Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 12:41

"The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here." — Matthew 12:41 (ASV)

The men of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. It was founded by Ashur, Genesis 10:11. It was situated on the banks of the river Tigris, to the northeast of Babylon. It is now so completely destroyed that geographers are unable to ascertain whether it was on the eastern or western bank.

It was a city of vast extent and corresponding wickedness. It was forty-eight miles in circuit; its walls were one hundred feet high, and ten thick, and were defended by fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet in height. It contained, in the time of Jonah, it is supposed, six hundred thousand inhabitants.

The destruction of Nineveh, threatened by Jonah in forty days, was suspended by their repentance for two hundred years. It was then overthrown by the Babylonians, about six hundred years before Christ. During the siege, a mighty inundation of the river Tigris took place, which threw down a part of the walls, through which the enemy entered, and sacked and destroyed the city.

This destruction had been foretold one hundred and fifteen years before by Nahum. Nahum 1:8 states: But with an overwhelming flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof. And Nahum 2:6 states: The gates of the river shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. The place is completely destroyed.

The very location is unknown. If it seems strange that ancient cities are so completely destroyed that no remains of brick or stone are to be found, it should be remembered that they were built of clay dried only in the sun and not fired; that frequent rains softened the clay; and that the mighty walls and dwellings, with the passage of ages, would sink down into an undistinguished heap of ruins.

Shall condemn it. That is, their conduct, in repenting at Jonah's prediction, shall condemn this generation. They, ignorant and wicked heathen, repented when threatened with temporal judgment by a mere man—Jonah; you, Jews, professing to be enlightened, though threatened for your great wickedness with eternal punishment by the Son of God—a far greater Being than Jonah—do not repent, and must therefore face a far heavier condemnation.