So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey across.
The meaning of "a three-days’ walk" remains somewhat obscure. The Hebrew phrase is literally "a distance of three days," which does not solve the problem. It may mean that it took three days to walk through the city from one extremity to the opposite one, but the extent of Nineveh’s ruins argues against this interpretation. It may also mean that it took three days to walk around the circumference of the city, though this seems unlikely (cf. Jonah 3:4). Whether the size refers to the area enclosed by the major eight-mile wall, which seems improbable, or includes the outlying suburbs is also unclear. Apparently at this time "Nineveh" referred to (1) the city and (2) a complex of four cities including the city in question. [Note: See Keil, 1:390; T. D. Alexander, "Jonah and Genre," Tyndale Bulletin 36 (1985):57-58; and Hannah, p. 1468.] Probably the "three-days walk" describes the time it took to visit the city and its outlying suburbs. [Note: Stuart, pp. 487-88.] In any case, the description clearly points to Nineveh’s geographical size as being large and requiring several days for Jonah’s message to reach everyone (cf. Jonah 4:11).