“And should not I spare 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?”
The final verse provides the climax of the narrative as the LORD indicates that he should have regard for Nineveh where more than 120,000 persons do not know their right hand from their left and also much cattle. The emphasis on the great number of people and livestock indicates that the city's salvation is worth far more than the plant's destruction. The concern for the innocent and vulnerable establishes the ethical basis for God's mercy. This verse resolves the theological question of the narrative by establishing the value of human life over human preferences about justice.
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