经文研读
Jonah 4:11 — God's Compassion for Nineveh
God's closing question to Jonah contrasts pity for a plant with pity for a great city's inhabitants.
经文
- 11.何 況 這 尼 尼 微 大 城 ， 其 中 不 能 分 辨 左 手 右 手 的 有 十 二 萬 多 人 ， 並 有 許 多 牲 畜 ， 我 豈 能 不 愛 惜 呢 ？and should not I have regard for 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?
这段经文的意思
Jonah 4:11 is the rhetorical climax of the book. God draws a contrast between Jonah's pity for a shade plant that he did not make grow, and God's own appropriate regard for Nineveh, described here as a great city with more than sixscore thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, together with much cattle. The verse leaves the question hanging without recording Jonah's reply, which is itself part of the point.
The phrase 'cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand' describes those whose moral and spiritual discernment has not yet formed. It is a description of the population's condition, not a statement about their culpability. Read this way, the verse identifies Nineveh's inhabitants as those whose state makes divine compassion fitting rather than impossible.
The closing mention of 'also much cattle' extends the same logic of regard beyond human beings to the animal creation within the city. The cattle are not the main subject, but their inclusion widens the scope of God's question and prevents the reader from narrowing the final image down to a purely human calculus.
背景
Chapter 4 opens with Jonah angry at God's mercy toward Nineveh (v. 1) and recalling that he had fled to Tarshish precisely because he knew God is 'gracious, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness' (v. 2). He asks to die (v. 3), and God counters, 'Doest thou well to be angry?' (v. 4). Jonah then sits outside the city waiting to see its fate (v. 5).
God teaches through two prepared objects: a shade plant that comforts Jonah and then withers, and a worm and a sultry east wind that destroy his shelter (vv. 6–8). When Jonah again wishes to die and declares his anger 'even unto death,' God points out that Jonah has pity for a plant he did not labor for, and asks, in v. 11, whether He Himself should not have regard for Nineveh. The closing question is left unanswered, leaving the reader to complete the comparison Jonah refused to draw.
常见问题
Who are the sixscore thousand who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?
The text describes them as persons within Nineveh whose moral or spiritual discernment is not yet formed. The phrasing characterizes their condition, identifying them as those for whom divine regard is fitting, without settling the question of their guilt or innocence in any other passage.
Why does the verse mention much cattle?
The cattle are not the main subject. Their inclusion at the very end widens the scope of God's question so that regard is shown to extend beyond human beings to the animal creation within the city as well.
Why does the book end with a question rather than an answer?
The closing question is left unanswered so that the reader must complete the comparison Jonah refused to draw. The unrecorded reply places the weight of the conclusion on the reader, who is invited to answer in the affirmative what the text only asks.