The King of Nineveh
The following verses appear in Jonah 3:4-8 (יונה ג:ד-ח):
!וַיָּ֚חֶל יוֹנָה֙ לָב֣וֹא בָעִ֔יר מַֽהֲלַ֖ךְ י֣וֹם אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּקְרָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר עוֹד אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם וְנִֽינְוֵ֖ה נֶהְפָּֽכֶת
.וַיַּֽאֲמִ֛ינוּ אַנְשֵׁ֥י נִֽינְוֵ֖ה בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑ים וַיִּקְרְאוּ־צוֹם֙ וַיִּלְבְּשׁ֣וּ שַׂקִּ֔ים מִגְּדוֹלָ֖ם וְעַד־קְטַנָּֽם
.וַיִּגַּ֚ע הַדָּבָר֙ אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ נִֽינְוֵ֔ה וַיָּ֙קָם֙ מִכִּסְא֔וֹ וַיַּֽעֲבֵ֥ר אַדַּרְתּ֖וֹ מֵֽעָלָ֑יו וַיְכַ֣ס שַׂ֔ק וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב עַל־הָאֵֽפֶר
וַיַּזְעֵ֗ק וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ בְּנִֽינְוֵ֔ה מִטַּ֧עַם הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וּגְדֹלָ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר הָֽאָדָ֨ם וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜ה הַבָּקָ֣ר וְהַצֹּ֗אן אַל־יִטְעֲמוּ֙ מְא֔וּמָה אַ֨ל־יִרְע֔וּ וּמַ֖יִם .אַל־יִשְׁתּֽוּ
.וְיִתְכַּסּ֣וּ שַׂקִּ֗ים הָֽאָדָם֙ וְהַבְּהֵמָ֔ה וְיִקְרְא֥וּ אֶל־אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּחָזְקָ֑ה וְיָשֻׁ֗בוּ אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ הָֽרָעָ֔ה וּמִן־הֶֽחָמָ֖ס אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּכַפֵּיהֶֽם
And Jonah commenced to come into the city, one day's walk, and he proclaimed and said, "In another forty days Nineveh shall be overturned!"
And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and donned sackcloth, from their greatest to their smallest.
And the word reached the king of Nineveh, whereupon he rose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh: By the counsel of the king and his nobles, saying: Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep shall taste anything; they shall not graze, neither shall they drink water.
And they shall cover themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast, and they shall call mightily to God, and everyone shall repent of his evil way and of the dishonest gain which is in their hands.
The Midrash
The Midrash of Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer, Chapter 43 (פרקי דרבי אליעזר מ״ג) says that Pharaoh went on to become the king of the city of Nineveh:
ר' נחוניא בן הקנה אומר, תדע לך כח התשובה בא וראה מפרעה מלך מצרים שמרד בצור עליון הרבה מאד שנ' מי ה' אשר אשמע בקולו? ...והצילו הב"ה בין המתים מניין שלא מת שנ' כי עתה שלחתי את ידי ואך אותך ואולם בעבור זאת העמדתיך וכו' והלך ומלך בננוה והיו אנשי נינוה כותבים מכתבי עמל וגוזלים איש את ריעהו ובאים איש על רעהו במשכב זכור ובא אצלו מעשיהם הרעים וכששלח הב"ה ליונה להנבא עליה להחריבה שמע פרעה ועמד מכסאו וקרע בגדיו ולבש שק ואפר והכריז בכל עמו שיצומו כל העם שני ימים וכל מי שיעשה את הדברים הללו .ישרף באש
Rabbi Nehunya ben Ha-Kanah says: Observe the power of repentance. Learn from the example of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who rebelled exceedingly against the Supreme Rock, as it is written, “Who is the Lord that I should heed Him?” (Ex. 5:2)... Nevertheless I have spared you for this purpose: [In order to show you My power, and in order that My fame may resound throughout the world]” (Ex. 9:15-16)…He went and became king of Nineveh…and when the Holy One, blessed be He, sent Jonah to bring to the city prophecy of its destruction, Pharaoh heard, arose from his throne, rent his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he declared that all his people should fast with him for three days; and whoever would not do these things would be burned at the stake. (Translation from www1.biu.ac.il)
The Ba'al Haturim
The Ba'al Huturim explains that the word "and they believed" (וַיַּֽאֲמִ֛ינוּ) occurs in both places (Exodus 14:31 at the sea and Yonah 3:5):
.וַיַּ֨רְא יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַיָּ֣ד הַגְּדֹלָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ הָעָ֖ם אֶת־יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיַּֽאֲמִ֨ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהֹוָ֔ה וּבְמשֶׁ֖ה עַבְדּֽוֹ
.ויאמינו ב' ויאמינו בה' ויאמינו אנשי נינוה באלהים כדאיתא במדרש שלא נשאר בהם עד אחד שלא נשאר אלא אחד והוא פרעה והלך לנינוה ומלך שם וזהו ויאמינו אנשי נינוה באלהים נזכר למה שראה במצרים ועל הים
Do Animals Need to Repent?
This Midrash and the Ba'al Haturim are taken to explain why the king of Nineveh repented so quickly and thoroughly; because he was indeed the Pharaoh of the Exodus story he was already familiar with God and wasted no time decreeing a program of repentance across the entire country.
It occurred to me that this Midrash also explains why the king of Nineveh included animals in his repentance program. God does not expect animals to observe commandments and refrain from immorality, and hence repentance is completely irrelevant to them.
However, Exodus 9:3 tells us the following:
.הִנֵּ֨ה יַד־יְהֹוָ֜ה הוֹיָ֗ה בְּמִקְנְךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה בַּסּוּסִ֤ים בַּֽחֲמֹרִים֙ בַּגְּמַלִּ֔ים בַּבָּקָ֖ר וּבַצֹּ֑אן דֶּ֖בֶר כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד
...behold, the hand of the Lord will be upon your livestock that is in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the cattle, and upon the sheep, a very severe pestilence.
The verse above, however, is only the warning of this plague. The verses below (Exodus 9:9-10) describes the actual occurrence of this plague:
.וְהָיָ֣ה לְאָבָ֔ק עַ֖ל כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהָיָ֨ה עַל־הָֽאָדָ֜ם וְעַל־הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה לִשְׁחִ֥ין פֹּרֵ֛חַ אֲבַעְבֻּעֹ֖ת בְּכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם
.וַיִּקְח֞וּ אֶת־פִּ֣יחַ הַכִּבְשָׁ֗ן וַיַּֽעַמְדוּ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֔ה וַיִּזְרֹ֥ק אֹת֛וֹ משֶׁ֖ה הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וַיְהִ֗י שְׁחִין֙ אֲבַעְבֻּעֹ֔ת פֹּרֵ֕חַ בָּֽאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָֽה
And it will become dust upon the entire land of Egypt, and it will become boils, breaking out into blisters upon man and upon beast throughout the entire land of Egypt."
So they took furnace soot, and they stood before Pharaoh, and Moses cast it heavenward, and it became boils breaking out into blisters upon man and upon beast.
If God destroyed the animals the first time around, there is no reason for Him to spare them during this episode. It also occurred to me that this text refers to the animals twice (verses 9 and 10) just as it does in Yonah (verses 7 and 8), indicating another association between both sets of events!
In addition, Rashi's commentary on the reason the animals were killed in the Flood was that they began to commit "sexual immorality" due to its pervasiveness among human society. The association between Noah and the Pharaoh is that of destruction by means of water. In other words, we learn that the king of Nineveh was the Pharaoh from sources commenting on the sea, which killed the Egyptians and their livestock, as the Flood killed all humanity and the animals.
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