יונה, פרק ג׳, פסוק ג׳

After his initial resistance, Jonah finally answers the divine call and begins a long journey to a massive city. Because he was washed ashore on the Mediterranean coast, traveling to this distant location naturally took him several months [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Upon arriving, Jonah decides to carry out only the second command he received from God, which is to announce the city's impending destruction. He bypasses the original instruction to rebuke the people, believing that since a harsh decree has already been issued, any attempt at repentance would be useless [מלבי״ם]. Remarkably, the people quickly accept his message. This sudden success is rooted in events that happened before Jonah even arrived. The sailors from the ship he had fled on reached the city ahead of him and shared the story of what had happened at sea, naturally paving the way for the residents to believe the prophet [אבן עזרא].

The destination itself is described as being great to God. The primary approach among commentators is that this phrase is simply a common expression used to convey an enormous, unprecedented size, much like other ancient descriptions of massive mountains or tall trees. However, another perspective suggests that the city truly was important and precious to God. Because He valued it so highly, He ultimately spared the city and held back from destroying it [מלבי״ם].

The immense scale of the city is measured as a three-day walk [מצודת דוד]. Since buildings in that era were not built tall, the population was spread outward across a vast stretch of land [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. There are different ways to understand this measurement. It may refer to the time required to walk the entire outer perimeter of the city, whereas walking straight through from one end to the other would take only a single day. Alternatively, it could mean that Jonah walked into the city for the duration of just one day to deliver his prophecy [אבן עזרא].