:wr50:
I think the sailors were converted. It fits the whole "missionary" tenor of the book. Jonah was afraid God would be gracious to the heathen (see 4:2; and meanwhile he wasn't converting the Israelite masses!). So despite himself, Jonah preaches the gospel to heathen sailors.

I don't think the Ninevites were affected in the same degree. There were likely more than a few notable conversions. Remember, "a little leaven levens the whole lump." "Suppose there were [only ten] righteous within the city ...." And there was, indeed, a public repentance for sin, though it may have been mainly superficial. God honored it for the time being, but at a later date, long after Jonah's visit was a tattered memory and sin reigned again in Nineveh, God broke "the rod of his anger" (Is. 10:5) and tossed it on the ash heap of history.

__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


When posting friends, kindly bear those words of earthly wisdom in mind:
Oh, that God the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us.
--Robert Burns, 1786 (modernized) ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions? --