The subject reverts back to Nineveh.
Yahweh had commanded His heavenly host to manage the world's affairs so Nineveh's name (or perhaps the king of Nineveh's name) would not continue forever. This does not mean that succeeding generations would be completely ignorant of Nineveh and its rulers.22But the residents, particularly the king, would have no surviving descendants (heirs).
The Lord also promised to destroy Nineveh's idols and remove them from their temples. The Assyrians often carried off the idols of the nations they conquered to demonstrate the superiority of their gods over those of the conquered. The conquering Medes, however, despised idolatry and did away with multitudes of images that existed in Nineveh.23Yahweh would prepare Nineveh's grave since He would bury the contemptible city. It was a great curse in the ancient Near East to have no descendants, and it was a great humiliation to have no gods, but both fates would befall Nineveh.
