God says some funny things some times. That is to say, some times what God says sounds funny to us. I often think about how Nicodemus responded when Jesus said, “You must be born again.” Nicodemus essentially looked back at Jesus and said, “Eww. That’s gross, man.” God some times says things that sound funny. One particularly peculiar phrase is found at the end of the book of Jonah. As God wraps ups his response to Jonah’s complaint he is trying to remind the bigoted prophet that since He is the creator of all things, then He should care even for the people of Nineveh. There are 120,000 people in Nineveh and God cares for them and wants to spare them, but then he adds this peculiar phrase: and also much cattle. Why does God add these words? What’s he trying to communicate? Does God really care about the cows?
There is some disagreement over these four words. A large majority of commentators do not think God gives one iota of concern for the cows. Some interpret it as slur against the wicked people of Nineveh. As if God were saying, “There are a 120,000 people in Nineveh, and also some who act more like animals than people.” That strikes me as incredibly bad exegesis. Another commentator takes it as God making a bit of a joke. The Judge of the universe is mocking the people of Nineveh for throwing sack cloth on their animals and including them in their national repentance. This too strikes me as a bit of a forced interpretation. I think a much simpler explanation is that yes, in fact God does care about the cows.
This is a hard thing for some of us to accept. The church is often a very anthropocentric community. Thomas Aquinas writing in the Medieval era concluding that animals do not deserve our charity, and following him Descartes in the 1600s concluding that animals were like machines with no conscious states. He argued that they could feel no pain, and much of this teaching has stuck with Western culture and the church to this day. We do not much care for animals, and I confess my own bent is not towards snuggling with puppies. But these are God’s creatures and all throughout the book of Jonah we see God utilizing them.
In Jonah we find God using a great fish as his tool for both judgment and salvation. It’s not the first time in the Biblical record that he has made an animal his servant. We could point to Balaam’s donkey, the fiery serpents of Numbers 21:6, or the lion who kills the disobedient prophet in 1 Kings 13:24. Repeatedly God makes use of his creation in this manner. Here, the great fish is said to have been “appointed” by God to swallow up the prophet. This fish is doing God’s work at God’s beckoning. In chapter 2 verse 11 God speaks to the fish and it obeys him a second time, this time vomiting the prophet out. Does God commune with his animals like this often? We don’t know for certain.
From the largest of the creatures to the smallest we find God’s investment in them equal. He not only uses the great fish but in 4:7 it tells us that God “appointed” a worm. God’s agents are found all throughout creation and come in all shapes, sizes, and species. The worm is serving God by killing the plant that shaded Jonah. Just like the great fish, God has a purpose for this little creature that glorifies him and serves his plan. Does God use animals to further his overall plan? This seems more evident from the plethora of Scriptures where God does that exact thing.
But the final phrase of Jonah leads us to conclude that God views his creation with more than just an eye towards their functionality. He seemingly has genuine compassion on them. He seeks to spare the many cows in Nineveh. If this shocks us it is probably because we far too often have so little concern about the creation around us. Man may be the climax of God’s creation, and he may have put us above that creation, but he did so in order that we might be its caretakers. Far too many Christians have a view of the planet and all its other inhabitants that is downright sinful. The creation does not exist to be abused and dismantled by us. We must take careful consideration of the fact that here God genuinely cares for His creation. In fact God’s care of the animals is sometimes used as a reminder of how much he cares for us. Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:26 remind me of the old gospel hymn: His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.
Take care of how you view the world around you. It does not exist merely as your play thing, not merely as some world created for you. The whole creation exists for the glory of God, and how you take care of it glorifies or dishonors the Creator. God cares about creation and he calls us to care about it too. There is much cattle around you.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 
Excellent viewpoint!
Excellent viewpoint!!
I completely agree. Proverbs 12:10 says The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. He must have known Jonah would care about the innocent animals and how the wicked were treating them. He knows how to get to us!
Amen bro
Good answer but there is also a simpler reason God mentions cattle.
You can find the answer in Jonah Chap 3 verse 7 & 8
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth.
Even the animals fasted and were covered in sackcloth; they were covered with the blood.
I don’t think ‘cattle’ refers only to cows. Probably domesticated animals in general, perhaps including dogs and cats, but definitely horses, donkeys, sheep, goats. Makes no sense otherwise. It’s a general term. Perhaps does not refer to wild animals, though Jesus did say God cares about the birds of the air. And Jesus loved the Book of Jonah. Which nobody should take literally, it’s a teaching story.