Jonah 4:11 (DBY)

Passage

and I, should not I have pity on Nineveh, the great city, wherein are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Nearby Context

Jonah 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, unto death.

Jonah 4:10 And Jehovah said, Thou hast pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

Jonah 4:11 and I, should not I have pity on Nineveh, the great city, wherein are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "should", "pity", "nineveh", "great", "city", "wherein", "than", and "hundred". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "should" and "pity", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The prior verse says "And Jehovah said Thou hast pity on...", giving immediate footing for "should" and "pity". In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "should" and "pity" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.