light of his technique of finishing one matter before proceeding to the next even if that disrupts the temporal sequence, it is difficult to draw any conclusions from it as regards the order of events. The most plausible scenario seems to be that when it was obvious that there was widespread repentance among the people, Jonah realised that this would lead to the exercise of divine compassion. He then uttered the words of 4:1–4 in the city probably not long after the end of the three days. He subsequently