DID YOU KNOW?

A reader says: "Archaeologists have found that ancient Nineveh was as big as the book of Jonah says, a three days' walk across." Agree or disagree?

The answer

Disagree. Archaeologists estimate ancient Nineveh at three to four square miles, a walk of an hour or two at most. The book calls it "an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across" (Jonah 3:3).

Why it’s interesting

In Hebrew, the phrase translated "exceedingly large city" reads literally "a city great to God," or "great to the gods."

Scholarly consensus

Learn the Bible.

Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.