SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:11
¿y no tendré yo piedad de Nínive, aquella gran ciudad donde hay más de ciento veinte mil hombres que no saben discernir entre su mano derecha y su mano izquierda, y muchos animales?
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Jonah 4:11
Verse 11. And should not I spare Nineveh] In ver. 10 it is said, thou hast had pity on the gourd, tsj hta attah CHASTA; and here the Lord uses the same word, swja al ynaw veani lo ACHUS, "And shall not I have pity upon Nineveh?" How much is the city better than the shrub? But besides this there are in it one hundred and twenty thousand persons! And shall I destroy them, rather than thy shade should be withered or thy word apparently fail? And besides, these persons are young, and have not offended, (for they knew not the difference between their right hand and their left,) and should not I feel more pity for those innocents than thou dost for the fine flowering plant which is withered in a night, being itself exceedingly short-lived? Add to all this, they have now turned from those sins which induced me to denounce judgment against them. And should I destroy them who are now fasting and afflicting their souls; and, covered with sackcloth, are lying in the dust before me, bewailing their offenses and supplicating for mercy? Learn, then, from this, that it is the incorrigibly wicked on whom my judgments must fall and against whom they are threatened. And know, that to that man will I look who is of a broken and contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. Even the dumb beasts are objects of my compassion; I will spare them for the sake of their penitent owners; and remember with the rest, That the Lord careth for oxen. The great number of cattle to which reference is here made were for the support of the inhabitants; and probably at this time the Ninevites gathered in their cattle from the champaign pasture, expecting that some foe coming to besiege them might seize upon them for their forage, while they within might suffer the lack of all things.
No doubt that ancient Nineveh was like ancient Babylon, of which Quintus Curtius says the buildings were not close to the walls, there being the space of an acre left between them; and in several parts there were within the walls portions of cultivated land, that, if besieged, they might have provisions to sustain the inhabitants.
And I suppose this to be true of all large ancient cities. They were rather cantons or districts than cities such as now are, only all the different inhabitants had joined together to wall in the districts for the sake of mutual defense.
This last expostulation of God, it is to be hoped, produced its proper effect on the mind of this irritable prophet; and that he was fully convinced that in this, as in all other cases, God had done all things well.
FROM this short prophecy many useful lessons may be derived. The Ninevites were on the verge of destruction, but on their repentance were respited. They did not, however, continue under the influence of good resolutions. They relapsed, and about one hundred and fifty years afterwards, the Prophet Nahum was sent to predict the miraculous discomfiture of the Assyrian king under Sennacherib, an event which took place about 710 B.C., and also the total destruction of Nineveh by Cyaxares and his allies which happened about 606 B.C. Several of the ancients, by allegorizing this book, have made Jonah declare the divinity, humanity, death, and resurrection of Christ. These points may be found in the Gospel history, their true repository; but fancy can find them any where it pleases to seek them; but he who seeks not for them will never find them here. Jonah was a type of the resurrection of Christ; nothing farther seems revealed in this prophet relative to the mysteries of Christianity.
In conclusion: while I have done the best I could to illustrate the very difficult prophet through whose work the reader has just passed, I do not pretend to say I have removed every difficulty. I am satisfied only of one thing, that I have conscientiously endeavoured to do it, and believe that I have generally succeeded; but am still fearful that several are left behind, which, though they fnay be accounted for from the briefness of the narrative of a great transaction, in which so many surprising particulars are included, yet, for general apprehension, might appear to have required a more distinct and circumstantial statement. I have only to add, that as several of the facts are evidently miraculous, and by the prophet stated as such, others may be probably of the same kind. On this ground all difficulty is removed; for God can do what he pleases. As his power is unlimited, it can meet with no impossibilities. He who gave the commission to Jonah to go and preach to the Ninevites, and prepared the great fish to swallow the disobedient prophet, could maintain his life for three days and three nights in the belly of this marine monster; and cause it to eject him at the termination of the appointed time, on any sea-coast he might choose; and afterwards the Divine power could carry the deeply contrite and now faithful prophet over the intervening distance between that and Nineveh, be that distance greater or less. Whatever, therefore, cannot be accounted for on mere natural principles in this book, may be referred to this supernatural agency; and this, on the ostensible principle of the prophecy itself, is at once a mode of interpretation as easy as it is rational. God gave the commission; he raised the storm, he prepared the fish which swallowed the prophet; he caused it to cast him forth on the dry land; he gave him a fresh commission, carried him to the place of his destination, and miraculously produced the sheltering gourd, that came to perfection in a night and withered in a night. This God therefore performed the other facts for which we cannot naturally account, as he did those already specified. This concession, for the admission of which both common sense and reason plead, at once solves all the real or seeming difficulties to be found in the Book of the Prophet Jonah.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 11. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city ? etc.] (see Jon 1:2 3:3); what is such a gourd or plant to that? wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons ; or twelve myriads; that is, twelve times ten thousand, or a hundred and twenty thousand; meaning not all the inhabitants of Nineveh; for then it would not have appeared to be so great a city; but infants only, as next described: that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand ; do not know one from another; cannot distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong; are not come to years of maturity and discretion; and therefore there were room and reason for pity and sparing mercy; especially since they had not been guilty of actual transgressions, at least not very manifest; and yet must have perished with their parents had Nineveh been overthrown. The number of infants in this city is a proof of the greatness of it, though not so as to render the account incredible; for, admitting these to be a fifth part of its inhabitants, as they usually are of any place, as Bochart observes, it makes the number of its inhabitants to be but six or seven hundred thousand; and as many there were in Seleucia and Thebes, as Pliny relates of the one, and Tacitus of the other: and [also] much cattle ; and these more valuable than goods, as animals are preferable to, and more useful than, vegetables; and yet these must have perished in the common calamity. Jarchi understands by these grown up persons, whose knowledge is like the beasts that know not their Creator.
No answer being returned, it may be reasonably supposed Jonah, was convinced of his sin and folly; and, to show his repentance for it, penned this, narrative, which records his infirmities and weaknesses, for the good of the church, and the instruction of saints in succeeding ages.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 5-11 - Jonah went out of the city, yet remained near at hand, as if he expected and desired its overthrow. Those who have fretful, uneas spirits, often make troubles for themselves, that they may still have something to complain of. See how tender God is of his people in their afflictions, even though they are foolish and froward. A thing small i itself, yet coming seasonably, may be a valuable blessing. A gourd in the right place may do us more service than a cedar. The leas creatures may be great plagues, or great comforts, as God is pleased to make them. Persons of strong passions are apt to be cast down with an trifle that crosses them, or to be lifted up with a trifle that please them. See what our creature-comforts are, and what we may expect the to be; they are withering things. A small worm at the root destroys large gourd: our gourds wither, and we know not what is the cause Perhaps creature-comforts are continued to us, but are made bitter; the creature is continued, but the comfort is gone. God prepared a wind to make Jonah feel the want of the gourd. It is just that those who love to complain, should never be left without something to complain of When afflicting providences take away relations, possessions, an enjoyments, we must not be angry at God. What should especially silenc discontent, is, that when our gourd is gone, our God is not gone. Sin and death are very dreadful, yet Jonah, in his heat, makes light of both. One soul is of more value than the whole world; surely then on soul is of more value than many gourds: we should have more concern for our own and others' precious souls, than for the riches and enjoyment of this world. It is a great encouragement to hope we shall find merc with the Lord, that he is ready to show mercy. And murmurers shall be made to understand, that how willing soever they are to keep the Divin grace to themselves and those of their own way, there is one Lord ove all, who is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. Do we wonder a the forbearance of God towards his perverse servant? Let us study ou own hearts and ways; let us not forget our own ingratitude an obstinacy; and let us be astonished at God's patience towards us __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ואני 589 לא 3808 אחוס 2347 על 5921 נינוה 5210 העיר 5892 הגדולה 1419 אשׁר 834 ישׁ 3426 בה הרבה 7235 משׁתים 8147 עשׂרה 6240 רבו 7239 אדם 120 אשׁר 834 לא 3808 ידע 3045 בין 996 ימינו 3225 לשׂמאלו 8040 ובהמה 929 רבה׃ 7227
