The king’s decree said that man and beast, herd and flock, should not taste anything and should be covered with sackcloth Jonah 3:7–8. The decree presents this as part of a citywide act of humbling and urgency Jonah 3:8–9.
In Jonah 3:7–9, Nineveh’s leaders issue a citywide decree that turns the people’s fear into organized action. The order requires total fasting—humans and even animals are to eat and drink nothing—and visible mourning through sackcloth. These verses sit inside the larger Nineveh-response scene (Jonah 3:5–10), after Jonah delivers his short warning and the city begins to respond. The story tightens the focus from a general public reaction to an official proclamation, showing repentance spreading through the city’s structures of authority.
Jonah 3:7–9 presents Nineveh’s response as organized and public. A citywide proclamation, backed by the king and nobles, calls for an extreme fast and visible mourning. The text frames this as a crisis response meant to signal humility and urgency. The decree is not only about outward signs.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Jonah 3:7-8, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
7He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
8but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.