And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Parallel translations
- WEB Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”
- BSB So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
- NKJV And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
- NASB Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many animals?”
- NLT But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God asks whether He should not pity Nineveh's many people and animals. It matters because the book ends by revealing God's vast compassion for all peoples, including His enemies.
Overview
The closing question, left open for the reader, contrasts Jonah's concern for a plant with God's concern for over 120,000 souls 'who can't discern between their right hand and their left,' likely the spiritually ignorant or perhaps the very young. God's pity reaches even the livestock, underscoring the breadth of His care for His creation. Ending on this note, Jonah proclaims the heart of God for the nations, fulfilled when the gospel of Christ goes out to people once far off.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 18:33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
- Luke 15:28–32And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
- Jonah 1:2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
- Ps 36:6Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
- Ps 145:8–9The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
- Deut 1:39Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
- Ps 104:14He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
- Isa 1:18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- Jonah 3:2–3Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
- Ps 104:27–28These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
- Ps 145:15–16The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
- Jonah 3:10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.
How Jonah 4:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.