How could Nineveh be this big?

Jonah records a “three days’ walk” through the city of Nineveh, but this would make the city larger than even modern cities—let alone ancient ones.

Donald J. Wiseman[1] has done considerable research on this issue, and most commentators still cite his work. Based on his journal article, commentators give several explanations for this difficulty:

OPTION #1. It might’ve taken three days because the city of Nineveh could include the surrounding regions. This would include Assur, Calah/Nimrud, and Dur-Sharruken/Khorsabad. Page writes, “This interpretation is supported by Gen 10:11-12, where ‘that is the great city’ seems to refer to the whole district covered by Nineveh, Rehoboth, Ir, Calah, and Resen.”^[2]

OPTION #2. It might’ve taken three days because ancient hospitality included many stops. Ancient people weren’t in a rush like modern, Western culture. Wiseman calls this “the ancient oriental practice of hospitality whereby the first day is for arrival, the second for the primary purpose of the visit and the third for return.”[3]

OPTION #3. It might’ve taken three days because Jonah preached to different sections of the city. A three-day journey would imply that Jonah preached in various parts of the city to “be sure that God’s message had been really heard by the bulk of the populace.”^[4] Jonah did not walk a straight line through the city. He walked through the city and preached at the same time. How could anyone hear his message, if he was walking straight through without stopping? In other words, it was a three-day walk, if one includes stopping to preach.

[1] Donald J. Wiseman, “Jonah’s Nineveh,” Tyndale Bulletin 30 (1979): 38.

^[2] Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 257.

[3] Donald J. Wiseman, “Jonah’s Nineveh,” Tyndale Bulletin 30 (1979): 38.

^[4] Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, vol. 31, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1987), 488.