Nineveh

Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is known in the Bible for its wickedness and its remarkable repentance following Jonah's preaching.

The name Nineveh means “handsome; agreeable”

PlaceOld & New Testaments8 books40 verses

Summary

A location first mentioned at Genesis 10:11; referred to as Nineveh (נִינְוֵה), Rehoboth/-Ir (רְחֹבוֹת עִיר), or Nineveh (Νινευΐ, Νινευΐτης).

Location

Certainty
Widely agreed (100% of scholarship)
Coordinates
36.359° N, 43.153° E
Nineveh
See it on the map of biblical places

Events

Dates are approximate

Glossary entries

Nineveh, Ninevite Rehoboth-Ir

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 21 verses that refer to Nineveh without naming it.

  1. Genesis 10:11נִינְוֵה · Nineveh; רְחֹבוֹת+H5893H«H5893=עִיר · Rehoboth-Ir
    From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
  2. Genesis 10:12נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    …and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah.
  3. 2 Kings 19:36נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
  4. Isaiah 37:37נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
  5. Jonah 1:2נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
  6. Jonah 3:2נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
  7. Jonah 3:3נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
  8. Jonah 3:4נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
  9. Jonah 3:5נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
  10. Jonah 3:6נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
  11. Jonah 3:7נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
  12. Jonah 4:11נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
  13. Nahum 1:1נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
  14. Nahum 1:8Referred to, not named
    But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.
  15. Nahum 1:9Referred to, not named
    Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
  16. Nahum 1:10Referred to, not named
    For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
  17. Nahum 1:11Referred to, not named
    From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.
  18. Nahum 1:12Referred to, not named
    This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer.
  19. Nahum 1:13Referred to, not named
    For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.”
  20. Nahum 1:14Referred to, not named
    The LORD has issued a command concerning you, O Nineveh: “There will be no descendants to carry on your name. I will cut off the carved image and cast idol from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible.”
  21. Nahum 1:15Referred to, not named
    Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.
  22. Nahum 2:1Referred to, not named
    One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
  23. Nahum 2:5Referred to, not named
    He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
  24. Nahum 2:8נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
  25. Nahum 2:13Referred to, not named
    “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will reduce your chariots to cinders, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
  26. Nahum 3:7נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”
  27. Nahum 3:8Referred to, not named
    Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
  28. Nahum 3:11Referred to, not named
    You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
  29. Nahum 3:12Referred to, not named
    All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
  30. Nahum 3:13Referred to, not named
    Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
  31. Nahum 3:14Referred to, not named
    Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
  32. Nahum 3:15Referred to, not named
    There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust!
  33. Nahum 3:16Referred to, not named
    You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
  34. Nahum 3:17Referred to, not named
    Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.
  35. Zephaniah 2:13נִינְוֵה · Nineveh
    And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
  36. Zephaniah 2:14Referred to, not named
    Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.
  37. Zephaniah 2:15Referred to, not named
    This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
  38. Matthew 12:41Νινευΐτης · Nineveh
    The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
  39. Luke 11:30Νινευΐτης · Nineveh
    For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.
  40. Luke 11:32Νινευΐ · Nineveh; Νινευΐτης · Nineveh
    The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.