What is Nineveh in the Bible?
Great Assyrian city whose people repented at Jonah's preaching and whose later destruction Nahum and Zephaniah foretold.
Nineveh is a great city of Assyria. Genesis says that Asshur went forth and built Nineveh, along with Rehoboth, Calah and Resen (Genesis 10:11).
Nineveh in the Bible
After his campaign against Judah, Sennacherib king of Assyria returns and dwells at Nineveh (2 Kings 19:36). God sends the prophet Jonah to cry against the city because its wickedness has come up before him (Jonah 1:2). Scripture describes it as an exceeding great city of three days' journey (Jonah 3:3).
When Jonah warns that in forty days Nineveh will be overthrown, the people believe God, proclaim a fast and put on sackcloth, and the king sits in ashes and decrees a fast for man and beast (Jonah 3:4, Jonah 3:5, Jonah 3:6, Jonah 3:7). God then asks whether he should not spare the city, with more than sixscore thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left (Jonah 4:11). Later prophets announce its fall.
The book of Nahum is the burden of Nineveh and declares it laid waste (Nahum 1:1, Nahum 3:7), and Zephaniah foretells that God will make it a desolation (Zephaniah 2:13). Jesus says the men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with his generation, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:41). Nineveh stood on the Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq.
- Role
- City of Assyria
- First mention
- Genesis 10:11
- Appearances in the Bible
- 17 mentions
Nineveh in the Bible
Chapters that mention Nineveh
Coloring pages with Nineveh
Questions about Nineveh
What is Nineveh in the Bible?
Nineveh is a great city of Assyria. Genesis says that Asshur went forth and built Nineveh, along with Rehoboth, Calah and Resen (Genesis 10:11). After his campaign against Judah, Sennacherib king of Assyria returns and dwells at Nineveh (2 Kings 19:36). God sends the prophet Jonah to cry against the city because its wickedness has come up before him (Jonah 1:2). Scripture describes it as an exceeding great city of three days' journey (Jonah 3:3). When Jonah warns that in forty days Nineveh will be overthrown, the people believe God, proclaim a fast and put on sackcloth, and the king sits in ashes and decrees a fast for man and beast (Jonah 3:4, Jonah 3:5, Jonah 3:6, Jonah 3:7). God then asks whether he should not spare the city, with more than sixscore thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left (Jonah 4:11). Later prophets announce its fall. The book of Nahum is the burden of Nineveh and declares it laid waste (Nahum 1:1, Nahum 3:7), and Zephaniah foretells that God will make it a desolation (Zephaniah 2:13). Jesus says the men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with his generation, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:41). Nineveh stood on the Tigris River in what is now northern Iraq.
Where is Nineveh first mentioned in the Bible?
Nineveh is first mentioned in Genesis 10:11.
How many times is Nineveh mentioned in the Bible?
Number of mentions in the Bible: 17.