이든지 다 굵은 베 옷을 입을 것이요 힘써 하나님께 부르짖을 것이며 각기 악한 길과 손으로 행한 강포에서 떠날 것이라

9 하나님이 뜻을 돌이키시고 그 진노를 그치사 우리가 멸망하지 않게 하시리라 그렇지 않을 줄을 누가 알겠느냐 한지라

10 하나님이 그들이 행한 것 곧 그 악한 길에서 돌이켜 떠난 것을 보시고 하나님이 뜻을 돌이키사 그들에게 내리리라고 말씀하신 재앙을 내리지 아니하시니라

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 욘 3:6–10.

니느웨는 사흘 길을 걸을 만큼의 큰 성읍인데 요나는 하루 동안 선포했고 이에 즉각적으로 니느웨 사람들이 반응했다. 요나가 물고기 뱃속에서 3일 동안 있었던 사실도 믿기 어려운 기적이지만 더욱 놀라운 기적은 바로 하나님의 심판의 메시지를 듣자마자 하루만에 회개하고 나아온 것이다. 

6절) 니느웨 왕이 요나가 니느웨에 대해서 선포한 메시지를 들었다. 그러자 왕이 보좌에서 일어나 왕복을 벗고 굵은 베옷을 입고 재 위에 앉았다. 

본문의 니느웨 왕은 앗수르 왕이라기 보다는 니느웨를 다스린 지방  총독이었을 것이다. 

-  The remainder of v. 6 describes the exciting response by this ruler. He rose50 from his throne, the seat of his royal power, and humbled himself with the common people. He laid aside his robe, which was a large and beautifully embroidered mantle. The word that is used here for robe is the same as that given to the garment found by Achan among the spoils of Jericho (Josh 7:21). In its place the king put on sackcloth as a sign of mourning, and he sat in ashes, a sign of deep humiliation. The radical nature of his repentance is stressed by the literary structure of the clauses:

he rose from his throne,

took off his royal robes,

covered himself with sackcloth

and sat down in the dust.

He who was the highest in the empire took the lowest position of abasement.51 It must also be noted that Ezek 26:16 depicts the mourning of the Tyrians over the ruin of their capital in just the same manner as the king of Nineveh is described here; however, instead of sackcloth they clothed themselves with “terror.”

50 Trible notes (Rhetorical Criticism, 183) that this verb is used previously with Jonah as the subject in 1:3 and 3:3 to describe his response to the Lord’s “word” (דָּבָר).

51 Kirk, Life and Mission, 174–75.

 Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 265.

7-9절) 왕은 왕과 그의 대신들의 이름으로 조서를 내려 니느웨에 선포하였다. 아무 사람이나 짐승이나 소떼나 양떼나 아무 것도 입에 대지 말고 먹지도 말고 물을 마시지도 말고 사람이든지 짐승이든지 굵은 베옷을 입고 하나님께 힘을 다해 부르짖으라. 모두 악한 길에서 돌이키고 자신의 손으로 행한 폭력으로부터 돌아서라. 하나님께서 그의 맹렬한 분노를 돌이키시고 노를 누그러뜨리실지 누가 알겠느냐? 그래서 우리가 멸망하지 않을 것이다. 

7절에서 왕과 그의 대신들이 조서를 내리는데 이미 5절에서 니느웨 백성은 금식하고 굵은 베옷을 입었었다. 이는 3장의 본문이 연대기적으로 기록된 것이 아님을 알 수 있다. 순서 자체가 중요한 것은 아니지만 왕이 먼저 조서를 내리고 그 다음에 백성들이 그 조서를 실행한 것으로 보는 것이 타당하다. 그렇다면 5절에서 먼저 백성들의 반응을 기록한 것은 그만큼 신속하게 백성들이 요나의 메시지에 반응했음을 보여주고 있는 것이다. 

안타까운 사실은 지금 니느웨 왕과 니느웨 백성들은 요나의 심판의 메시지에 대하여 즉각적으로 반응하여 금식하며 굵은 베옷을 입고 화개했는데 반하여 이스라엘 백성은 그렇지 않았다.(왕하 17:13-18) 

열왕기하 17:13–18 (NKRV)

13여호와께서 각 선지자와 각 선견자를 통하여 이스라엘과 유다에게 지정하여 이르시기를 너희는 돌이켜 너희 악한 길에서 떠나 나의 명령과 율례를 지키되 내가 너희 조상들에게 명령하고 또 내 종 선지자들을 통하여 너희에게 전한 모든 율법대로 행하라 하셨으나

14그들이 듣지 아니하고 그들의 목을 곧게 하기를 그들의 하나님 여호와를 믿지 아니하던 그들 조상들의 목 같이 하여

15여호와의 율례와 여호와께서 그들의 조상들과 더불어 세우신 언약과 경계하신 말씀을 버리고 허무한 것을 뒤따라 허망하며 또 여호와께서 명령하사 따르지 말라 하신 사방 이방 사람을 따라

16그들의 하나님 여호와의 모든 명령을 버리고 자기들을 위하여 두 송아지 형상을 부어 만들고 또 아세라 목상을 만들고 하늘의 일월 성신을 경배하며 또 바알을 섬기고

17또 자기 자녀를 불 가운데로 지나가게 하며 복술과 사술을 행하고 스스로 팔려 여호와 보시기에 악을 행하여 그를 격노하게 하였으므로

18여호와께서 이스라엘에게 심히 노하사 그들을 그의 앞에서 제거하시니 오직 유다 지파 외에는 남은 자가 없으니라

본문에서 왕이 백성들에게 내일 칙령의 내용은 4가지로 요약된다. 1) 금식, 2) 굵은 베옷을 입을 것, 3) 하나님께 부르짖을 것, 4) 각기 악한 길과 손으로 행한 강포에서 떠날 것이다. 

- 7,  The decree called for four behavioral responses to Jonah’s message: fasting (v. 7), wearing sackcloth, pleading with God, and turning from evil and violence (v. 8). The decree regarding fasting consists of two parts: a general order not to “taste anything,” which is then emphasized by a command neither to “eat” (better “graze”) nor to drink. The unusual aspect of the decree was the inclusion of animals in the fasting and also the wearing of sackcloth. There is some evidence of the involvement of animals in rites of mourning and humiliation among the Persians, although none has been found among the Assyrians.53 This is flimsy evidence, however, from which to argue for the Persian period as the time of writing,54 especially since even the Persian evidence is limited. D. J. Wiseman does cite an Assyrian decree from the early eighth century b.c. that calls for a general state of mourning and prayer by “you and all the people, your land, your meadows.”55

The inclusion even of animals in this royally mandated fast is the act of a desperate monarch and a desperate people. Fasting and uncomfortable dress represented self-denial. By eschewing normal comforts and making themselves physically miserable, they sought to show the genuineness of their prayers for mercy.56 This action was an attempt to impress forcibly upon the Lord the sincerity of Nineveh’s repentance. It was an attempt to move the heart of God and lead him to relent. In other words, they were using every option available, including superstition. Perhaps they also felt that combining their cries of contrition with the pleading of the animals for water and food would rise as one mighty prayer for mercy to this God who threatened their destruction.

53 Many point to the report of Herodotus that the Persian army cut the manes from their war horses as a part of the lamentation ceremony when an esteemed general was lost in battle (Herodotus, The Histories, 9.24). To a degree the cases are parallel, for in both instances animals were included in the symbolic expression of distress and sorrow. A nearer parallel to Jonah in ancient literature occurs in the apocryphal book of Judith (4:10–14), where animals were dressed in sackcloth as part of a day of repentance.

54 Allen uses it to suggest a date of composition in the Persian period, “between the mid-sixth century b.c. and the mid-fourth” (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, 186).

55 D. J. Wiseman, “Jonah’s Nineveh,” TynBul 30 (1979): 51.

56 Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 493.

 Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 266.

-  3:8 This verse contains the second, third, and fourth responses called for in the decree. The second response, the wearing of sackcloth, continued the external nature of the first and also its application to animals as well as humans. The inclusion of animals shows again the earnest, almost desperate, plea of the Ninevites. Outwardly, it sounds even more unusual to require animals to wear sackcloth than it did to require them to fast (v. 7). As seen earlier, this odd behavior was not uncommon in ancient cultures.

The next two responses had an internal and spiritual nature. The third commanded “everyone” (a word only implied in the Hebrew text) to call on God “urgently.” This adverb translates a Hebrew word meaning literally “with strength,” which perhaps “serves as a device by which to gauge the depth of a worshiper’s conviction”57 and prepares us for the radical nature of the last required response. No subject is specified in this third part of the decree. The Hebrew text simply says, “Let them call to God with strength.” Some writers persist in extending the subject from the first two parts of the decree, where animals were included in the outward trappings of mourning and repentance. Although Job 38:41 refers to the raven’s young who “cry out to God” for food, it is not likely that the Assyrians expected their animals to voice their repentance to God.58

The last command, “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence,” indicates yet another point of advanced understanding by the ruler. He decreed that the people’s lives should match their prayers. The language of this verse is a typically Hebrew way of joining the general and the specific, the individual and the corporate. Anything and everything condemned by law and conscience is included under “evil ways,”59 but the pronoun is singular. It is literally, “Let them each turn from his evil way,” indicating individual responsibility. A generic term is used here and appropriately so, for the sins of the Ninevites would be as diverse as any people of any age. It is interesting to note that the word for “evil” is rāʿâ, occurring nine times in the book in its two senses of “evil” and “trouble, calamity” (see comments on 1:2). The Ninevites were to turn from evil to avoid trouble (cf. v. 10).

The phrase “their violence” is literally “from the violence which is in their hands.” It indicates a more specific confession and at the same time a corporate responsibility.60 Archaeology is unanimous in substantiating the cruelty of the Ninevites. One writer said, “The Assyrian records are nothing but a dry register of military campaigns, spoliations, and cruelties.”61 The term “violence,” the arbitrary infringement of human rights, is a term often used by the prophets (cf. Isa 59:6; Ezek 7:23; Hos 12:1; Amos 3:10). It seems to suggest moral misbehavior and aggressive violence toward other nations. Assyria, and therefore Nineveh, was especially guilty of such violence. The wickedness identified by God in 1:2 now becomes a point of self-awareness on the part of the Ninevites. They were urged by the king to change their ways.

57 Sasson, Jonah, 258. See also Trible, Rhetorical Criticism, 186.

58 Cf. Price and Nida, Translator’s Handbook, 61. Perhaps there is intentional ambiguity here to call attention to the fact that most of the praying in the Book of Jonah seems to have been done by nonbelievers.

59 Ellison, “Jonah,” 383.

60 Trible, Rhetorical Criticism, 186.

61 Kirk, Life and Mission, 184.

 Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 266–267.

9절에서 하나님이 뜻을 돌이키실 것을 기대하며 이를 누가 알겠느냐라고 질문한다. 이는 앞서 선장이 한 말과 같다.(1:6) 

9절의 돌이키다라는 표현은 ‘니함’으로 문맥과 문법적인 형태에 따라 다양한 의미를 지닌다. 이는 후회하다, 누그러뜨리다, 위로하다라는 의미로 사용된다. 주어가 사람일때는 주로 후회하다. 마음을 바꾸다라는 믜미로 사용되었다.)욥 42:6; 렘 31:19) 그러나 하나님이 주어로 사용되어서 사람들의 회개나 간주 혹은 다른 상황에 대한 반응으로 사용될 때 뜻을 돌이키다라는 의미로 쓰였다.(암 7:3) 본문 속에서 하나님께서는 니느웨의 돌이킴으로 인해서 그분이 니느웨의 죄악으로 인해 40일안에 무너뜨리실 것이라는 뜻을 돌이키신 것이다. 

-  The word translated “relent” (niḥam) varies in meaning in different grammatical forms and in different contexts, but it always connotes in some sense the feeling of emotional pain.63 Elsewhere it can mean to “comfort” or “regret.” As Sasson explains, here and in its two other uses in Jonah (3:10; 4:2) it refers to “divine actions that are contemplated but are never fulfilled.”64 The meaning “repent” or “change one’s mind” is an appropriate translation when the subject is humans (cf. Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). But when it refers to God’s decision to change an announced course of action in response to human repentance, prayer, or some other circumstances, the translation “relent” is preferable (see Amos 7:3 and comments in this volume). In this chapter God decided that in light of Nineveh’s turning, he would save them rather than follow through on his previous announcement to destroy them.

63 Ellul, Judgment of Jonah, 98–99.

64 Sasson, Jonah, 262.

 Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 268.

10절) 하나님께서 그들이 행한 것, 어떻게 그들이 그들의 죄악된 길에서 돌이켰는지를 보시고 하나님께서 그들에게 내릴 것이라고 말씀하신 재앙을 돌이키셨고 재앙을 내리지 않으셨다. 

본문의 악과 재앙은 같은 단어, 히브리어 ‘라아’를 번역한 말이다.(1:2) 같은 단어가 사용된 것은 인간의 행동과 하나님의 반응 사이의 밀접한 관계를 강조하는 것으로 하나님께서는 니느웨 백성이 자신들의 악을 회개했기 때문에 자신의 뜻, 그들에게 재앙을 내리지 않으심으로 그들에 대한 심판을 돌이키셨다. 

앞서 왕이 선포한 내용중에 금식이나 굵은 베옷, 부르짖음으로 인해서 하나님께서 을 돌이키신 것이 아니라 그들이 행한 것, 곧 악한 길에서 돌이켜 떠난 것을 보시고 뜻하나님께서 뜻을 돌이키셨다. 이처럼 회개는 단순히 입으로 죄를 시인하는 것이 아니라 삶의 방식을 바꾸고 자신이 가던 길에서 완전히 돌이키는 것을 의미한다. 지금 니느웨 사람들은 회개의 정석에 따라서 행동을 하고 있는 것이다. 하나님께서는 이를 보시고 뜻을 돌이키셨다. 

이 돌이키다라는 단어는 ‘니함’으로 슬퍼하다, 위로를 받다, 수그러들다, 마음을 바꾸다라는 의미가 있다. 이 단어에서 ‘느헤미야, 나훔’이 유래했다. 본절에서는 어떤 특정한 활동을 중단하다라는 의미로 사용되었다. 10절의 본문처럼 하나님이 주어가 되어서 이 단어가 사용될 때는 죄인들에게 돌려야할 화를 내리지 않으시는 것을 의미한다.(출 32:12, 14; 렘 26:3, 19, 욜 2:14)

-  3:10 This verse explicitly relates the Ninevites’ repentance and God’s mercy. Its structure derives from the repetition of two Hebrew roots and the use of two synonyms, translated “turned” (šûb) and “had compassion” (nḥm). The structure can be seen more clearly by a literal translation:

Then God saw their deeds (ʿśh)

that they turned (šûb) from their ways of evil (rāʿâ)

and God relented (nḥm) concerning the “evil” (rāʿâ)

which he had spoken to do (ʿśh) to them, and he did not do (ʿśh) it.

The Ninevites’ “turning” from “evil” led to God’s “turning” from “evil.” It is interesting to note that of all the “deeds” of the Ninevites, the fasting, wearing of sackcloth, calling on God, and turning from evil, only the last is mentioned as explicitly leading to God’s relenting. This is perhaps because it was Nineveh’s evil that led to Jonah’s mission in the first place (1:2).

As the king and people of Nineveh had hoped, God relented. No fire and brimstone fell on this Sodom-like city after all.66 God pulled back his hand of judgment, though not forever. As prophesied by Nahum, Nineveh later experienced total destruction. There was a period of many years, however, between Jonah and Nahum. Stuart said it well: “When Nineveh repented, God relented.”67 The very thought of God “changing his mind” causes difficulty for some believers. In perfect consistency with his justice, righteousness, and mercy, he spared Nineveh. There is absolutely no contradiction here. God’s character and his promises do not change, as Jas 1:17 says (cf. Num 23:19). But many other verses show that God does change his plan of action according to his purposes. In Exod 32:12 Moses prayed that Israel might not be destroyed despite their sinful behavior in making and worshiping the golden calf. He asked God, “Turn from your fierce anger, relent and do not punish your people” (cf. Amos 7:3, 6; Jer 18:7–11; 26:2–3). Again and again the Old Testament relays the truth that God is responsive to his creation.68

The turning of the Ninevites demonstrated at least a recognition of their condition before the Lord. God’s compassionate heart is always sensitive to those who cry out for mercy. This truth is evidenced powerfully here in v. 10. This passage speaks of the incredible mercy of God’s heart, of his incredible love. Here one finds irrefutable evidence that God wishes not for the destruction of the sinner but for the redemption and reconciliation of all his creation. Even if their repentance was not thorough, God’s hand of judgment was removed at least temporarily to give this frail flower of searching sufficient time to bloom.

66 Allen, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, 226.

67 Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 495.

68 Fretheim, Message of Jonah, 114.

 Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 269–270.

하나님께서는 뜻을 돌이키시는 하나님이시다. 어떤 죄인이라도 악한 길에서 돌이키면 용서하시는 분이시다. 금식과 굵은 베옷을 입는 것과 같은 근신의 행위나 부르짖음도 의미 없는 것은 아니지만 하나님의 마음을 움직여서 뜻을 돌이키게 하는 것은 바로 악한 행위를 멈추고 선을 행하는 것이다. 이러한 변화가 나타날 때 하나님께서는 이미 선포하신 심판 마저도 돌이키시는 분이시다. 

1장에서는 선원들이, 2장에서는 요나가, 3장에서는 니느웨 사람들이 구원을 받게 된다. 요나서는 3장에서 끝났다면 해피엔딩이 되었을 것이다. 하지만 요나서는 4장으로 이어진다. 

하나님께서는 이처럼 죄인들이 심판당하는 것보다 회개하고 돌아오는 것을 기뻐하시는 하나님이시다. 앞서 요나 또한 이를 경험했다. 하나님을 거부하고 도망가다가 물에 던져져서 죽게 되었을 때 하나님께서 그의 간구를 들으시고 그를 구원하셨다. 동일한 구원의 은혜가 니느웨의 백성들에게 또한 그리스도를 믿는 모든 자들에게 임해진 것이다. 요나를 통한 니느웨 백성들에 대한 구원의 이야기는 바로 예수 그리스도를 통한 모든 믿는 자들의 구원을 예표한다.