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 cattle?"
"Throughout the story the figure of Jonah is a foil to the divine hero, a Watson to Yahweh’s Holmes, a Gehazi to Yahweh’s Elisha. The greatness and the goodness of God are enhanced against the background of Jonah’s meanness and malevolence. Look out at the world, pleads the author, at God’s world. See it through God’s eyes. And let your new vision overcome your natural bitterness, your hardness of soul. Let the divine compassion flood your own hearts." [Note: Allen, p. 194.] 