This conversation between
Jehovah God and Jonah is without a doubt an expression of
the Creator’s true feelings for humanity. On one hand it informs people of the Creator’s understanding of all creation under His command; as Jehovah God said, “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more then six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” In other words, God’s understanding of Nineveh was far from a cursory one. He not only knew the number of living things within the city (including people and livestock), He also knew how many could not discern between their right and left hands—that is, how many children and youths were present. This is concrete proof of God’s superb understanding of mankind. On the other hand this conversation informs people of the Creator’s attitude toward humanity, which is to say the weight of humanity in the Creator’s heart. It is just as Jehovah God said: “You have had pity on the gourd, for the which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city…?” These are Jehovah
God’s words of blame toward Jonah, but they are all true.
