The story of Jonah reluctantly traveling to Ninevah to warn its people of Yahweh's oncoming wrath is known more for the topic of mercy than it is for anything else. The only clue as to the sins of the city is in Jonah 3:8, where the unnamed king of Ninevah calls on his people to give up their violence, the sins likely consisting of sadism, violent murders, and unbiblical forms of torture. Turn away they did according to the story--so much that God withheld the destruction of the city to Jonah's frustration. These are some of the more widely familiar parts of this rather short book of the Bible that many people who had any affiliation with church in their younger days have probably encountered.
One thing that is less emphasized is what God says when Jonah overreacts to the death of a plant he was using for shade as he waits to see what might befall Ninevah (in chapter four). God mentions to Jonah that he is so concerned about the plant when though he had no role in growing it before asking if he (God) should not be concerned about the more than 120,000 people in Ninevah in addition to the animals. It is this last detail that can be overlooked so easily. Even amidst the talk of judgment on a city of wicked people, God mentions that Ninevah is home to many animals and refers to them as if their presence is something to take into consideration in destroying the city.
Animals do not carry God's image with or in them as humans do in Christian theology, yet this does not mean they are of no importance at all according to the Bible. They are just secondary to humans as far as terrestrial life goes. Even so, there was nothing about the impending possible judgment on Ninevah or concern for the moral standing and destruction of its inhabitants that excluded concern for the animals in the city. God still cared about both the human and animal life that could have been affected if the city did not repent. Moreover, humans are instructed to as well.
Offenses against humans need not be focused on in a way that totally ignores animal abuse or the general wellbeing of non-human animals. In fact, as multiple places in Mosaic Law indicate, part of being a righteous person by Biblical standards is not mistreating animals. For example, Exodus 23:5 commands people to help the ox or donkey of their enemies if they see it struggling alone. Humans take priority over animals to the point that killing an animal needlessly is not morally equivalent to murdering a person (compare Exodus 21:12-14 to verses in Exodus 22 about losing an animal or letting it die due to negligence), but animals still have significance.
God cares enough about non-human animals--for people are also animals in the sense that humans are creatures with bodies like horses, fish, or birds--that he specifically mentions them when describing why life needs to not be trivialized even in judgment. Animals are not forgotten or doomed to neglect under Christian ethics. From the commands of Mosaic Law to verses like Jonah 4:11 where God mentions humans and animals alike as warranting concern, it is clear that the human hierarchy over animals does not entail the exploitation or neglect of animals whether the context is ordinary life or the literal annihilation of a city of injustice.
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